Page:Weird Tales Volume 10 Number 1 (1927-07).djvu/140



F ONE were asked to name the author whose genius made the weird tale popular, the instant answer would be Edgar Allan Poe. We owe not only the weird tale to Poe, but we are also indebted to him for the word itself. Poe was not the creator of the word "weird," but he rescued it from oblivion and made it popular, so that now the word is understood and used by everyone.

Lafcadio Hearn, in his chapter on Poe's verse, thus describes how Poe picked up this almost forgotten word and restored it to the language: "When you read in Idyls of the King such phrases as 'the weirdly sculptured gate,' perhaps you have never suspected that the use of the adverb 'weirdly' was derived from the study of the American poet. There were two words used by the Saxons of a very powerful kind, one referring to destiny or fate, the other to supernatural terror. 'Weird' is another form of the Anglo-Saxon word meaning fate. The northern mythology, like the Greek, had its fates who devised the life histories of men. Later the word came also to be used in relation to the future of the man himself; the ancient writers spoke of 'his weird,' 'her weird.' Still later the term came to mean simply supernatural influence of a mysterious kind. Poe found it so used and made it into a living adjective after it had become almost forgotten by using it very cleverly in his poems and stories. As he used it, it means ghostly or ghostly-looking, or suggesting the supernatural and occult. Hundreds of writers imitated Poe in this respect and now it is so much the rule that the word must be used very sparingly. It is the mark of a very young writer to use it often."

" is getting better all the time," writes A. Leslie, whose verse has been a feature of this magazine. "I am particularly interested in Ray Cummings' new story; he is an old favorite of mine, and he appears to be surpassing himself this time."

Ralph Raeburn Phillips, of the Order of the Star in the East, writes to the Eyrie from Portland, Oregon: "Up till now I have been a silent but appreciative reader of, but now I must let you know that here is another constant reader and strong supporter of your incomparable magazine. You are doing a good work; keep it up. We of the great brotherhood who love the mystical, occult, etc., could not get along without our . Give us more good old ghost-stories. Your contributors are splendid. I especially like Greye La Spina and H. P. Lovecraft."

Writes S. V. Toomey, of East Orange, New Jersey: "I have been reading for three years and as yet have no fault to find. I thought