|
Thomas Burnett Swann (October 12 1928 - May 5 1976) was an American poet, critic and fantasy author.
His criticism includes works on the poetry of H.D. and Christina Rossetti.
Swann's own 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: Sappho in Wolfwinter (1972); Robert Herrick in Will-o-the-Wisp (1977, serialized 1974); a fictionalized Charles Sorley in The Goat Without Horns (1971); and Elizabeth Barrett Browning in The Not-World (1975).
Swann began writing fiction in 1958 with "Winged Victory", a science fiction story based on the famous headless statue known as the Winged Victory of Samothrace. In Swann's story the statue's head is discovered and found to be that of an alien visitor whom the sculptor took for a goddess.
Extraterrestrials also feature in "The Painter", in which the painter Hieronymous Bosch 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. Some stories also appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (F&SF).
Most of Swann's fiction was outright fantasy. The early story "The Dryad-tree" is set in contemporary Florida and features a woman's reaction to the knowledge that her new husband's garden contains a tree possessed by a jealous dryad.
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 like dryads, centaurs, satyrs, selkies and minotaurs. The coming of more "advanced" civilisations constantly threatens to destroy their pre-industrial world, and they must constantly seek refuge wherever they can. The coming of Christianity is seen as a major tragedy, since the Christians regard magic and mythological beings as evil and seek to destroy the surviving creatures, although some manage to survive and preserve some of their old ways through medieval times and even into the late 19th Century.
An undercurrent of sexuality runs through all of these stories. Many of Swann's characters are sexually adventurous and regard sexual repression as psychologically damaging. Casual and sometimes permanent nudity is common. Homosexual 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 David and Jonathan 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 from banning it.
Swann died of cancer in 1976. Several of his novels were published posthumously.
Fiction Biography
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)
- Day of the Minotaur (1966; previously serialized as The Blue Monkeys (1964 - 5 Science Fantasy)
- Collected as The Minotaur Trilogy (1997)
The Latium Trilogy
(Not Swann's title; also written largely in reverse)
- Queens Walk in the Dusk (1977)
- Green Phoenix (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 (UK 1977; serialized in Fantastic 1974; part of magazine synopsis erroneously included in book text)
- The Not-World (1975)
- The Gods Abide (1976)
- The Tournament of Thorns (1976, assembled from stories in F&SF)
- The Minikins of Yam (1976)
- Note: the prologue is printed opposite the inside front cover where it might be overlooked.
Short story collections
- The Dolphin and the Deep (1968)
- Where is the Bird of Fire? (1970)
External links
| 
