Perhaps the single most commonly asked question about any immortal, after the obvious questions concerning the immortal's origins, is "what sort of interesting events have you been involved with or witnessed?" While most immortal humans wisely avoid the limelight, few of them care to spend all their time hiding, either. And it should be obvious that these men and women have their agendas, their dreams and ambitions, that can only be met by interacting with the mortal majority.
The agenda of the man known as Kane (whose career has largely been described by the late Karl Edward Wagner[1]) can be simply described as the acquisition of power -- personal, political and preternatural power. If Wagner's description of Kane's mentality in the novel Bloodstone is accurage, Kane sought power so as to make himself, an outcast from humanity, into the sole master of the world.[2]
Yet as this is the case, another question arises: "What were Kane's activities in the millenia between the bulk of Wagner's stories and those set in the present day? (The reader is referred to the author's Prehistoric Timeline for a reminder of the chronological placement of these former stories during the early, "elven" period of the First Age of Middle-Earth.) A poem by Wanger exists, suggesting that Kane fled Earth after a period of disaster, when "continents quaked, [and] oceans rose in steam", and that he did not return for "ten thousands of years". But the philosophy espoused by the poem's subject ("I vanquished Law once, I'll conquer yet again --/And force upon Mankind the Freedom he fears --") does not exactly correspond to the actual attitudes or behaviours Kane has exhibited, especially not in the "contemporary" stories. Moreover, since we know from Richard L. Tierney's research into the life of Simon of Ghita (also known as Simon Magus) that Kane was on Earth in the first century of the Common Era, it is unlikely that any journey of "ten thousands of years" occurred ... at least, not one terminating in the twentieth century. The poem, "Midnight Sun", is probably a mythologization of Wagner's first meeting with Kane, around 1960, after which he wrote "The Treasure of Lynortis".
Of course, a complete summary of Kane's activities is unlikely to be achieved without an interview with the man himself, something the author (not being that suicidal) does not seek. What follows is simply literary and historical detective work, and need not be taken seriously unless the reader wishes.
What became of Kane in the deluge that destroyed the early human civilizations of Asia is unclear. Perhaps he did flee Earth for some extended period of time, and his account of his return, or a record of it, inspired "Midnight Sun". He was probably not involved in the wars of the later, "human" period of Middle Earth's First Age, nor would he have found much to interest him in the Second Age's beginning. Even after Numenor's corruption began, he probably had the sense to stay out of Westernesse, rightly suspecting that any land risen up out of the sea by "gods" could easily be submerged again should they grow displeased by the land's inhabitants. Moreover, there were many opportunities for advancement to be found on the mainland, especially after Sauron was brought to Numenor in chains.
It should be noted that Sauron and Kane may have been old acquaintances. If Sauron was, as has been hypothesized elsewhere, one of the masks used by an entity known to contemporary occult lore as Nyarlathotep [3], then that being was also familiar to Kane under the alias Sathanas. They had been both allies and enemies to each other, although it is likely that Kane was Sathanas' pawn more often than he is likely to readily admit.
In any event, after the destruction of Numenor and the loss of his ring, Sauron was in need of any allies he could get. The destruction of his pleasant semblance and the diminishment of his power with the ring's disappearance had the net effect of reducing him to a level where Kane might well treat with him as an equal, or nearly one. Kane, of course, would have been plotting to gain power for himself at Sauron's ultimate expense. Sauron, of course, would have been aware of this, but in his hubris, would have believed that the undying one would never be able to accomplish his goal.
The question has no doubt occurred to the reader: is the author suggesting that Kane can be found in the account of the War of the Ring, published by J.R.R. Tolkien under the title The Lord of the Rings? And the answer is yes. Kane can be found in Book V, Chapter X of that work, where he appears under the aliases "The Mouth of Sauron" and "The Messenger of Mordor".
A number of objections can be raised to such an identification, but they can also be quickly answered.
1. "The Mouth of Sauron" is described as being a "Black Numenorean" who had gone so far into Sauron's service that he had forgotten his own name. Neither his race nor his motivation seem to match Kane's.
It must be understood that the source material of The Lord of the Rings, the Red Book of the Westmarch, was compiled from many accounts of the War of the Ring.[4] While Peregrin ("Pippin") Took was present for the meeting between the Messenger of Mordor and the Captains of the West, any information presented as exposition about the Messenger in that passage would have come to him (or to the compilers) only through rumor or through accounts drawn from the interrogation of prisoners taken during the great rout of Sauron's forces. Such information is notoriously unreliable, and Kane would have wanted there to be many conflicting rumors circulating about him. As to the question of race, Kane is well documented as being very tall and extremely physically powerful, both characteristics of the Numenorean ancestry. Those unfamiliar with his true origins, but familiar with Numenoreans, might have been inclined to asssume that he was what they knew.
2. The Mouth of Sauron is shown as being intimidated by both Aragorn and Gandalf. Kane would never have been fazed by either.
Strictly speaking, the Mouth of Sauron is not intimidated. He reacts as one threatened by the hard stare, possibly augmented with a psychic assault, with which Aragorn responds to his (quite Kane-like) insults. As he has been threatened, and considering the possibility that until that moment he had believed that Aragorn was just "a brigand of the hills", his reaction is entirely appropriate.
His behaviour towards Gandalf is equally understandable, given that he is well aware of Gandalf's true nature. The Messenger of Mordor recoils from Gandalf's upraised hand, true, but this is an eminently sensible reaction to a potential attack from one who has faced a Balrog in single combat. And his reaction to being called "one of [Sauron's] slaves" is especially appropriate if one conceives that he has not totally lost his identity, entirely inappropriate if he is proud to be nothing more than the Mouth of Sauron.
"His face was twisted with amazement and anger to the likeness of some wild beast that, as it crouches on its prey, is smitten on muzzle with a stinging rod. Rage filled him, and his mouth slavered, and shapeless sounds of fury came strangling from his throat." (op. cit.)
Savagery and sarcasm are two of Kane's distinctive habits. The Messenger of Mordor exhibits both.
3. The Mouth of Sauron would certainly not have survived the final battle, when "those that were deepest and longest in evil servitude ... and yet were men proud and bold, in their turn now gathered themselves for a last stand of desperate battle." (LotR, Book VI, Chapter IV)
The Messenger of Mordor's fate is not, at any time, stated. He is not reported to be killed or captured. And Kane is well-known for his ability to guess when a cause is lost, and make a personal escape.
A final piece of evidence exists for the identification of Kane with the Messenger. One of the terms of surrender that he dictates to the Armies of the West is that they "shall help to rebuild Isengard which they have wantonly destroyed, and that shall be Sauron's, and there shall his lieutenant dwell: not Saruman, but one more worthy of trust." It is clear to all that he refers to himself when he speaks of this lieutenant. The Mouth of Sauron, one allegedly without ambition save to serve his master, is anticipating that he will be claiming for his own demesne a tower once ruled by a wizard -- indeed, the most technically accomplished wizard of the age -- which may contain an unimaginable amount of lore and discoveries. This is exactly what Kane would seek out in that situation.[5]
First, a note on chronology. Eckert places Farmer's two Oparian romances at the same general point in time as the Hyborian age, based on the chronology included in Hadon of Ancient Opar. However, the geographical description also included in that same text describes glaciers on the northern coast of Africa, and over much of Europe. This suggests that the beginning of Oparian civilization occured after the deluge and subsequent glaciation which destroyed the remnants of the Hyborian kingdoms, following their overthrow by Picts and Hyrkanians. This indicates a possible identification of the Klemsuh with the "proto-Egyptians" who feature in the second part of "The Hyborian Age". In short, Farmer's calculations of the history of Opar may require shifting the dates associated with the Hyborian age, and those events preceding it, further back in time from Howard's estimates concerning them, just as new information has required revisions to Tolkien's estimate that the War of the Ring occurred around 4000 BCE.
Be that as it may, in Flight to Opar, there is a sudden intrusion of possible supernatural elements in the midst of what is otherwise a skeptical, Burroughsian narrative. In Chapter 22, Hadon and his companions make shelter near a hill which is thought to be the ruins of the city Mibessem, raised by the hero Bessem, sone of Keth. Bessem had left the city of his father after quarreling with Keth and killing his own brother. He then founded a new city, but had the misfortune of building it near the prison of a demon. After Bessem disappeared (having gone to fight the demon), the city collapsed.
The demon in this episode, with its enchanting, piping noises, resembles the description of certain entities known as the "Servitors of the Outer Gods". Hadon and his companions never actually see the creature, only hear the noises that it makes, but there is no doubt in their extraordinarily skeptical minds of its reality.
But consider for a moment the tale of Bessem. It has elements which strongly echo the Biblical tale of Cane and Abel. If we were not aware of Kane's existence, it would be tempting to take this tale as the original of that myth. Instead, the temptation exists to suggest that Kane was Bessem.
The connection to Keth is easily explained away. Hadon, in Flight to Opar, is recounting what are, even to him, legends. As Farmer's chronology points out, the great storytellers of the Oparian civilization, such as the poet Kwanim, often combined tales of contemporary figures with characters out of legend and folklore. When these mythmakers heard the tale of Bessem and Mibessem, they may have invented a connection to Keth in order to make him fit into their pre-existing genealogical structure. Or, quite possibly, Kane himself lied about such a tie in order to secure his rule.
What became of him this time? What likely happened is that he went to deal with the demon, though not through force of arms as the legend states, but through sorcery, hoping to master the creature and thereby increase his own power. As was perhaps depressingly common when it came to such scheming on his part, the attempt backfired, and he found himself left with nothing, forced to start over somewhere else.[6]
One final note on this subject: the Chadean religion involved myths that underlay those of many Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cultures. Their gods became gods more familiar to us. It is likely that Resu, the Klemsasa sun god (himself likely a memory of Mitra, the Hyborian sun god) eventually became Re, the Egyptian sun god; likewise, Sahhindar's combination of archery and medicinal knowledge almost certainly influenced the Greek conception of Apollo. While we cannot know if Kane imitated his fellow immortal in becoming part of the theology of these people, it is intriguing to note that an Egyptian god assocated with chaos, and famed for the murder of his brother, is also traditionally depicted as having red hair.[7]
There have been a number of groups that used the name "Cainite" for themselves. The most notable, as far as conventional history is concerned, were Gnostics who believed that the Biblical Cane's murder of Abel was an act of rebellion against the false god responsible for the creation of the material universe. Kane was certainly familiar with these individuals, and likely found their adulation of him to be very amusing, and very useful.
Another group sometimes known as Cainites, generally believed by the public to be fictional, are the clans of vampires more often known as the Kindred[8], whose involved genealogical mythology taces back to a common progenitor: "Caine", cursed with vampirism in this version of the tale. The most complete body of information on Kindred mythology can be found in The Book of Nod, parts of which were allegedly written by Caine himself. However, even a cursory examination of this book will convince the reader familiar with Kane's exploits that whoever the author might be, it was not Kane. Even setting aside the vampiristic aspects of the saga, the two individuals are very different in personality.
While it is tempting to dismiss The Book of Nod as a fiction, dating from sometime in the first centuries of the common era and derived from Gnostic concepts, another possibility should be considered. According to the story called "Mirage", Kane was for a brief time the guest and lover of a female vampire named Naichoryss. He ultimately rejected her invitation to join her as one of the undead, and she seemed much bereft by this loss.
Could it be that Naichoryss created the three progenitors of the various clans of Kindred, and instilled in them the view that Kane was their "father" who had rejected them? ("Caine's" rejection of the Kindred is a central aspect of their mythology.) Such an hypothesis would account for the belief shared by a number of other supernatural beings that the Kindred were in fact created by a female entity, usually identified as Lilith.
As with much else, this is only speculation, and unlikely to be resolved soon.
It has been suggested that the immortal who has appeared in various publications of D.C. Comics under the name "Vandal Savage" is, in fact, Kane, with differences in his background added by the writers in order to make them seem completely fictitious. (For example, claims that "Vandal" was both Gaius Julius Caesar and Chinjiz Qhan should be taken with several large grains of salt.) A complete survey of this individual's published career, and the corresponding dissection of the stories in an attempt to justify the thesis, is quite beyond the scope of this article.
One concluding observation can be made, however. According to stories published in the mid to late 1980s, but which likely took place in the late 1970s [9], Vandal Savage had become a drug dealer. According to Wagner, Kane was also involved in the drug trade, at roughly the same time. This proves nothing, of course.
[1] The claim made by Kane in "At First Just Ghostly" to be the true author of the published stories about himself should be met with skepticism. He is, after all, an egomaniac.
[2] I say desired because I deem it likely, in the allegedly more sophisticated modern era, that he has come to desire power for power's sake. Many of Wagner's "contemporary" stories seem to suggest such a progression, if that is the correct term.
[3] Or at least, one of the entities known as Nyarlathotep. This issue will be discussed in greater detail in a forthcoming article, tentatively titled "Thus I Refute Lovecraft: A Metahumanist Philosophy as Applied to the Wold Newton Mythos".
[4] This accounts, in my view, for many of the changes in tone noted by critics of the book; Professor Tolkien was demonstrating his respect for the text in preserving them.
[5] I have elsewhere speculated that Kane has repeatedly encountered a "perpetual reincarnator", who lived as Dregar, Kull, Conan, Cormac mac Art and many others. It is not clear who, if anyone, this individual became in the Third Age. Quite likely, if such an individual existed in this era at all, it was as one of the Rohirrim, and likely one as much an outsider among them as Conan was among the Cimmerians.
[6] The aforementioned reincarnatormay have been the giant, ill-fated Kwasim in this era.
[7] One mistake often made by novice students of comparative mythology is the association of the Egyptian deity Set with the Stygio-Acheronian deity of the same name (worshipped by the Serpent People under the name Yig). The latter figure was known to the Egyptians, but under the name Apep.
[8] I should note here that the Kindred are by no means as ubiquitous or as omnipotent as their propaganda (a variety of games and books published under the collective title Vampire: The Masquerade) would lead gullible individuals to believe. Nor is it likely that Count Dracula is one of them, any more than he is one of the semi-demonic vampires usually encountered by Buffy Summers. A more balanced view of the Kindred can be found in A Dozen Black Roses, Nancy A. Collins' account of a non-Kindred vampire's encounters with the Kindred of one city.
[9] See the author's "A Case of Continuity: An Inquiry into the Implications of the Life and Career of May-Day Parker".