|
 Origins of Darkovan names
Chambers' influence
For many readers of Darkover, several important names sounded familiar before
their discovery of the series. This is the case for instance of
Hastur, Hali, Carcosa, etc. References to such
names can be found in Lovecraft's and Bierce's works.
In fact these authors (and Marion Zimmer Bradley herself) have borrowed the
names from Chambers' most famous work: The King in
Yellow.
This book consists in several short stories. Many of them make reference to a
play entitled "The King in Yellow" itself. This legendary play has
two acts and only the first one is ever evocated: it is said that reading the
second act can drive one mad. The quotations included in short stories make
reference to a strange being named Hastur which is sometimes a town
and sometimes a person (or a god). The city of Carcosa is also
evocated. The most interesting evocation is the one of the lake of
Hali, which does not seem to contain water, exactly as in Darkover
novels.
Links about Chambers
If you are interested in Chambers' work, you can try these links:
source file (Last modification: Wed Apr 21 17:21:45 1999)
|
