First appeared in Farnsworth Wright's Weird Tales. Reprinted by L. Sprague de Camp, Martin H. Greenberg, Robert Silverberg, Jessica Yates, David G. Hartwell, Jacob Weisman, Lisa Yaszek, Mark Finn, Chris Gruber, Jeffrey Shanks.
Jirel of Joiry is the commander of Joiry's army--arms trussed and taken before Guillaume, the conquering enemy. He is surprised to find his fierce opponent is actually a wild, red-haired woman. Admiring her beauty, he steals a kiss but is rebuffed. He smacks her to the ground and has her taken to a cell.
Commentary (with Spoilers)
Jirel escapes and ventures into a dark land where she steals a kiss from a black stone god to deliver to Guillaume.
The darkness is either an escape from evocative writing, or a self-imposed limitation to force the narrative into interesting directions--just as "Shambleau" takes place in just one room. There are a few inspired moments--such as walking the bridge, and the opening and closing.
Speaking of Shambleau, this tale serves as a kind of parallel or opposite to that earlier (arguably stronger) tale. They seem to invite comparison.
What's fascinating here, though, is Jirel's regret. The opening does not necessarily suggest attraction, but the ending does, even as she delivers her death blow with a kiss. This complication makes it fascinating. Perhaps violence is, for this character, foreplay.
That is not the only complication. She carries a crucifix, yet she carries another god or demon within to kill the enemy she now has new feelings about.
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