Winds of Time

Winds of Time

Book: Winds of Time
Authors: Robert E. Howard and Bernd Karwath
Language: German/English
Publisher: Thomas Kovacs
Year: 2007
Condition: As new

Winds of Time is a collection of 39 poems (in English and German) by the Texan author and poet Robert E. Howard, who created many unforgettable heroes for the American Pulps in the 1920s and 1930s, including Conan, Solomon Kane, Kull, Bran Mak Morn, Steve Harrison and many others. The book also contains a German foreword by Hubert Strassl, who made a name for himself in the 1970s as an author of fantasy and horror novels under the pseudonym Hugh Walker. It is thanks to him that Howard's texts first appeared in German in the 1960s. The English foreword was written by Glenn Lord (1931-2011), Howard's literary executor. An English introduction as well as an English and a German essay on Howard's work by Bernd Karwath, the translator of the poems, round off the book.

The book was published in 2007 to mark Robert E. Howard's 100th birthday, in an edition of 1000 copies in Zurich. It is published by Thomas Kovacs. Format: DIN A4, 220 pages, bound in full cloth with silver embossed printing, colour dust jacket, 23 full-page black-and-white illustrations and one colour illustration by Hubert Schweizer.

Quote from Hubert Strassl's foreword:
I too have translated Howard poems from time to time. I know what Bernd Karwath had to contend with. Rhyme is the real problem. It demands the most compromises - in rhythm, in mood, even in content. Like every translator who pours his heart into an author who is close to him, he brings himself into it, translates him as he feels him, and thus navigates around many a hurdle imposed by rhyme and rhythm.
But that is poetry - the word is nowhere more powerful.
This is a wonderful book because it sets original text and translation side by side, giving the reader who is proficient in English the opportunity to enjoy Howard's poetry without any compromises.

Illustrator Hubert Schweizer and translator Bernd Karwath try to make the world of Tolkien's predecessor tangible in word and image, where he speaks most intensely: in his poems. Winds of Time is the world's first bound book with Howard's poems in German and English, and presents interesting analyses for a better understanding of his work.

The book is available exclusively in our shop.

Tags: robert e. howard, winds of time, hubert strassl, hubert schweizer