THE DEEP ONES: "The Peculiar Demesne of Archvicar Gerontion" by Russell Kirk

"The Peculiar Demesne of Archvicar Gerontion" by Russell Kirk.

Discussion begins May 29, 2024.

First published in Dark Forces (1980).



BIBLIOGRAPHY

https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?43751

SELECTED PRINT VERSIONS

Watchers at the Strait Gate: Mystical Tales
Spirits of Christmas: Twenty Other-Worldly Tales
What Shadows We Pursue: Ghost Stories: Volume Two

ONLINE VERSIONS

No online versions found to date.

ONLINE AUDIO VERSIONS

No online audio versions found to date.

MISCELLANY

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell_Kirk
http://tartaruspress.com/k6.htm
https://tinyurl.com/bddac5a9

The odd parallel Africa in this story reminded me a bit of Moorcock's Fabulous Harbours -- incongruously, in light of the diametrically opposed politics of the authors.

I took Arcane's name Manfred to be an allusion to Manfred, which has been on my ought-to-read list for an age or two. The literary name was doubtless chosen by "Arcane" himself, thus creating another point of correspondence between him and "Gerontion."

I liked the ending well enough, and I don't think Jeebus is proof of intervention against even an irregular clergyman.

That perpetual bane of plans, events, delayed my finishing of this story till today.

The many interruptions no doubt made me enjoy the story less than I otherwise might, but as it was I liked it enough. The ending left me with two questions: first, obviously, whether Gerontion in fact did succeed; second, whether Arcane invented, or improved, the story specifically to make his listeners to ask the first.

I was, I confess, completely unaware of Russell's work as a political thinker, and would no doubt have remained so but for paradoxosalpha's comment sending me to the WP entry.

Speaking of literary references, is Hamnigri a reference to the Biblical character?

The story certainly isn't unusual in its structure, plot, or even its weird concept. (The Christmas Eve setting brings M. R. James to mind.) But I thought it had two strong points: Manfred Arcane as a main character and its novel depiction of the experience of a forced transmigration of the soul.

Manfred Arcane appears as a hero in two of Kirk's novels which seem, from their plot synopsis at his Wikipedia entry, to take place before and after this tale.

There's a whole organization dedicated to Kirk's legacy and this piece has a discussion of his weird/ghost stories set in his native Michigan: https://theimaginativeconservative.org/2023/10/haunting-americas-russell-kirk-gh...

I do find myself tempted to try the first novel with Arcane, A Creature of the Twilight. But with the TBR pile rivaling the tower of Babel in stature, who knows if and when that'll happen.