"Jirel Meets Magic"
From the July 1935 issue of WEIRD TALES, this is one of the Jirel of Joiry stories by Catherine L. Moore. While it's not the most well known or best written in the series (that would probably be "Black God`s Kiss"), it's a wild and intense story that stands well on its own.
Visually, Jirel is vividly conceived. A tall, slim woman with a mass of wild red hair, she has strange yellow eyes. (Maybe the Savage family had its ancestors in Joiry?) At first, she seems to be a simple warrior who lives by the sword, but there are always hints of something deeper and more subtle. When she looks through a magic window into a lovely sunny meadow instead of a bloodied courtyard she should be seeing, a great longing for peace comes over her and her normal life seems harsh and dismal. But she is sworn to her duty and there is no rest for her.
Moore was a woman, concealing her sex from readers at first behind the C.L. initials, and there is undeniably something intangibly female in the writing*. Not that it's the stereotyped over-emotional angst and lack of action of much of today's fantasy adventure. Nor is Jirel just a modern American woman placed in a barbaric situation with her 21st century values intact. No, the Lady of Joiry is both very medieval in her directness and simplicity and at the same time has undertones of the 1930s, when the stories were written. So there is more to her than the standard heroines of today`s 600 page, seven part wristbreakers that fill the shelves at Barnes & Nobel. (There is a startling moment when we're told that Jirel knows all about using torture. "Her dungeons were as bloodstained as those of any of her neighbors." )
A simple summary: In Medieval France, there is a tiny kingdom called Joiry, and the commander of its largest fortress is a dangerous redhead named Jirel. Sworn to kill an evil sorceror who has been getting on her nerves, she storms his castle and finds out he has fled to some sort of nearby fairyland ruled by a magical diva named Jarisme.
There is an oddly hesitant conflict between the purple-eyed sorceress and the blunt-speaking armored Valkyrie, as both Jarisme and her companion warlock seem apprehensive about Jirel for some inexplicable reason. It seems there's this prophecy... But, after some very pretty prose poetry about bowers of hypnotic flowers and a beautiful golden sabretooth, inevitably there has to come the moment of truth. Moore is in very good form here, the only weakness being a slight tendency to idle in gorgeous imagery. When Jarisme summons a conclave of sorcerors from various dimensions, the narrative bogs down a bit in all the lush colors and vague descriptions. But the toughminded Jirel anchors the plot to her singleminded determination, and she is believable throughout.
Probably in 1934, the concept of a swordswoman was novel enough to get readers all worked up one way or another. By this time, however, we've seen a lengthy succession of tough, aggressive women beating up thugs twice their weight (Xena, Buffy, La Femme Nikita, Tomb Raider, all their two-fisted sisterhood) and the story has to stand more on its own merits. "Jirel Meets Magic" does just that. It's well worth reading, and if you see a copy of JIREL OF JOIRY or Moore's other series NORTHWEST SMITH stories in any of their many reprints, by all means jump on that book and give it a good home.
_____________
*The catty exchange when Jirel first meets the arrogant Jarisme is priceless, and one of the touches that makes Jirel come to life on the page.