The Satyr

"The Satyr" is a short story by Clark Ashton Smith, set in Averoigne, his semi-historical French province. It first appeared in the July 1931 issue of La Paree Stories.
== Synopsis ==
It tells the story of an encounter with a nature spirit in the woods of Averoigne. The satyr drives an unmarried couple into an act of uninhibited love, and provokes a husband into uncharacteristic jealous violence.
==The Satyr==
A "portion of the forest of Averoigne where the trees were older and taller than all others" is "haunted by some entity inimical to man, some primordial spirit of ill that was ancienter than Christ or Satan." It is encountered in the story by two hitherto-chaste lovers:
==Characters== 
*Raoul, Comte de la Frênaie: He is "by nature the most unsuspicious of husbands." Noted for his limited imagination, he divides nearly all his time between hunting and drinking.
*Adèle: Raoul's wife, noted for her "wine-dark tresses" and "her golden eyes."
*Olivier du Montoir: A young poet, an "erudite and comely youth" who is becoming known beyond Averoigne for his poems praising Adele's beauty. He "might in time have rivaled RonsardWikipedia, "Pierre de Ronsard". as one of the most brilliant luminaries of the Pleiade."
==Publication History==
"The Satyr" was the only one of Smith's Averoigne tales that did not first appear in Weird Tales. Instead, it made its debut in the July 1931 issue of La Paree Stories, a pulp magazine specializing in "spicy" stories.
Since then, "The Satyr" has appeared in several collections of Smith's fiction, starting with Genius Loci and Other Tales (Arkham House, 1948). It is included in both The Averoigne Archives (Pickman's Press, 2019) and The Averoigne Chronicles (Hippocampus Press, 2021).
==External Link==
*"The Satyr" complete text at Eldritch Dark
==References==
Category:Clark Ashton Smith works
Category:Lovecraft Circle Works
Category:Averoigne Cycle