Thomas Burnett Swann (October 12, 1928 - May 5, 1976) was an American

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or w ...

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or gover ...

and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

author. His criticism includes works on the poetry of H.D. and

Christina Rossetti Christina Georgina Rossetti (5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894) was an English writer of romantic, devotional and children's poems, including " Goblin Market" and "Remember". She also wrote the words of two Christmas carols well known in Bri ...

Poetry

Swann's poetry consists largely of short, whimsical pieces evoking a naive innocence. Many of them were later incorporated into his novels and placed in the mouths of his characters - sometimes the same poem is spoken by two or three different characters in novels set centuries and continents apart. Poets also frequently appear as characters in his novels, always on the side of

good In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil and is of interest in the study of ethics, morality, ph ...

Sappho Sappho (; el, Σαπφώ ''Sapphō'' ; Aeolic Greek ''Psápphō''; c. 630 – c. 570 BC) was an Archaic Greek poet from Eresos or Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. Sappho is known for her Greek lyric, lyric poetry, written to be sung while ...

in ''Wolfwinter'' (1972); Robert Herrick in ''Will-o-the-Wisp'' (1977, serialized 1974); a fictionalized

Charles Sorley Captain Charles Hamilton Sorley (19 May 1895 – 13 October 1915) was a British Army officer and Scottish war poet who fought in the First World War. He was killed in action during the Battle of Loos in October 1915. Life and work Born in P ...

in ''The Goat Without Horns'' (1971); and

Thomas Chatterton Thomas Chatterton (20 November 1752 – 24 August 1770) was an English poet whose precocious talents ended in suicide at age 17. He was an influence on Romantic artists of the period such as Shelley, Keats, Wordsworth and Coleridge. Alth ...

in ''The Not-World'' (1975).

Fiction

Swann began writing fiction in 1958 with "Winged Victory", a

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

story based on the famous headless

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...

known as the

Winged Victory of Samothrace The ''Winged Victory of Samothrace'', or the ''Nike of Samothrace'', is a votive monument originally found on the island of Samothrace, north of the Aegean Sea. It is a masterpiece of Greek sculpture from the Hellenistic era, dating from the be ...

. In Swann's story the statue's head is discovered and found to have been modeled upon an

alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

visitor whom the sculptor took for a

goddess A goddess is a female deity. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes ...

. Extraterrestrials also feature in "The Painter", in which the painter

Hieronymous Bosch Hieronymus Bosch (, ; born Jheronimus van Aken ; – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch/ Netherlandish painter from Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, generally oil on oa ...

is abducted by hideous aliens and forced to paint them, thereby providing the inspiration for the grotesque images in his painting '' The Garden of Earthly Delights''. This and many other early stories appeared in the British magazine ''

Science Fantasy Science fantasy is a hybrid genre within speculative fiction that simultaneously draws upon or combines tropes and elements from both science fiction and fantasy. In a conventional science fiction story, the world is presented as being scient ...

''. Some stories also appeared in ''

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher ...

(F&SF)''. Most of Swann's fiction was outright fantasy. The early story "The Dryad-tree" is set in contemporary

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

and features a woman's reaction to the knowledge that her new husband's garden contains a tree possessed by a jealous

dryad A dryad (; el, Δρυάδες, ''sing''.: ) is a tree nymph or tree spirit in Greek mythology. ''Drys'' (δρῦς) signifies " oak" in Greek, and dryads were originally considered the nymphs of oak trees specifically, but the term has evolved t ...

. The story was adapted as a short film in 2017. The bulk of Swann's fantasy fits into a rough chronology that begins in ancient Egypt around 2500 BC and chronicles the steady decline of magic and mythological races such as

centaur A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse. Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as bein ...

satyr In Greek mythology, a satyr ( grc-gre, σάτυρος, sátyros, ), also known as a silenus or ''silenos'' ( grc-gre, σειληνός ), is a male nature spirit with ears and a tail resembling those of a horse, as well as a permanent, ex ...

s, selkies and

minotaur In Greek mythology, the Minotaur ( , ;. grc, ; in Latin as ''Minotaurus'' ) is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "p ...

s. The coming of more "advanced" civilisations constantly threatens to destroy their pre-industrial world, and they must continually seek refuge wherever they can. They see the advent of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

as a major tragedy; the Christians regard magic and mythological beings as

evil Evil, in a general sense, is defined as the opposite or absence of good. It can be an extremely broad concept, although in everyday usage it is often more narrowly used to talk about profound wickedness and against common good. It is general ...

and seek to destroy the surviving creatures, although some manage to survive and preserve some of their old ways through

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

times down to the late 19th Century and perhaps even the 20th. An undercurrent of

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied wit ...

runs through all of these stories. Many of Swann's characters are sexually adventurous and regard sexual repression as spiritually damaging. Casual and sometimes permanent

nudity Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to h ...

is common.

Homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

relationships between both male and female characters are often hinted at, although seldom made explicit. The most openly homosexual relationship in Swann's stories is also the most controversial. His novel ''How Are the Mighty Fallen'' (1974) depicts the

Biblical The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of ...

Jonathan and David David and Jonathan were, according to the Hebrew Bible's Books of Samuel, heroic figures of the Kingdom of Israel, who formed a covenant, taking a mutual oath. Jonathan was the son of Saul, king of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and David ...

as lovers, and furthermore suggests that Jonathan was himself a member of an ancient winged half-human race. The book appeared from Swann's regular publisher DAW Books, but only after DAW's founder and chief executive Donald A. Wollheim fought to prevent distributor

New American Library The New American Library (also known as NAL) is an American publisher based in New York, founded in 1948. Its initial focus was affordable paperback reprints of classics and scholarly works as well as popular and pulp fiction, but it now publish ...

from banning it. However, Swann was reportedly unhappy with George Barr's cover artwork, which showed two of the characters being chased by a

cyclops In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, the Cyclopes ( ; el, Κύκλωπες, ''Kýklōpes'', "Circle-eyes" or "Round-eyes"; singular Cyclops ; , ''Kýklōps'') are giant one-eyed creatures. Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguish ...

, because he felt it misrepresented the style of the novel. Swann died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

in 1976. Several of his novels were published posthumously.

Works (excluding non-fiction and poetry)

The Minotaur Trilogy

(Written in reverse order. Swann claimed that he would correct the inconsistencies between the two earlier books if there was a second edition, but in the event there was not.) *''Cry Silver Bells'' (1977) *''The Forest of Forever'' (1971) *''The Day of the Minotaur'' (1966; previously serialized in 1964-1965 as ''The Blue Monkeys'' in ''Science Fantasy'') The three novels were collected as ''The Minotaur Trilogy'' (1997)

The Latium Trilogy

(Not Swann's title; also written largely in reverse) *''Queens Walk in the Dusk'' (1977) **Formerly Swann's rarest novel, only published in a limited edition of 2000 copies. It has since been reprinted in both hardcover and paperback editions. *''Green Phoenix: The Last Stand of the Prehumans'' (1972; based on the novella "Love Is A Dragonfly" published in ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' March 1972) *''Lady of the Bees'' (1976; expanded from the 1962 ''Science Fantasy'' story "Where is the Bird of Fire?")

Others

*''The Weirwoods'' (1967; serialized in ''Science Fantasy'' 1965) *''Moondust'' (1968) *''The Goat Without Horns'' (1971) *''Wolfwinter'' (1972) *''How Are the Mighty Fallen'' (1974) *''Will-o-the-Wisp'' (1976; serialized in ''

Fantastic The fantastic (french: le fantastique) is a subgenre of literary works characterized by the ambiguous presentation of seemingly supernatural forces. Bulgarian-French structuralist literary critic Tzvetan Todorov originated the concept, charac ...

'' in 1974); the book seems to have been typeset directly from the magazine, resulting in part of the synopsis of part 1 being erroneously included in the book. The cover design, depicting a woman riding a giant insect, also seems to have been inspired by the cover of the magazine issue containing part 1, although this actually had no connection with Swann's story. *''The Not-World'' (1975) *''The Gods Abide'' (1976) *''The Tournament of Thorns'' (1976, assembled from two stories in ''F&SF''; ''The Manor Of Roses''

966 Year 966 ( CMLXVI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * 23 June - Byzantine-Arab War: A prisoner exchange occurs at the border betwee ...

and ''The Stalking Trees'' anuary 1973 *''The Minikins of Yam'' (1976). This novel's prologue is printed before the title page, opposite the inside front cover where promotional text would normally be placed.

Short story collections

*''The Dolphin and the Deep'' (1968) *''Where is the Bird of Fire?'' (1970)

References

External links

Steven Saylor's Thomas Burnett Swann pages
compiled by Hermester Barrington * {{DEFAULTSORT:Swann, Thomas Burnett 20th-century American novelists American fantasy writers American male novelists 20th-century American poets 1928 births 1976 deaths American male poets American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers