40K Pulp

Ragnar Blackmane is undoubtedly one of the most popular characters in the 40K universe. The sagas of his exploits paint the complex portrait of a Space Marine who feels a gamut of human emotions that can stand out from his fellow Space Wolves and cousins. Perhaps this is because of his meteoric climb to the top of the Space Wolves’ hierarchy from a raw Blood Claw to becoming the leader of his own Great Company.

A book that does a grand job of contrasting Ragnar’s interior life against the exterior legend of his deeds is Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s Space Marine Legends novella. In the book, we see Ragnar leading the Space Wolves in battle during the Fall of Cadia and him reflecting on memories of friends, rivals and enemies that forged him into who he became.

Legends tempered by memory

“Such was the life among the frostborn. The Einherjar’s sagas were filled with bare-knuckle battles between tribesmates and pack-brothers. Most of them ended with the restoration of good sense and brotherly vows of companionship. Lessons were learned. Rivals became sword-brothers. Men who had been willing to brain one another and spill each other’s blood found themselves breathless at the end of their brawl, grinning, laughing, bonded closer than ever.

Not here. The fight ended with an iron table crashing into both warriors, thrown with the force of Fenris’ winter wind. The table’s edge struck Nalfir’s already shattered skull, dropping him as though pole-axed. Ragnar took the brunt of the impact on his back and shoulders, sending him smacking face-first into the wall before he staggered down onto his knees.”

This scene involves Ragnar battling with one of his earliest rivals, Nalfir Razortongue, a bard within his pack under the command of Ragnar’s mentor Berik Thunderfist. This conflict happened through Blackmane killing one of the Dark Angels in a duel that he lawfully lost. Nalfir sees Blackmane as arrogant and hot-headed, constantly challenging his decisions for how it undermines the pack.

Dembski-Bowden does an excellent job of showing the justifications for this conflict. Despite being in Ragnar’s POV, Nalfir’s points are valid. We see how Ragnar must acknowledge and rail against his rival’s perspective. He is hot-blooded and arrogant. He’s also shrewd, cunning, loyal to his brothers and willing to make up for his mistakes for the sake of honour.

Seeing how the two Wolves squabble, Thunderfist decides to send Blackmane and Razortongue on a mission to mend a centuries long feud with the Flesh Eaters. Naturally, the two of them are thrown into a situation where they have to work together in order to survive and the two of them have to coexist.

Blood debts and bitter maturity

The flashbacks are balanced well with the Ragnar of the present on Cadia. We feel his maturity and practical decision-making, informed by the hard lessons learned from the past. Even though the Wolves are fighting a losing battle, Blackmane is savvy enough to keep his men moving forward, until unexpected allies come to his aid.

This is where the novella comes full circle and the author delivers a satisfying pay off to Ragnar’s outstanding debt to the Dark Angels. The duel that ends the book is a glorious set piece of blistering action and emotional stakes that doesn’t veer off into bolter porn territory. Blackmane isn’t the same warrior who battled the Dark Angels at the start of the novella and this growth is rendered in a compelling way.

This is at the heart of the novella. Dembski-Bowden resists the easy temptation to sanctify his protagonist as a larger-than-life legend, even though he is to his fellow Space Wolves. The author presents Ragnar not as a finished legend, but as as a man still in negotiation with his past. A man shaped as much by rivalry and misjudgement as by victory. The novella’s action is purposeful rather than indulgent, and its emotional beats are earned through consequence and not mindless spectacle.

By the time Ragnar faces the reckoning he’s carried from his past, the moment lands as triumph and closure. And that is why Space Marine Legends: Ragnar Blackmane is a thoughtful piece of Warhammer fiction that shows how true legends are forged by what they survive and not by what they conquer.

– Michael Deguisa, writing from an undisclosed location where the company may be on the shaggier side, and small sips of mjod may have knocked me on my ass, but the memories will surely echo deep into the annals of time…or will this all be a fever dream hangover ?