Christopher Tolkien died a few weeks ago. I had already planned to write this post for Clark Ashton Smith’s birthday on the thirteenth of January. However, work got in the way. Christopher’s death seemed to be a bit of a sign to go ahead and post this. I decided to hold off until August—the anniversary of Klarkash-Ton’s death—but then the anniversary of Lin Carter’s death rolled around yesterday. His Tolkien: A Look Behind The Lord of the Rings was one of my first introductions to Tolkien scholarship and also one of the first fantasy scholarship books I ever read, period. I decided to go ahead and post this in honor of Lin.

Christopher Tolkien was one of the last surviving veterans of the Royal Air Force to serve in World War Two. He was also--as the late, great Steve Tompkins pointed out--the translator and annotator of what is generally considered the best edition of The Saga of King Heidrek the Wise. What have you done for Nordic scholarship lately?

Of course, Christopher was also the last of the Inklings and a steadfast helper to his father, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. Plenty of other sources can delineate Christopher's decades-long, herculean and homeric stewardship of his father's legacy, the quality of which stewardship may never be surpassed. For myself, and all other lovers of heroic fantasy, I thank Christopher for giving us what we have of "The Wanderings of Hurin", wherein we find the son of Galdor leaving the clutches of Morgoth. Hurin is both an Odinic and Solomonic--as in Solomon Kane--figure after he shakes the dust of Angband from his heels. Hurin's single-minded swathe of vengeance and carnage leaves the majority of Beleriand in disarray. A prequel to all of that mayhem is, of course, The Children of Hurin. That short novel is a perfect illustration of why there must be a delineation betwixt "heroic fantasy" and its sub-category, "sword-and-sorcery".

Mug shot of Clark Ashton Smith from the 1950s. Early-adopter/fan of The Lord of the Rings. — Mug shot of Clark Ashton Smith from the 1950s. Early-adopter/fan of *The Lord of the Rings*.

How can I put this? Clark Ashton Smith was a fan of The Lord of the Rings. Simple as that. Here is what Dr. W.C. Farmer--Clark's last great friend--had to say about it:

"Tolkien's creation of an entire history, obviously biblically parallel, with its own several languages and grammar he [Clark Ashton Smith] admired immensely. In discussing it briefly at odd interludes, he always came back to the basic remembrance: 'Sauron is only a servant'. He always felt real evil was something Tolkien understood as something infinitely more profound and dangerous than trivial little dilettantes like [Anton] LaVey [of the Church of Satan] and his ilk could imagine..."

The entire interview can be read here: "Master CAS: Clark Ashton Smith Remembered"

Of course, the response from some CAS fans might be the Luke Skywalker Option:

For the adults in the room, the quote above might be the spark for reflection upon just why LotR resonated with Klarkash-Ton. It goes without saying that liking Tolkien's work does not besmirch a writer of heroic fantasy. Poul Anderson, Gene Wolfe, Lin Carter, Adrian Cole, David Drake, David Gemmell, Scott Oden: all of them were/are major fans of JRRT.

So what might Klarkash-Ton have seen in The Lord of the Rings? As Farmer noted, the concept of "evil" as something incarnate, something above and beyond this world, resonated deeply with Clark. We can see CAS exploring such concepts in "The Devotee of Evil" and in "The Infernal Star" fragment. One could also point to parallels betwixt Morgoth--and Sauron his servant--and Smith's Thasaidon. The Morgoth parallels are especially strong.

Smith seems to have also connected with JRRT's "languages and grammar". CAS' vocabulary--and knowledge of several languages--is legendary. Tolkien's deep grasp of Old English—and Gothic and Icelandic—and the evidence of that within LotR, probably struck a chord in Clark. Both men were quite meticulous in their desire for euphony and fitness when it came to the names they chose in their fiction. Both men were, simply put, in love with languages. Clark Ashton Smith learned French and Spanish. Tolkien was fluent in Old English and Gothic. Tolkien used that knowledge to speak with Germans during World War One.

Smith’s Thasaidon? Or Tolkien’s Morgoth? Does it matter?

There was possibly, also, a more basic and primal element in Klarkash-Ton's liking for the fiction of JRRT. As with Tolkien, Smith's father, Timeus, was an Englishman—and Clark’s mother was of predominantly English stock. Did Timeus Smith imbue his son with an interest in the Green and Pleasant Land?

While most online biographies--and drive-by blog posts--stress Tolkien's latter-day status as an "Oxford don", JRRT was an orphan who grew up in poverty. CAS grew up in similar impoverished circumstances, only he had to care for both of his parents into the 1930s. Both men were raised in small towns and understood the social dynamics thereof. Both were "kings by their own hand", rising to the top of their fields solely by virtue of their innate talents. Smith's rise was meteoric while Tolkien's was a slow climb. However, both were fascinated by poetry and wrote verse for the sheer love of it. Both were enamored by the outdoors and wrote about it often. Yes, there are far more connections betwixt Klarkash-Ton and JRRT than first meets the eye.*

*And plenty of differences as well.