Here is another example of a D&D Lizardman character from fiction. This is Gulth from Quag Keep by Andre Norton, from an illustration by David Sutherland on the cover of Dragon #12, Feb 1978. The issue contained an excerpt of the novel, and happens to be the same issue with Holmes' Lovecraftian Gods article. #quagkeep
"And this specimen of his race was formidable to look upon. He was fully as tall as Naile, and in addition to the wicked spear, the sword of bone, double-edged with teeth, which he carried, his natural armament of fang and claw were weapons even a hero might consider twice before facing."
I grew up with a lot of Andre Norton but never got to Quag Keep - I know she wrote it after being inspired by D&D so I definitely need to pick it up.
ReplyDeleteIt's really interesting since it's got all kinds of early Greyhawk lore in it. Some has turned out to match the pre-folio Greyhawk maps better than the published Greyhawk. http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2017/02/megarrys-copy-of-great-kingdom-map.html
ReplyDeletePlease don't bother with Return to Quag keep. The author seemed not to have fully read the original; the Sea of Dust, brought to you by the Invoked Cataclysm, was described as being full of lifeless powder and not a mundane desert, which is what it became in the sequel, along with a trivialization of a dragon encounter that echoed one in the first book. I love Quag Keep, however.
ReplyDeleteDidn't even know about Return. OK will skip it, thx for the heads up. Meantime I have to dig my copy out of storage, I have an old yellow DAW edition of it buried in a locker in NJ . . .
ReplyDeleteOn seeing that sword I first thought it was a dragonewt from RuneQuest. Of course, their klanths are edged with obsidian, not teeth.
ReplyDeleteIt mentions later in the story that Gulth's folk use bone/teeth swords because metal rusts so fast in their swampy homelands.
ReplyDeleteThat's a cool sword. All of my lizardmen are going to use bone/teeth swords, from now on...
ReplyDeleteI've started re-reading Quag Keep & will collect all of these cool Gulth/lizardman details!
ReplyDeleteHere's another picture of Gulth. This illustration is facing the title page in the DAW paperback (not sure if it is also in the hardback, I don't have a copy). It's the only illustration in the interior of the book. The cover is by Jack Gaughan, but there's no other artist listed for this picture. Scan from a review post by Brendan S from 2012. http://www.necropraxis.com/2012/05/10/quag-keep/
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The ISFDB indicates that this frontispiece is by Gaughan as well. His "JG" initials are in the lower left corner below Gulth's leg, almost hidden as part of the cross-hatching on the horse's flank. The listings on ISFDB also seem to indicate that this art is only in the 1979 PB, not the original 1978 hardcover.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?27033
The paperback does not have the full art from the hardcover dust jacket, however. A great wrap around of the party encountering the dragon. Gulth is the largest figure in the foreground, wearing the cloak he saturates with water to keep him wet in dry conditions.
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Another cool Gulth detail. He carries his money in a dried fishskin, its head replaced by a metal cap.
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