This quote is from the Robert E. Howard tale "The Lion of Tiberias." And, yes, indeed, John Norwald knows how to hate. A wandering warrior in the 12th Century, Norwald had become the bodyguard of a young Muslim prince. When the prince's dad loses a battle, he insists that he and Norwald surrender. Their enemy, Imad ad-Din Zengi, promises that no sword will touch the prince.
Well, a sword doesn't touch him, but a whip does. Zengi has the young man scourged to death. That's what sets off Norwald's hate.
Zengi spares Norwald. Well, sort of. He condemns him to be a galley slave. He's strong, but there's no way that he'll survive more than a few years. No one does.
Skip ahead 23 years. Zengi's power has grown. A Norman knight gives him a spot of trouble, but he soon has the knight and his girl trapped in a small fortress. He brings up his army to take this fortress. He's on the verge of becoming THE power in the Middle East.
But what if an old enemy--a man he's long since forgotten about--survived for over two decades on pure hatred? What if he's coming back to visit Zengi?
I'm not counting this as a spoiler because if you don't know that Norwald is coming back the moment Zengi sends him to the galleys, then you aren't really trying. The journey there, though, is full of outstanding action and adventure. Like all of Howard's tales, it is truly exciting, vividly describing the bloody fights and heart-stopping chases. And, aside from being an exceptional adventure story, it's also a study in how the actions of one man can change history.
In real life, Zengi was assassinated in 1146. No one knows for sure who did it, though its thought to have been a slave or a disgruntled servant. Howard beats history in this case--his account of Zengi's death is lots better than that.
The story was published in the July 1933 issue of Magic Carpet Magazine. You can read it yourself HERE.
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