So for Howard’s birthday (January 22), I thought I’d look at a story I haven’t read in a long time, “Worms of the Earth”.  This is one of the Bran Mak Morn tales. There aren’t a lot of them. Some weren’t published in Howard’s lifetime, but this one was, in the November 1932 issue of Weird Tales.

The opening is one of Howard’s best. A Roman governor, Titus Sulla, is showing a Pictish ambassador Roman justice by executing a Pict by crucifixion. The ambassador watches stoically without saying anything. The ambassador is of course the Pictish king Bran Mak Morn in disguise.The dying man provokes one of the guards into killing him, which angers the Sulla. It was the quickest death the Pict could experience, and the governor wanted him to suffer. The guard is sentenced to jail.

Bran leaves later that night, but not before he sneaks into the jail and kills the guard who killed the Pict. He also vows vengeance against Titus Sulla by any means available. This vow leads him to make a pact with a witch who isn’t entirely human. She aids him in summoning the Worms of the Earth. This is a race that at one time might have become human, but they were driven deep under ground. Now their a degenerate race the a shaman warns Bran not to deal with.

Bran ignores him, seeks out the witch, and makes a pact he will come to regret.

I’ll not summarize the ending. I’ll just say that Bran ends up wishing he hadn’t made the bargain he did. You can read the story if you want to. It’s available in Bran Mak Morn: The Last King. At the time I’ writing this, the ebook is only $4.99, which for one of the Del Rey Howard collections is a great price.

“Worms of the Earth” is one of Howard’s best stories. I wish he had written more of Bran Mak Morn. He’s one of Howard’s most tragic heroes. A king of a race that has seen its best days. He knows it, and he knows that ultimately his people are doomed. Yet he fights on for them. How can you not like a character like that?