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{{Infobox character
{{AFC submission|t||ts=20150413183211|u=HairPig|ns=118}} <!--- Important, do not remove this line before article has been created. --->
| name = Breckinridge Elkins
⚫
'''''Breckinridge Elkins''''' is a fictional character created by [[Robert E. Howard]]. He appeared in twenty-four humorous [[Western fiction|Western]] short stories, most of which originally appeared in the pages of ''[[Action Stories]]'' between 1934 and 1937<ref>{{cite book|last1=Herman|first1=Paul|title=Robert E. Howard: The Complete Action Stories|date=2001|publisher=Wildside Books|location=Holicong, PA|isbn=0-8095-1125-8}}</ref>.
| series =
| image = Breckinridge_Elkins,_illustration_by_Rudolph_Belarski.jpg
| caption = Illustration by Rudolph Belarski for "The Scalp Hunters," ''Action Stories'', August 1934.
| first = ''[[Action Stories]]'', March–April 1934
| last =
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| creator = [[Robert E. Howard]]
| gender = Male
| occupation =
| title =
| family =
| spouse =
| significant_other =
| children =
| relatives =
| nationality = American
}}


⚫
'''''Breckinridge Elkins''''' is a fictional character created by [[pulp magazine|pulp]] writer [[Robert E. Howard]]. He was featured in twenty-six humorous [[Western fiction|Western]] short stories, most of which originally appeared in the pages of ''[[Action Stories]]'' between 1934 and 1937,<ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Herman|editor-first1=Paul|title=Robert E. Howard: The Complete Action Stories|date=2001|publisher=Wildside Books|location=Holicong, PA|isbn=0-8095-1125-8}}</ref> as well as the novel ''[[A Gent from Bear Creek]]''.<ref name="Herman" />
⚫
"Breck" Elkins is a [[hillbilly]] from Bear Creek, a fictional location in the [[East Humboldt Range|Humboldt Mountains]] of Nevada. He is described as a physically huge an imposing figure, and his reputation as a short-tempered and ferocious fighter often precedes him throughout the Southwest. He is usually found in the company of Cap'n Kidd, his equally fierce and cantankerous horse. He sometimes wears a [[coonskin cap]] and is depicted wearing one in several illustrations that accompanied the stories in the original pulp magazine. Elkins is a man of limited intelligence and education, referred to as illiterate in some of the stories and clearly able to read in others.


==Character description==
⚫
Although the Elkins stories were referred to by Howard as "Westerns," they all have exaggerated elements and humor that make them closer in tone to [[tall tale#American tall tale|tall tales]]. Breckinridge is a larger-than-life figure whose abilities to dish out and absorb punishment go well beyond the limits of credulity. He is the first-person narrator (in hillbilly dialect) of all of his stories, and much of the humor is derived from his limited understanding of situations, leading to misunderstandings and complications. His ill-fated attempts to help friends and relatives usually come to grief for himself and often those he was ostensibly aiding. His repeated romantic failures in wooing the eligible women he encounters are another recurring theme in the stories.
⚫
"Breck" Elkins is a [[hillbilly]] from Bear Creek, a fictional location in the [[East Humboldt Range|Humboldt Mountains]] of Nevada. He is "mighty of stature and small of brain"<ref>{{cite book|last1=Herman|first1=Paul|title=The Neverending Hunt : A Bibliography of Robert E. Howard|date=2011|publisher=Wildside|location=[Holicong, Pa.]|isbn=978-0809562565|page=508}}</ref>—a physically huge and imposing figure, and his reputation as a short-tempered and ferocious fighter often precedes him throughout the Southwest. He is usually found in the company of Cap'n Kidd, his equally fierce and cantankerous horse. He sometimes wears a [[coonskin cap]] and is depicted wearing one in several illustrations that accompanied the stories in the original pulp magazine. Elkins is a man of limited intelligence and education, illiterate in some of the stories, while able to read in others.

⚫
Although Howard referred to the Elkins stories as "Westerns," they all have exaggerated elements and humor that make them closer in tone to Texas "Tall Lying" stories<ref name="Chaloner">{{cite web|last1=Chaloner|first1=Gary|title=About|url=http://breckinridgeelkins.com/about-2/|website=Robert E. Howard's Breckinridge Elkins|accessdate=18 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150703222630/http://breckinridgeelkins.com/about-2/|archive-date=3 July 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> (such as the well-known [[tall tale#American tall tale|tall tales]] of [[Pecos Bill]]) than to traditional Western action stories. Breckinridge is a larger-than-life figure whose abilities to dish out and absorb punishment go well beyond the limits of credulity. He is the first-person narrator (in hillbilly dialect)<ref>{{cite book|last1=Finn|first1=Mark|title=Blood & Thunder: The Life and Art of Robert E.Howard|date=2013|publisher=Robert E. Howard Foundation Press|isbn=978-1-304-03152-5|page=77}}</ref> of all of his stories, and much of the humor is derived from his limited understanding of situations, leading to confusion and complications. His ill-fated attempts to help friends and relatives usually come to grief for himself and often those he was ostensibly aiding. His repeated romantic failures in wooing the eligible women he encounters are another recurring theme in the stories.

==History and reception==
Howard wrote twenty-six Breckinridge Elkins stories in all, starting with "Mountain Man,"<ref name="Herman">{{cite web|title=Robert E. Howard Bibliography|url=http://www.howardworks.com/subject.htm#elkins|website=Howard Works|accessdate=18 April 2015}}</ref> which was completed by July 1933.<ref name="Finn"/> While he is better remembered for creating characters such as [[Conan the Barbarian|Conan]] and [[Solomon Kane]], the Breckinridge Elkins stories were in fact the longest-running<ref name="Finn">{{cite book|last1=Finn|first1=Mark|title=Blood & Thunder: The Life and Art of Robert E.Howard|date=2013|publisher=Robert E. Howard Foundation Press|isbn=978-1-304-03152-5|page=276}}</ref> and most commercially successful series of Howard's writing career,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lord|first1=Glenn|title=The Last Celt|date=1976|publisher=Berkley Windhover Books|isbn=978-0-425-03630-3|pages=75–79}}</ref> running in every issue of ''Action Stories'' from "Mountain Man" in March–April 1934 through "The Conquerin' Hero of the Humbolts" in October 1936 after his death. Despite being overlooked by comparison with his contributions to the [[Sword and sorcery|swords-and-sorcery genre]], some critics have thought that in the Breckinridge Elkins stories "Finally, Robert's real storytelling voice, unfiltered through books and imagined histories, could be heard, and in the medium in which he was most familiar."<ref name="Finn" />

Based upon the success of the Breckinridge Elkins tales, during the summer of 1935 Howard edited together several of the previously published short stories along with some new material to form the chapters of an episodic novel, ''[[A Gent from Bear Creek]]''.<ref name="Herman" /> The common (and newly added) thread that held the chapters together was Breck's rocky romance with a young woman named Glory McGraw. Her ultimate consent to marry him marks one of the few unequivocally happy endings in Howard's writings.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Finn|first1=Mark|title=Blood & Thunder: The Life and Art of Robert E.Howard|date=2013|publisher=Robert E. Howard Foundation Press|isbn=978-1-304-03152-5|page=285}}</ref> Although he had come close several times before, Howard had yet to have a full-length book published.<ref name="Conan" /> Howard's agent, Robert Kline, was once again unsuccessful in finding an American publisher for ''A Gent from Bear Creek''. It was eventually published in the United Kingdom by Herbert Jenkins in 1937, the year after Howard committed suicide, and copies of that rare first edition have sold for upwards of $8000.<ref name="Conan">{{cite web|title=A Gent From Bear Creek (1937 Jenkins edition)|url=http://www.conan.com/invboard/?showtopic=4032|website=The Official Robert E. Howard Forum|accessdate=18 April 2015|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722031654/http://www.conan.com/invboard/?showtopic=4032|archivedate=22 July 2015}}</ref>

==In other media==
Breckinridge Elkins is the subject of a [[webcomic]] adaptation by [[Gary Chaloner]].<ref name="Chaloner" />


While Howard is better remembered for creating characters such as [[Conan the Barbarian|Conan]] and [[Solomon Kane]], the Breckinridge Elkins stories were the most commercially successful of his writing career.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lord|first1=Glenn|title=The Last Celt|date=1976|publisher=Berkley Windhover Books|isbn=978-0-425-03630-3}}</ref> Based upon this success, Howard later edited together about half of the Breckinridge Elkins stories to form the episodic novel [[A Gent from Bear Creek]], which was first published in the United Kingdom by Herbert Jenkins in 1937, the year after Howard committed suicide.
==See also==
==See also==
*[[Robert E. Howard bibliography#Breckinridge Elkins|List of Breckinridge Elkins stories]]
*[[Robert E. Howard bibliography#Breckinridge Elkins|List of Breckinridge Elkins stories]]
⚫
*[[Robert E. Howard]]
*[[A Gent from Bear Creek]]
*[[A Gent from Bear Creek]]
*[[Mayhem on Bear Creek]]
*[[Mayhem on Bear Creek]]
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*[[Gary Chaloner]]
*[[Gary Chaloner]]


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==References==
⚫
{{reflist}}


==External links==
* [http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks13/1304191h.html ''Tales of Breckinridge Elkins''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318010959/http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks13/1304191h.html |date=2015-03-18 }} at [[Project Gutenberg]] Australia


{{Robert E. Howard}}


[[Category:Fictional hillbillies]]

⚫
==References==
⚫
{{reflist}}
<!--- After listing your sources please cite them using inline citations and place them after the information they cite. Please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:REFB for instructions on how to add citations. --->
*[http://www.howardworks.com/howard.htm Howard Works]
*[http://breckinridgeelkins.com]

Latest revision as of 01:17, 25 October 2023

Breckinridge Elkins
Illustration by Rudolph Belarski for "The Scalp Hunters," Action Stories, August 1934.
First appearanceAction Stories, March–April 1934
Created byRobert E. Howard
In-universe information
GenderMale
NationalityAmerican

Breckinridge Elkins is a fictional character created by pulp writer Robert E. Howard. He was featured in twenty-six humorous Western short stories, most of which originally appeared in the pages of Action Stories between 1934 and 1937,[1] as well as the novel A Gent from Bear Creek.[2]

Character description

[edit]

"Breck" Elkins is a hillbilly from Bear Creek, a fictional location in the Humboldt Mountains of Nevada. He is "mighty of stature and small of brain"[3]—a physically huge and imposing figure, and his reputation as a short-tempered and ferocious fighter often precedes him throughout the Southwest. He is usually found in the company of Cap'n Kidd, his equally fierce and cantankerous horse. He sometimes wears a coonskin cap and is depicted wearing one in several illustrations that accompanied the stories in the original pulp magazine. Elkins is a man of limited intelligence and education, illiterate in some of the stories, while able to read in others.

Although Howard referred to the Elkins stories as "Westerns," they all have exaggerated elements and humor that make them closer in tone to Texas "Tall Lying" stories[4] (such as the well-known tall tales of Pecos Bill) than to traditional Western action stories. Breckinridge is a larger-than-life figure whose abilities to dish out and absorb punishment go well beyond the limits of credulity. He is the first-person narrator (in hillbilly dialect)[5] of all of his stories, and much of the humor is derived from his limited understanding of situations, leading to confusion and complications. His ill-fated attempts to help friends and relatives usually come to grief for himself and often those he was ostensibly aiding. His repeated romantic failures in wooing the eligible women he encounters are another recurring theme in the stories.

History and reception

[edit]

Howard wrote twenty-six Breckinridge Elkins stories in all, starting with "Mountain Man,"[2] which was completed by July 1933.[6] While he is better remembered for creating characters such as Conan and Solomon Kane, the Breckinridge Elkins stories were in fact the longest-running[6] and most commercially successful series of Howard's writing career,[7] running in every issue of Action Stories from "Mountain Man" in March–April 1934 through "The Conquerin' Hero of the Humbolts" in October 1936 after his death. Despite being overlooked by comparison with his contributions to the swords-and-sorcery genre, some critics have thought that in the Breckinridge Elkins stories "Finally, Robert's real storytelling voice, unfiltered through books and imagined histories, could be heard, and in the medium in which he was most familiar."[6]

Based upon the success of the Breckinridge Elkins tales, during the summer of 1935 Howard edited together several of the previously published short stories along with some new material to form the chapters of an episodic novel, A Gent from Bear Creek.[2] The common (and newly added) thread that held the chapters together was Breck's rocky romance with a young woman named Glory McGraw. Her ultimate consent to marry him marks one of the few unequivocally happy endings in Howard's writings.[8] Although he had come close several times before, Howard had yet to have a full-length book published.[9] Howard's agent, Robert Kline, was once again unsuccessful in finding an American publisher for A Gent from Bear Creek. It was eventually published in the United Kingdom by Herbert Jenkins in 1937, the year after Howard committed suicide, and copies of that rare first edition have sold for upwards of $8000.[9]

In other media

[edit]

Breckinridge Elkins is the subject of a webcomic adaptation by Gary Chaloner.[4]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Herman, Paul, ed. (2001). Robert E. Howard: The Complete Action Stories. Holicong, PA: Wildside Books. ISBN 0-8095-1125-8.
  2. ^ a b c "Robert E. Howard Bibliography". Howard Works. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  3. ^ Herman, Paul (2011). The Neverending Hunt : A Bibliography of Robert E. Howard. [Holicong, Pa.]: Wildside. p. 508. ISBN 978-0809562565.
  4. ^ a b Chaloner, Gary. "About". Robert E. Howard's Breckinridge Elkins. Archived from the original on 3 July 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  5. ^ Finn, Mark (2013). Blood & Thunder: The Life and Art of Robert E.Howard. Robert E. Howard Foundation Press. p. 77. ISBN 978-1-304-03152-5.
  6. ^ a b c Finn, Mark (2013). Blood & Thunder: The Life and Art of Robert E.Howard. Robert E. Howard Foundation Press. p. 276. ISBN 978-1-304-03152-5.
  7. ^ Lord, Glenn (1976). The Last Celt. Berkley Windhover Books. pp. 75–79. ISBN 978-0-425-03630-3.
  8. ^ Finn, Mark (2013). Blood & Thunder: The Life and Art of Robert E.Howard. Robert E. Howard Foundation Press. p. 285. ISBN 978-1-304-03152-5.
  9. ^ a b "A Gent From Bear Creek (1937 Jenkins edition)". The Official Robert E. Howard Forum. Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
[edit]
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