"The country claimed by and roved over by his clan lay in the northwest of Cimmeria, but Conan was of mixed blood, although a pure-bred Cimmerian. His grandfather was a member of a southern tribe who had fled from his own people because of a blood-feud and after long wanderings, eventually taken refuge with the people of the north. He had taken part in many raids into the Hyborian nations in his youth, before his flight, and perhaps it was the tales he told of those softer countries which roused in Conan, as a child, a desire to see them."

-- REH, letter to P. Schuyler Miller

Cimmeria, the birthplace of Conan, is a mountainous land that is located north of Aquilonia, bordered by the Bossonian Marches to the east, the Pictish Wilderness to the west, along with Vanaheim and Asgard to the north. The Cimmerians are direct descendants of the ancient Atlanteans, but have little to no recollection of their origins.

In recent Cimmerian history the bloody and gory tales of the sack of Venarium serve as a reminder to outlying nations that the Cimmerian land is owned by none other than the Cimmerians. Pushing the Aquilonian frontier into the southern highlands of Cimmeria, the Gundermen displaced the southernmost Cimmerians tribes into the north. The Cimmerian tribes at once united and drove the Aquilonians out of Cimmeria forever leaving nothing but a burned and charred mass of what once was Venarium.

The Cimmerians are at constant war along the borders of Vanaheim and Hyperborea as these nations contiunally raid the Cimmerians for slaves and sport. The Picts, a nation of savages to the west of Cimmeria, harbor another enemy of the Cimmerians that dates back to the cataclysmic times.

Notable Places in Cimmeria

Ben Morgh (northwestern Cimmeria and supposed home to Crom), the Eiglophian Mountains (bordering between Cimmeria and Nordheim) and the Field of Chiefs.

In an early draft of "The Phoenix on the Sword", Robert E. Howard writes:

"A gloomier land never existed on earth. It is all of hills, heavily wooded, and the trees are strangely dusky, so that even by day all the land looks dark and menacing. As far as a man may see his eye rests on the endless vista of hills beyond hills, growing darker and darker in the distance. Clouds hang always among those hills; the skies are nearly always grey and over-cast. Winds blow sharp and cold, driving rain of sleet or snow, and moan drearily among the passes and down the valleys. There is little mirth in that land, and men grow moody and strange."

In Queen of the Black Coast by Robert E. Howard, Conan is quoted when speaking with Belit about his homeland:

“Their chief is Crom. He dwells on a great mountain. What use to call on him? Little he cares if men live or die. Better to be silent than to call his attention to you; he will send you dooms, not fortune! He is grim and loveless, but at birth he breathes power to strive and slay into a man’s soul. What else shall men ask of the gods?”

“But what of the worlds beyond the river of death?” she (Belit) persisted.

“There is no hope here or hereafter in the cult of my people,” answered Conan. “In this world men struggle and suffer vainly, finding pleasure only in the bright madness of battle; dying, their souls enter a gray misty realm of clouds and icy winds, to wander cheerlessly throughout eternity.”

The Scarlet Citadel by Robert E. Howard also holds a bit of information about Cimmeria, again, from Conan, now King of Aquilonia:

"Perhaps it's the land they live in," answered the king. "A gloomier land never was - all of hills, darkly wooded, under skies nearly always gray, with winds moaning drearily down the valleys."

The Cimmerians were tall and powerful, with dark hair and blue or gray eyes. They were the direct descendants of the Atlanteans, but have little to no recollection of their origin. The Cimmerians lived in clans, scattered across the country. A few of the clans were named Canach, Raeda, Tunog, Murrogh, Snowhawk, Lacheish, Galla, and Dal Claidh, and Callaugh. The Cimmerians herd cattle and grow mainly oats, and raid rival clans for cattle or wives, or both. They were also described as barbarians that were as ferocious as the Picts, and much more intelligent. There was continual war along the borders of Aesgard, Vanaheim and Cimmeria. Aquilonia once tried to colonize the southern part of Cimmeria. Conan is quoted in Beyond the Black River by Robert E. Howard as saying:

“Or any three or four clans,” admitted the slayer. “But some day a man will rise and unite thirty or forty clans, just as was done among the Cimmerians, when the Gundermen tried to push the border northward, years ago. They tried to colonize the southern marches of Cimmeria: destroyed a few small clans, built a fort-town, Venarium — you've heard the tale.”

"A gloomier land never existed on earth. It is all of hills, heavily wooded, and the trees are strangely dusky, so that even by day all the land looks dark and menacing. As far as a man may see his eye rests on the endless vista of hills beyond hills, growing darker and darker in the distance. Clouds hang always among those hills; the skies are nearly always grey and over-cast. Winds blow sharp and cold, driving rain of sleet or snow, and moan drearily among the passes and down the valleys. There is little mirth in that land, and men grow moody and strange."

Conan was born to a clan in the northwest corner of Cimmeria, along the borders of Vanaheim and the Pictish Wilderness. Conan was born on a battlefield, and by the age of 15 his prowess held great respect around the council fires. Conan participated in the sack of the frontier post of Venarium, pushing the Aquilonians back from the Cimmerian border. His herculean physique was inherited from his father, a blacksmith, Conan had the knowledge of the woodsman and the iron willed hardiness of a mountain man. The known deities of the Cimmerian pantheon were Crom, Morrigan, Manannan Mac Lir, Dagda, Diacecht, Badb, Macha, and Nemain.

Cimmeria by Robert E. Howard

I remember
The dark woods, masking slopes of somber hills;
The grey clouds' leaden everlasting arch;
The dusky streams that flowed without a sound.
And the lone winds that whispered down the passes.

Vista on vista marching, hills on hills,
Slope beyond slope, each dark with sullen trees,
Our gaunt land lay. So when a man climbed up
A rugged peak and gazed, his shaded eye
Saw but the endless vista-hill on hill,
Slope beyond slope, each hooded like its brothers.

It was a gloomy land that seemed to hold
All the winds and clouds and dreams that shun the sun,
With bare boughs rattling in the lonesome winds,
And the dark woodlands brooding over all,
Not even lightened by the rare dim sun
Which made squat shadows out of men; they called it
Cimmeria, land of Darkness and deep Night.

It was so long ago and far away
I have forgot the very name men called me.
The axe and flint-tipped spear are like a dream,
And hunts and wars are shadows. I recall
Only the stillness of that sombre land;
The clouds that piled forever on the hills,
The dimness of the everlasting woods.
Cimmeria, land of Darkness and the Night.