Giants of the Earth (part 2)

Remembering Dave Arneson
(October 1, 1947 – April 7, 2009)

By now word has spread, and I think most have heard the news. The message boards and personal blogs with messages in tribute to Dave and offering support for his family are starting to pop up. The outpouring of support and kind words for Dave are truly inspiring, and I think the fan base recognizes and appreciates the contribution that Dave made over his life.

I never had a chance to meet him, and I am a bit saddened by this. As a co-founder of a hobby that probably has consumed more of my free time than any other hobby, I would have liked to have had met him. While Gary seemed to be at the front of the hobby, Dave was the unsung hero behind the scenes. He was a primary creative force behind the creation of the game, and without him, Gary probably would not have pulled it all together. His Blackmoor campaign was the truly the first campaign and existed before the game, and my understanding is that he was playing it until just recently, which probably makes it the longest running as well as the oldest campaign.

I sometimes ponder a bit about what those early days were like, when it was just an idea that was shared with a small group of folks. Who could have predicted that this idea of theirs would travel around the world and sell millions of copies. It is amazing to think that it started with a print run of 500 which sold in three months. The time was ripe for their idea to gain traction and it did.

Over the past day or so, I have been reading the various tributes, and I went over to Wikipedia to look his legacy and it is quite a list. I have enclosed it below as a reminder of what he gave us:

Dungeons & Dragons (1974) (with Gary Gygax)
Blackmoor (1975)
Dungeonmaster's Index (1977)
The First Fantasy Campaign (1977)
Adventures in Fantasy (1979) (with Richard L. Snider)
Robert Asprin's Thieves' World (1981) (co-author)
Citybook II - Port o' Call (1984) (co-author)
Adventures in Blackmoor (D&D Module:DA1) (1986) (with David J. Ritchie)
Temple of the Frog (D&D Module:DA2) (1986) (with David J. Ritchie)
City of the Gods (D&D Module:DA3) (1987) (with David J. Ritchie)
DNA/DOA (1989)
The Case of the Pacific Clipper (1991)
The Haunted Lighthouse (Dungeon Crawl Classics Module #3.5) (2003)
Dave Arneson's Blackmoor (2004) (lead designer)
Player's Guide to Blackmoor (2006)

I am also including an interview with him done by Gamespy in August 2004, which is a very interesting read, and does provide some insight into the history of the game.

Interview

To Dave, I thank you for all the hours of fun that you gave me in this game that you created. You shall not be forgotten.

Rest in Peace.

Giants of the Earth (part 1)

It was just the other day that I learned of the passing of Steven Tompkins. Regular readers of The Cimmerian will of course recognize Steve’s name, as his essays fill their electronic tomes, but there maybe some of my readers that have not had a chance to read through his works. I never met him, I never exchanged emails with him, I only knew him through is writing, and his writing was something special. I remember my 10th grade World Literature teacher told us that one’s writing gives insight into what is deep inside a person. Writing is a special expression of a person, and some folks just have a special touch with the written words, and Steve was one of those guys.

Steve’s depth of knowledge on sword and sorcery, high fantasy, science fiction, mythology and film was nothing short of amazing. His ability to weave multiples sources around a single theme was truly a unique talent that few possess. He could wield the quill like the heroes of old could wield their great axes. It has been said that the pen is mightier than the sword, and the way he crafted his trade, left no doubt as to the caliber of writer that he was.

While the main thrust of The Cimmerian was to support the works of Robert Howard, Steve made it a point to champion numerous authors like Martin, Tolkien and Lovecraft, just to name a few. My favorite of his essays were the ones on Tolkien, as I count myself as a huge fan of the late professor, and one of my greatest disappointments will be that I will never get a chance to hear Tolkien speak on mythology and his more famous works. It is my belief that Tolkien was a very special author, and know that Steve was firmly in this camp as well. His essays on Middle Earth are just stunning, and really bring out the brilliance that was embedded in his works. Steve’s ability to turn a phrase and bring in an unexpected reference was just a thing of beauty.

The tag line for The Crimmerian web site is, “A website and shieldwall for Robert E. Howard, J.R.R. Tolkien and the Best in Heroic Fantasy, Horror and Historical Adventure.” I would argue that Steve was the anchor of that shieldwall. All the bloggers that log their craft there are very talented, but Steve just took it to another level. That is not a slight to folks like Brian and Leo, but rather just shows just how impressive Steve was.

Some of his more recent essays that I enjoyed are as follows:

1) An Early, Albeit Pagan, Christmas in the Old North
2) Lonely Mountain, Crowded Expectations; Or, Prelude as Successor

3) Long Ago, Far Away, and So Much Better Than It Is Today
4) Glaurung and Smaug Make Room for Fafnir

Several of the bloggers at The Crimmerian had wrote tributes to Steve and I will link them here, as they are very good.

Brian Murphy: Bidding farewell to the heroic heart of Steve Tompkins
Duece Richardson: His Like Will Not Be Here Again

As a final thought, the figures in heroic fantasy are always a bit larger than life. Their epic tales are a bard’s dream come true when it comes to weaving yarn to delight all within ear shot. Some of the heroes are tragic, and it is what allows us to identify with them, as not everything goes our way in life. The storm will come, and it is through this storm that character is made. There are a number of us that recognize this and see the human elements in these stories, which is why we keep coming back to them. Steve recognized the inherit value in these stories and made it a passion to express this through his writing.

Here is hoping that even as I write this, you will be swapping bardic tales with those that have gone before you. We will miss you.