𝓦𝐓
"The Testament of Athammaus" is a short fantasy story by the late American author and Lovecraft contemporary Clark Ashton Smith. It forms part of his Hyperborean Cycle series of tales.
Synopsis[]
Athammaus, headsman of the deserted city of Commoriom, relates the story of how his once-great city came to be abandoned overnight.
When the feared tribal reaver Knygathin Zhaum is captured by the Commoriom soldiery, the creature is sentenced to death. However, with each beheading, it simply reforms itself and goes on to consume another helpless civilian before re-submitting to its captivity. After the third reformation, it has changed beyond all recognition, and the citizenry flee their homes en masse, with Athammaus the last to leave.
Characters[]
- Athammaus, the headsman, or executioner, of Commoriom.
- Knygathin Zhaum, an inhuman creature with a taste for human flesh.
- King Loquamethros, lord of Commoriom.
Publication History[]
"The Testament of Athammaus" first saw print in the October 1932 edition of pulp magazine Weird Tales. It has since been reprinted many times in many different publications, and has also been translated into German, Dutch, Spanish, French, Italian and Hungarian.
| "The Tale of Satampra Zeiros" • "The Testament of Athammaus" • "The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan" • "The Door to Saturn" • "The House of Haon-Dor" • "The Ice-Demon" • "Ubbo-Sathla" • The Seven Geases" • "The White Sybil" • "The Coming of the White Worm" • "The Theft of Thirty-Nine Girdles" |