Tigers of the Sea
Cover of the first edition
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| Author | Robert E. Howard |
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| Illustrator | Tim Kirk |
| Cover artist | Tim Kirk |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Cormac Mac Art |
| Genre | Fantasy short stories |
| Publisher | Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. |
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Publication date
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1973 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 212 pp |
| OCLC | 1372467 |
Tigers of the Sea is a collection of fantasy short stories by Robert E. Howard about the pirate Cormac Mac Art, a Gael who is involved with a band of Danish Vikings during the reign of the mythical King Arthur. (Historically, Cormac Mac Art is the name of a famous High King of Ireland, but among the many legends told of him there is no reference to his having been a pirate.)
Tigers of the Sea was first published in 1973 by Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. in an edition of 3,400 copies. The stories feature Howard's character Cormac Mac Art; the volume was edited by Richard L. Tierney.
Except for one, the stories are pure historical fiction, dealing with struggles between various groups of human beings waged by mundane human weapons. The exception is the "The Temple of Abomination", in which Cormac Mac Art and his Viking fellows confront and overcome the very last of the monstrous Serpent Men whom King Kull fought in the much earlier Howardian cycle.
The stories of Cormac Mac Art were also printed by Baen Books in 1995. This edition included the same stories from 'Tigers of the Sea' with an additional new story, 'The Land Towards Sunset', from author David Drake
Originally, Cormac Mac Art (nicknamed an Cluiun - "The Wolf") had been one of the Irish Reivers - bold pirates who range far among the ruins of the Roman Empire, reaching Spain and on occasion even Egypt, though their ships are less sound than those of the Scandinavian Vikings. Usually, Reivers and Vikings are on bad terms with each other - being competitors for the same loot.
However, at some point Cormac Mac Art was (for unspecified reasons) outlawed and had to leave Ireland in a hurry, and he found refuge and a new home among the Danish Viking band led by Wulfhere the Skull-splitter. He became Wulfhere's right hand man, the two of them complementing each other and working harmoniously together.
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Wikipedia