Musings & Reviews
Hyborian Reviews (7)
"I have known many gods. He who denies them is as blind as he who trusts them too deeply. I seek not beyond death. It may be the blackness averred by the Nemedian skeptics, or Crom's realm of ice and cloud, or the snowy plains and vaulted halls of the Nordheimer's Valhalla. I know not, nor do I care. Let me live deep while I live; let me know the rich juices of red meat and stinging wine on my palate, the hot embrace of white arms, the mad exultation of battle when the blue blades flame and crimson, and I am content. Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood over questions of reality and illusion. I know this: if life is illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and am content." - Robert E. Howard - Queen of the Black Coast
The below is not an all encompassing breakdown of Hyborian technology mostly from LSdC, but it does give some insight to the advancements of the Hyborians as compared to later medieval societies and perhaps shows just how well Robert E. Howard's world was put together. Here is a small breakdowm of Hyborian Age technology and advancements.
In the beginning we find Conan at 16 years of age, leaving (perhaps forced) from his homeland and journeys north to fight alongside the Aesir. Njal the Aesir, chieftan, has a daughter named Rann that is missing, captured by "witchmen". He is with chieftain on a hunting excursion during a mission to recover Njal's daughter from "witchmen". Conan's group is camped near Haloga castle, from where a group of scouts that Njal sent have failed to return.
Review of “Hyborian War” by Reality Simulations Inc.
Written by Amra the LionAs a fan of REH’s Conan since I was about 14, whenever I read that introduction, I got chills. I know that when I read all of that, I would specifically imagine not only Conan’s adventures, but the great warring factions and kingdoms relentlessly fighting in the world that Conan exists in. REH gave us in that simple paragraph a glimpse into a fantastic world where wars were won and lost on a dagger in the night, by the dark hand of magic, and the strength of armies clad in steel. In the mid 1980’s a company in Arizona worked to make a complete “world war” simulation of the world of Conan as laid out in the books as well as the great maps given to us by Howard. This game, called “Hyborian War”, goes on to this day some twenty years later!
A question that I am often asked concerning Conan the Cimmerian is that of the quality of L. Sprague de Camp's expertise in penmanship. Don Herron's article of Conan vs. Conantics brings to view superb points in how de Camp changed Howard's Conan into a thinking man, not an instinctive man of action. L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter changed Conan's basic character.
Conan sets out to steal the Heart of the Elephant and meets the Prince of Thieves, Taurus. Taurus helps Conan inside the Tower of the Elephant only to find his own demise.
