Thomas Burnett Swann

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Thomas Burnett Swann (born October 12, 1928 in Tampa , Florida ; died May 5, 1976 in Winter Haven , Florida) was an American fantasy writer, poet , English scholar , and literary critic.

Life

Swann was the son of Thomas Burnett Swann Sr. and Margaret Swann, nee Gaines. He first studied at Duke University , where he earned his bachelor's degree with honorary membership in Phi Beta Kappa in 1950 , then at the University of Tennessee , where he graduated with a master's degree in 1955 . In 1960 he received his PhD from the University of Florida . From 1950 to 1954 he served in the US Navy in the Korean War . During this time a first volume of poetry was published ( Driftwood , 1952). From 1960 to 1969 he taught English at Florida Southern College in Lakeland , Wesleyan College in Macon , Georgia, and Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton . From 1969 he devoted himself full-time to writing.

Swann published his first story Winged Victory in 1958 in the American magazine Fantasy Universe . The debut novel Day of the Minotaur , also his best known, appeared in 1966 and was the first volume in his Minotaur trilogy in which Swann adapted and redesigned the myth of the Cretan Minotaur . These, as well as his other works, are located in a consistent mythical universe that is characterized by the contrasts between female and male principles or between the creatures of a mythical (animal) world ( satyrs , dryads , but also monsters like the Minotaur) and the human world is shaped. The work of the female principle or the world of mythical beings is consistently portrayed positively, the world of men, on the other hand, is expressed in the will to power, the desire to conquer and the readiness to suppress any deviation, in particular the suppression of a sexuality practiced in pagan freedom and innocence through the ascending Christianity.

The mythical world is ultimately doomed to extinction, regret and the autumn pictures painted in poetic colors of a dwindling pagan world determine the basic tone of Swann's works. Only in the novel The Minikins of Yam (1976, German as Die Tanzenden Zwerge von Yam ), which is set in Ancient Egypt , the representative of the goddess Isis can once again triumph over the followers of the rational Ra , in the later epochs in mythical chronology this does not succeed more. This applies to the mythical Crete of the Minotaur trilogy, as well as to the legendary beginnings of Rome, which forms the background of the Lazio trilogy. A sideline are the novels in which Swann deals with biblical mythology, including the two late novels How Are the Mighty Fallen (1974), in which the relationship between David and Jonathan is characterized as homosexual, and The Gods Abide . In both, the aforementioned contrast is embodied in the goddess Ashtoreth on the one hand and the biblical Yahweh on the other.

The darkening continues in Wolfwinter (1972) and The Weirwoods (1967) and is finally completed under the sign of the cross in The Tournament of Thorns (1976), Will-o-the-Wisp (1976), The Not-World ( 1975) and The Goat without Horns (1971).

In 1973 Swann received the Phoenix Award for Lifetime Achievement. His works have been nominated three times for the Hugo Award , five times for the Locus Award and three times for the Mythopoeic Award . In 2000, his novel How Are the Mighty Fallen was nominated for the Hall of Fame of the Gaylactic Spectrum Award .

The classification of Swann's work as fantasy only partially does justice to its content; it can rather be classified as a literarily ambitious mythography , which is underlain by a decided rejection of the foundations of the western world, especially Christianity, which is often underlaid with melancholy Polemics designed. These aspects could be responsible for the fact that Swann's works were received positively in their time, but are largely forgotten today. In addition, his later works are rated as weaker, for example by John Clute .

In addition to his literary work, Swann also wrote several literary history and critical studies, including biographies of the poet Charles Hamilton Sorley, the Victorian poet Christina Rossetti and the writer Hilda Doolittle, better known as HD

In 1976 Swann died of cancer in his parents' home at the age of 47. Some works unfinished or only partially published at the time of his death appeared posthumously , including the third part of the Latium trilogy and the novel The Gods Abide .

bibliography

If two years of publication are given for the original editions, the first is that of the first edition and the second that of the first edition (as a book).

Minotaur trilogy

The order of the inner chronology is 3, 2, 1.

  • 1 Day of the Minotaur (1966, also as The Blue Monkeys , 1964)
    • German: The hour of the minotaur. Translated by Lore Strassl . Pabel (Terra Fantasy # 44), 1978.
  • 2 The Forest of Forever (1971)
    • German: the last minotaur. Translated by Lore Strassl. Pabel (Terra Fantasy # 34), 1977.
  • 3 Cry Silver Bells (1977)
    • English: The last Minotaur. Translated by Tony Westermayr. Goldmann Science Fiction # 23356, 1980, ISBN 3-442-23356-9 .
  • The Minotaur Trilogy (1996, collective edition of 1–3)

German collective edition: Minotaur. Translated by Lore Strassl. Moewig Science Fiction # 3837, 1988, ISBN 3-8118-3837-7 (collective edition of 1 and 2).

Lazio trilogy
  • 1 Queens Walk in the Dusk (1977)
  • 2 Green Phoenix (1972)
    • German: The green phoenix. Translated by Tony Westermayr. Goldmann Science Fiction # 23290, 1978, ISBN 3-442-23290-2 .
  • 3 Lady of the Bees (1976)
    • English: the queen bee. Translated by Tony Westermayr. Goldmann Science Fiction # 23304, 1979, ISBN 3-442-23304-6 .
  • Where Is the Bird of Fire? (1962, short story, expanded to Lady of the Bees , 1976)
    • German: Der Feuervogel. In: The Firebird. Pabel (Terra Fantasy # 57), 1979.
  • Love Is a Dragonfly (1972, short story)
Novels
  • The Weirwoods (1965, 1967)
  • Moondust (1968)
  • The Goat Without Horns (1970, 1971)
    • English: Princess of the Sharks. Translated by Lore Strassl. Pabel (Terra Fantasy # 68), 1979.
  • Wolfwinter (1972)
  • How Are the Mighty Fallen (1974)
  • Will-O-the-Wisp (1974, 1976)
    • German: The golden giant. Translated by Tony Westermayr. Goldmann Science Fiction # 23284, 1978, ISBN 3-442-23284-8 .
  • The Not-World (1975)
    • German: The non-world. Translated by Tony Westermayr. Goldmann Science Fiction # 23262, 1977, ISBN 3-442-23262-7 .
  • The Minikins of Yam (1976)
    • English: The dancing dwarfs of Yam. Translated by Tony Westermayr. Goldmann Science Fiction # 23350, 1980, ISBN 3-442-23350-X .
  • The Tournament of Thorns (1976, fix-up , posthumous, integrates The Manor of Roses and The Stalking Trees )
  • The Gods Abide (1976, posthumous)
    • German: The secret gods. Translated by Tony Westermayr. Goldmann Science Fiction # 23342, 1980, ISBN 3-442-23342-9 .
Collections
  • The Dolphin and the Deep (1968)
  • Where Is the Bird of Fire? (1970)
    • German: Der Feuervogel. Translated by Lore Strassl. Pabel (Terra Fantasy # 57), 1979.

German compilation:

  • Magic Forests: 3 novels from the days when the world was still full of magic. Goldmann Science Fiction # 10079, 1987, ISBN 3-442-10079-8 (contains: The Last Minotaur, The Green Phoenix, The Non-World ).
Short stories

If only the title and year are given as the source for short stories, the complete information can be found in the corresponding collective edition.

  • Winged Victory (1958)
  • Viewpoint (1959)
  • The Dryad Tree (1960)
  • The Painter (1960)
  • To Trap the Unicorn (1960)
  • The Sudden Wings (1962)
  • The Dolphin and the Deep (1963)
  • The Murex (1964)
  • Vashti (1965)
    • German: Vashti. In: The Firebird. 1979.
  • The Manor of Roses (1966, incorporated into The Tournament of Thorns , 1976)
  • Bear (1970)
    • German: Bear. In: The Firebird. 1979.
  • A-Hunting We Will Go (1970)
  • The Red Ants Revolt (1970)
  • A Problem of Adjustment (1970)
  • The Stalking Trees (1973, incorporated into The Tournament of Thorns , 1976)
  • The Night of the Unicorn (1975)
    • English: The night of the unicorn. In: Lin Carter (Ed.): Demon Love. Pabel (Terra Fantasy # 85), 1981. Also called: The Night of the Unicorn. In: Erhard Ringer , Hermann Urbanek (Ed.): Ashtaru the terrible. Heyne Science Fiction & Fantasy # 3915, 1982, ISBN 3-453-30833-6 .
  • The Dog Days (1976)
Poetry
  • Driftwood (1952)
  • Wombats and Moondust: Poems, Frolicsome and Serious (1956)
  • Alas, in Lilliput (1964)
  • Poems (1976)
Non-fiction
  • Wonder and Whimsy. The fantastic world of Christina Rossetti (1960)
  • The Classical World of HD (1962)
  • Ernest Dowson (1964, Twayne's English authors series # 15)
  • The Ungirt runner. Charles Hamilton Sorley, Poet of World War I. (1965)
  • AA Milne (1971, Twayne's English authors series # 113)
  • The Heronie or the Horse: Leading Leadies in Republic's Films (1978)

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Swann, Thomas Burnett
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American fantasy writer
DATE OF BIRTH October 12, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Tampa , Florida
DATE OF DEATH May 5th 1976
Place of death Winter Haven , Florida