Jesse’s Reviews > The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian > Status Update

“Hyborian Genesis” by Patrice Louinet

This is a great companion essay that goes into Howard’s state of mind when the inspiration of Conan struck him and the writing of the stories as we understand them as well as milestones in the tales as far as what other references Howard made. It goes hard in arguing that Howard cribbed a lot early on from Bullfinch’s Mythology and is pretty convincing, to me at least.

“Untitled Draft”

This is a half-complete treatment of the Weird Africa story from the previous synopsis. On one hand, I think that it portrays an African civilization in a less derogatory manner than “The Vale of Lost Woman”. On the other, it’s rife with sexual menace, the near-dismemberment of Tananda being an unusually violent treatment of a woman for Howard (loin-flailing in Xuthal aside).

“Untitled Synopsis”

This is the skeleton of another Weird Africa story where Conan saves the king’s sister from being brutally murdered by the people. Of course, she’s not a great person, unlike the blameless white woman who was captured expressly for one of the intriguers to gain favor with the king. This is one of these stories where just about “everyone sucks” except almost everyone is proto-African.

“Untitled Fragment”

The first act and a half or so of a full story… except I’m sure that the first section, where Conan is attempting to loot a battleground that everyone else covers while he was still killing, would be expanded. We don’t have any idea of who the wounded woman is but his near-mercy-killing brings to mind the “Xuthal” story.

“Untitled Synopsis (Black Colossus)”

This story actually has a couple of differences. Yamela was apparently going to try (but be unable to bring herself) to sacrifice her handmaid to Mitra. It also specifies that Conan’s army wins only due to the intercession of an old, old Kothian god. The closest the final version gets to this is Thugra Khotan’s demon abandoning him during his flight with Yamela.

“Untitled Synopsis (The Scarlet Citadel)”

Howard’s first written idea of this piece. It’s way more focused on the details of the army clash that resulted in Conan’s capture (including the specific numbers and unit types) and then the moment where he gets the keys to his bindings. Most of the dungeon-delving segment was clearly spun whole from the stuff of dreams.

“Untitled Synopsis”

Howard’s generative stories are pretty fun to read! This two-page synopsis hits the “lost antiquity” and “thieves working together” except Conan’s fellow thief is an officer who was sent to arrest him and, after doggedly trying to capture him, helps in looting the temple. The twist ending would be a fun one, too, with serendipity giving Conan an out of his trouble in town.

“The Hyborian Age”

Howard lays out his imagined history between the cataclysm that sank Atlantis and then, much later, the post ice-age cataclysm that shaped Europe into what we know it as today, complete with the genealogical traditions of the current people of Europe as they trace back to the Hyborian age. It’s a historical drama in very broad strokes.

“Notes on Various Peoples of the Hyborian Age”

Three paragraphs detailing the Aquilonians, the Gunderlanders, and the Cimmerians, mostly as his initial sketch of the fictional people. The most important concepts explored here are that 1) the Cimmerians are the descendants of the Atlanteans and 2) Howard’s fantasy world was invested in what I will loosely call “devolution” as a fundamental of life.

“The Phoenix on the Sword (First Submitted Draft)”

Now we are in the Miscellanea, where Howard’s unpublished but historically interesting Conan materials are gathered. This first draft is largely the same as the finished version but the added / cut material is insightful as to Howard’s creative process and what he was trying to establish with the characters.