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, '' The Phoenix On The Sword '', 1932. Illustration by Mark Schultz .]] Conan the Barbarian (also known as '''Conan the Cimmerian''', from the name of his homeland, , Alexandre Dumas, Père , Mary Shelley , Sir Arthur Conan Doyle , Bram Stoker , Edgar Rice Burroughs , Dashiell Hammett , H. P. Lovecraft , J. R. R. Tolkien , and Ian Fleming ." Created by American writer Robert E. Howard in 1932 via a series of Fantasy Pulp stories sold to '' Weird Tales '' magazine, the character has since appeared in licensed Books , Comics , Films , Television Programs and Video Games , contributing to his long-standing popularity. ''Conan the Barbarian'' is also the name of a Gnome Press collection of stories published in 1954, a Comic published by Marvel Comics beginning in 1970, a Film and its novelization in 1982. PUBLICATION HISTORY Conan the Cimmerian was created by who swears by a deity called Crom . Howard scholars believe this Conan to be a forerunner of the more famous namesake. In February 1932, Howard vacationed to a border town on the lower Rio Grande to enjoy the local flavor. During this trip, he further conceived the character of Conan and also wrote the poem '' Cimmeria '', much of which echoes specific passages in Plutarch 's '' Lives ''. There is a strong likelihood that Howard's conception of Conan and the Hyborian Age originated in Thomas Bulfinch 's '' The Outline Of Mythology '' (1913) which enthused Howard to "coalesce into a coherent whole his literary aspirations and the strong physical, autobiographical elements underlying the creation of Conan." Patrice Louinet. ''Hyborian Genesis: Part 1'', page 434, ''The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian''; 2003, Del Rey. '' illustration sketched by, assumably, Margaret Brundage in 1932. The illustration depicts a scene from Robert E. Howard 's '' The Phoenix On The Sword ''. The original short story was written by Robert E. Howard and first appeared in a 1932 issue of '' Weird Tales '' magazine.]] Having digested these prior influences and returned from his trip, Howard rewrote a rejected Kull story "By This Axe I Rule" (May 1929) with his new hero in mind, re-titling it " The Phoenix On The Sword ." Howard also wrote " The Frost-Giant's Daughter ," inspired by the Greek Myth of Daphne , and submitted both stories to ''Weird Tales'' magazine. Although "The Frost-Giant's Daughter" and " The God In The Bowl " were refused by the publication, the magazine accepted "The Phoenix on the Sword" after requested polishing. As such, Conan the Cimmerian first debuted in " The Phoenix On The Sword " in '' Weird Tales '' (December 1932), a syndicated magazine which would later became famous for its unique stable of notable authors including H.P. Lovecraft , Clark Ashton Smith , Tennessee Williams , Robert Bloch , Seabury Quinn and others. In late 1932, the acceptance of "The Phoenix on the Sword" by ''Weird Tales'' editor Farnsworth Wright prompted Howard to write an 8,000 Word Essay for personal use detailing "the Hyborian Age ," the now-famous fictional setting for Conan. Using this essay as his guideline, Howard began conceptualizing " The Tower Of The Elephant ," a new Conan story that would be the first to truly integrate his new conception of the Hyborian world, and thus to introduce the setting to the reader. The publication and success of " The Tower Of The Elephant " would spur Howard to write many more Conan stories for ''Weird Tales''. By the time of Howard's suicide in 1936, he had written over twenty-one tales, seventeen of which had been published. Following Howard's death, the copyright of the Conan stories passed through several hands. Eventually, under the guidance of L. Sprague De Camp and Lin Carter , the stories were expurgated, revised and sometimes rewritten. For roughly forty years, the original versions of Howard's Conan stories remained out of print. Only with the Berkley editions in 1977 was an attempt made to return to the earliest published (''Weird Tales'') form of the texts, but these failed to displace the then standard versions. In the 1980s and 1990s, the copyright holders of the Conan franchise permitted Howard's stories to go out of print entirely, while continuing to sell Conan works by other authors. In 2000, a British publisher, Gollancz Science Fiction , issued a two-volume, complete edition of Howard's Conan stories as part of their Fantasy Masterworks imprint, including several stories which had never seen print in their original form. Gollancz' edition used the original versions of the stories as published in ''Weird Tales''. In 2003, a British publisher named Wandering Star made an effort to both restore Howard's original manuscripts and to provide a more scholarly and historical view of the Conan stories. They published deluxe hardcover editions in England, which are being republished in the USA by the Del Rey imprint of Ballantine Books . The first book, ''Conan of Cimmeria: Volume One (1932-1933)'' (2003; vt ''The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian'' 2003 US) includes Howard's notes on the fictional setting, as well as letters and poems concerning the genesis of his ideas. It also includes the first thirteen Conan short stories Howard wrote, published between 1932 and 1934. This volume has been followed by ''Conan of Cimmeria: Volume Two (1934)'' (2004; vt ''The Bloody Crown of Conan'' (2005 US) and ''Conan of Cimmeria: Volume Three (1935-1936)'' (2005; vt ''The Conquering Sword of Conan'' 2005 US). Between the three books, all of the original unedited Robert E. Howard stories are finally available to readers for the first time. SETTING 's '' Hyborian Age ''.]] See Also: Hyborian Age The various stories of Conan the Cimmerian occur in the fictional " and Walt Simonson . The reasons behind the invention of the Hyborian Age were perhaps commercial: Howard had an intense love for history and historical dramas; however, at the same time, he recognized the difficulties and the time-consuming research work needed in maintaining historical accuracy. By conceiving a timeless setting — "a ''vanished'' age" — and by carefully choosing names that resembled our history, Howard shrewdly avoided the problem of historical anachronisms and the need for lengthy exposition.Patrice Louinet. ''Hyborian Genesis: Part 1'', page 434, ''The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian''; 2003, Del Rey. According to Howard himself in " The Phoenix On The Sword ," the adventures of Conan take place ''"...between the years when the Ocean s drank Atlantis and the gleaming Cities , and the years of the rise of the Sons Of Aryas ..."'' Howard, Robert E. , " The Phoenix On The Sword ," ''The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian'' (2003). PERSONALITY AND CHARACTER Conan is a Cimmeria n (not to be confused with the historical Cimmerians ), a Barbarian of the far north. He was born on a battlefield and is the son of a Blacksmith . Conan matured quickly as a youth and, by age fifteen, he was already a respected Warrior who had participated in the destruction of the Aquilonian outpost of Venarium. After its destruction, he was struck by wanderlust and began the adventures chronicled by Howard, encountering skulking monsters, evil Wizard s, tavern wenches, and beautiful Princess es. He roamed throughout Hyboria as a Thief , Outlaw , Mercenary and Pirate . As he grew older, he began commanding larger units of men and escalating his ambitions. In his forties, he seizes the crown of King of Aquilonia , the most powerful kingdom of the Hyborian Age, having strangled the previous ruler on the steps of the throne. Although Conan's adventures often result in him performing heroic feats, his motivation for doing so is typically his own survival or for personal gain; thus, he displays many of the characteristics of an Anti-hero . Appearance Conan has "sullen blue eyes" and a black "square-cut mane." Howard describes him as having a hairy chest and, while comic book interpretations often portray Conan as wearing a loincloth or other minimalist clothing, Howard describes the character as wearing whatever garb is typical for the land and culture in which Conan finds himself. Though Howard never gave a strict height or weight for Conan in a story, only describing him in loose terms like "giant" and "massive," he did once state that Conan and another of Howard's characters, the crusader Cormac Fitzgeoffrey, were "physical doubles" at 6'2" and 210 lb (188 cm and 95 kg). In the tales no human is ever described as stronger than Conan, although several are mentioned as taller (such as the strangler Baal-pteor) or of larger bulk. Although Conan is muscular, Howard frequently compares his agility and way of moving to that of a panther (see for instance " Jewels Of Gwahlur ," " Beyond The Black River " or " Rogues In The House "). His skin is frequently characterised as bronzed from constant exposure to the sun. In his younger years, he is often depicted wearing a light chain shirt and a horned helmet, though appearances vary with different artists. During his reign as King of Aquilonia, Conan was "... a tall man, mightily shouldered and deep of chest, with a massive corded neck and heavily muscled limbs. He was clad in silk and velvet, with the royal lions of Aquilonia worked in gold upon his rich jupon, and the crown of Aquilonia shone on his square-cut black mane; but the great sword at his side seemed more natural to him than the regal accoutrements. His brow was low and broad, his eyes a volcanic blue that smoldered as if with some inner fire. His dark, scarred, almost sinister face was that of a fighting-man, and his velvet garments could not conceal the hard, dangerous lines of his limbs." ('' The Hour Of The Dragon '' which can be found in the anthology ''The Bloody Crown of Conan,'' pg. 89-90). He loses none of his vigour with age with the above description coming when he is in his mid-forties. Though several later authors have referred to Conan as "Germanic-looking," Howard imagined the Cimmerians as a proto- Celt ic people with mostly dark hair and blue or grey eyes. Ethnically the Cimmerians to which Conan belongs are descendants of the Atlanteans, though they do not remember their ancestry. In his fictional historical essay '' The Hyborian Age ,'' Howard describes how the people of Atlantis (the land where his character King Kull originated) had to move east after a great cataclysm changed the face of the world and sank their island, settling where northern Scotland and Norway would eventually be located. In the same work, Howard also described how the Cimmerians eventually moved south and east after the age of Conan (presumably in the vicinity of the Black Sea, where the historical Cimmerians dwelt). Abilities Despite his brutish appearance, Conan uses his brain as well as his brawn. The Cimmerian is a talented fighter, but due to his travels abroad, he also has vast experience in other trades, especially the thiefly one; he is also a talented commander, tactician and strategist, as well as a born leader. In addition, Conan speaks many languages, including advanced reading and writing abilities: in certain stories, he's able to recognize, or even decipher, certain ancient or secret signs and writings. Another noticeable trait is his sense of humour, largely absent in the comics and movies but very much a part of Howard's original vision of the character, particularly apparent in " Xuthal Of The Dusk ," also known as "The Slithering Shadow." He is a loyal friend to those true to him, with a barbaric code of conduct that often marks him as more honorable than those more sophisticated people he meets in his travels. Indeed, his straightforward nature and barbarism are constants in all the tales. One fact that is often emphasized is that Conan is very difficult to defeat in hand-to-hand combat. Conan needs only to have his back to the wall so that he cannot be surrounded, and then is capable of engaging and killing opponents by the score. This is seen in several stories, such as "," or the strangler Baal-Pteor in " Shadows In Zamboula ." Conan is far from untouchable and has been captured several times (knocking himself out running into a wall drunken after being betrayed, although he still slays the people initially sent to arrest him; after a fall from a wounded horse; by magical means) but never as a result of martial failings. Influences See Also: Robert E. Howard Howard frequently corresponded with 's Hyperborean Cycle . The Conan stories are informed by the popular interest of the time in ideas on Evolution and Social Darwinism . Are some peoples destined to rule over others? Are our physical and mental characteristics the result of our experiences or our inheritance from our ancestors? Is human civilization a natural or unnatural development? As Conan remarks in one story:
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