“A legion of horribles, hundreds in number, half naked or clad in costumes attic or biblical or wardrobed out of a fevered dream with the skins of animals and silk finery and pieces of uniform still tracked with the blood of prior owners, coats of slain dragoons, frogged and braided cavalry jackets, one in a stovepipe hat and one with an umbrella and one in white stockings and a bloodstained wedding veil and some in headgear or cranefeathers or rawhide helmets that bore the horns of bull or buffalo and one in a pigeontailed coat worn backwards and otherwise naked and one in the armor of a Spanish conquistador, the breastplate and pauldrons deeply dented with old blows of mace or sabre done in another country by men whose very bones were dust and many with their braids spliced up with the hair of other beasts until they trailed upon the ground and their horses’ ears and tails worked with bits of brightly colored cloth and one whose horse’s whole head was painted crimson red and all the horsemen’s faces gaudy and grotesque with daubings like a company of mounted clowns, death hilarious, all howling in a barbarous tongue and riding down upon them like a horde from a hell more horrible yet than the brimstone land of Christian reckoning, screeching and yammering and clothed in smoke like those vaporous beings in regions beyond right knowing where the eye wanders and the lip jerks and drools.”
― Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian, or, the Evening Redness in the West
This vivid and harrowing passage comes from Cormac McCarthy’s novel “Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness in the West,” published in 1985.
The book is known for its dark themes, complex prose, and the exploration of the violence inherent in the American frontier experience.
“Blood Meridian” is set in the mid-19th century on the Texas-Mexico border and follows a teenage runaway known only as “the kid” who becomes involved with a group of Indian hunters led by the enigmatic and terrifying Judge Holden.
The novel is based loosely on historical events and figures, blending factual accounts with McCarthy’s rich, imaginative narrative.
The quote describes the approach of a group of Native American warriors, but it does so in a way that transcends a mere depiction of a band of attackers.
McCarthy uses this description to delve into themes of violence, chaos, and the surreal, almost apocalyptic nature of the American West during this era.
The “legion of horribles” is not just a physical threat but a symbolic representation of the untamed, brutal, and anarchic spirit of the frontier.
The detailed inventory of their attire—”half naked or clad in costumes attic or biblical or wardrobed out of a fevered dream”—serves multiple purposes.
It highlights the cultural disarray and amalgamation on the frontier, where different epochs, geographies, and civilizations collide in a violent tableau.
The warriors are adorned with items that carry historical and personal histories—”the blood of prior owners,” “coats of slain dragoons,” “the armor of a Spanish conquistador”—each piece telling a story of violence and conquest that predates the current moment.
This layering of time and narrative underscores the cyclical nature of violence and the way it permeates history, leaving a trail of blood and horror that transcends individual acts.
The grotesque and almost carnivalesque description of the attackers, with their “gaudy and grotesque” faces and “death hilarious” demeanor, evokes a sense of the absurd.
McCarthy is not just recounting a historical episode but probing the existential underpinnings of violence and the human condition.
The attackers are depicted as otherworldly, “clothed in smoke like those vaporous beings in regions beyond right knowing,” which elevates the scene from a mere historical skirmish to a metaphysical confrontation with evil, chaos, and the unknown.
This passage, like much of “Blood Meridian,” challenges the reader to confront the dark aspects of human nature and history.
McCarthy’s prose, dense with imagery and symbolism, forces us to reckon with the idea that violence is not an aberration but a fundamental component of the human experience, especially in the context of American expansionism and the myth of the frontier.
The novel, through passages like this, dismantles romanticized notions of the West and exposes the brutality and nihilism that often accompanied America’s manifest destiny.