The Book of Skelos

by Vincent Darlage, Ph.D.

Into the west, unknown of man,
Ships have sailed since the world began.
Read, if you dare, what Skelos wrote,
With dead hands fumbling his silken coat;
And follow the ships through the wind-blown wrack –
Follow the ships that come not back
~ The Pool of the Black One, Robert E. Howard

The iron-bound book of Skelos, introduced in “The Pool of the Black One,” is one of the mystical books created by Robert E. Howard. Who was Skelos? What was in his book? How has it been portrayed in various REH-related media?

Book of Skelos spiral notebook, available at Red Bubble

Robert E. Howard established that Skelos was an author (“Read, if you dare, what Skelos wrote” in “The Pool of the Black One”) who had access to prehistoric sources (“…and there was a description of them in the Book of Skelos, which drew on prehistoric sources” in “The Devil in Iron”). He was a wizard and wrote incantations (“’You must be deep in the arts yourself, Orastes, to have been able to restore my life. How is it that a priest of Mitra knows of the Heart of Ahriman, and the incantations of Skelos?’” in The Hour of the Dragon). He was also some kind of charismatic leader, as he had votaries, or devoted followers, adherents, or advocates of someone (“Not for naught had he gained access into darksome cults, had harkened to the grisly whispers of the votaries of Skelos under midnight trees…” in “Black Colossus”).

So, what is in the Book of Skelos? The quote in the prior paragraph hints that the book probably contains incantations. In “The People of the Black Circle,” Yasmina learned how the king of Vendhya was killed via magic, at least partially from reading from the Book of Skelos (“The king of Vendhya was destroyed by magic,” she said at last. “I have devoted my life to the destruction of his murderers. As he died he gave me a clue, and I have followed it. I have read the Book of Skelos, and talked with nameless hermits in the caves below Jhelai. I learned how, and by whom, he was destroyed. His enemies were the Black Seers of Mount Yimsha.”). The Book of Skelos also had geographical knowledge, as this quote from “The Pool of the Black One” points out: “Zaporavo had his reasons for wishing to go alone. He desired to learn if this island were indeed that mentioned in the mysterious Book of Skelos, whereon, nameless sages aver, strange monsters guard crypts filled with hieroglyph-carven gold.”

The Book of Skelos itself was described as “Iron-Bound” (“…I read the iron-bound books of Skelos, and talked with unseen creatures in deep wells, and faceless shapes in black reeking jungles” in The Hour of the Dragon). Iron has long had an association with magic in folklore, so I think that is why Robert E. Howard often described magical tomes as being iron-bound. It’s part of his skillful way to paint a scene with just a few words. Even if we don’t consciously remember that iron is tied to magic in folklore, I think subconsciously many of us do make this connection.

I read a couple of online sources that want to treat the Book of Skelos as having been written by Vathelos the Blind; for example, the Marvel Database (http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix4/tomes_of_eldritch_knowledge.htm) has this entry for The Book of Skelos: “Book of Skelos – Savage Sword of Conan #2 (1974) Several copies of an iron-bound book apparently compiled in the Hyborian Era by Vathelos the Blind; held by Kulan Gath, traded to Professor Justin Alphonse Gamble by Merlin in exchange for the meteorite from which he created the Ebony Blade. Compendium for arcane knowledge (history, geography, gods, demons, wizards, rituals, prophecy, and dagger); included spell to summon the demon Azoth.” I think this comes from the “Black Colossus” line that says, “Not for naught had he gained access into darksome cults, had harkened to the grisly whispers of the votaries of Skelos under midnight trees, and read the forbidden ironbound books of Vathelos the Blind.” Personally, I think there can be more than one set of ironbound books in the world, but I can see where one can conflate them.

In the Marvel Comics, there were few copies of the Book of Skelos extant. Thoth-amon’s copy was said to be incomplete, for a page of his was stolen, according to Marvel Feature presents Red Sonja Vol 2, #6. In Savage Sword of Conan Vol 1, #54, a single page of the Book of Skelos is mentioned. For a while in the Marvel run, there was a character named Zula, whose master Shu-Onoru possessed a copy. With this copy, Zula learned sorcery. Another wizard had a copy in Savage Sword of Conan Vol 1, #8, but that copy was destroyed at the end of the story. In Savage Sword of Conan Vol 1, #41, which was an adaptation of L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter’s Conan the Buccaneer, it mentions that one copy resided in Kheshatta, City of Magicians and another within the Aquilonian Librarium. Another copy is in Vendhya, because Yasmina also read a copy there in the adaptation of “The People of the Black Circle.” Even in more modern eras, Marvel Comics used the Book of Skelos. In Avengers Annual Vol 1, #22, Merlin was shown possessing the Book of Skelos in Camelot during the 6th Century.

In L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter’s Conan the Buccaneer, a reptile-bound copy was found on the Nameless Isle, in the Western Sea, on an altar to Tsathoggua the Toad-God. It is described thusly: “Beneath the sacks of jewels was a huge book, bound in the hide of some reptile and fitted with clasps and hinges of bronze, green with age. The scales of the reptile whose skin formed the cover were of a size that no earthly beast had worn for eons.” Obviously, not all the copies were bound in iron.

For Mongoose’s Conan the Roleplaying Game, the first supplement to the core rulebook was a splatbook called “The Scrolls of Skelos.” I always wondered why it was called that and not the “Book of Skelos.” I suppose it came from the movie, Conan the Destroyer, which referenced the “scrolls of Skelos” throughout, although they were also referred to as scrolls in Savage Sword of Conan Vol 1 #1.

In that particular roleplaying game, the book itself was given the following description:

In Mongoose’s Faith and Fervour, which I wrote, I took the charismatic leader and made him the subject of a cult. He’s described as having votaries, so this seemed reasonable to me. Here is the short description of his cult in game terms:

Skelos
Though Skelos is often said to have been no more than a powerful, mortal sorcerer, he is also worshipped as a god of magic by many sorcerers, particularly those who are not quite so Stygian as to revere Set but who still seek after dark and forbidden knowledge. His followers whisper grisly secrets to one another in secret cult meetings held in forest glades at midnight. These meetings have more the character of a coven meeting than a religious act of worship, and Skelos’s priests are wizards first and foremost.

Requirements of Worship: Pay a tithe worth 1 sp/level/month to the local priests of Skelos, attend at least one cult meeting/month.

Benefits of Worship: Spells (any).

Requirements for Ordained Priesthood: Standard, plus as follows: must know at least three sorcery styles and three advanced spells; Knowledge (arcana) 8 ranks; must give up at least three magical links to oneself to the cult’s archpriest.

Benefits of Ordained Priesthood: Standard, plus sorcery teaching is available (all spells).

Typical Punishments for Disloyal Priests: Killed by magical means.

Monolith’s Robert E. Howard’s Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of has a supplement titled the Book of Skelos, but I don’t have a copy of that book, so I am unable to say how it treats the book for that particular roleplaying game.

Introduction to Modiphius Entertainment’s The Book of Skelos

Skelos didn’t just give his name to a book, but also to several other items as well. For example, in “Queen of the Black Coast,” we have a Well of Skelos: “Conan knew these creatures were not beasts; it was not merely in their unnatural size that he sensed a blasphemous difference. They exuded an aura tangible as the black mist rising from a corpse-littered swamp. By what godless alchemy these beings had been brought into existence, he could not guess; but he knew he faced diabolism blacker than the Well of Skelos. “

Andrew Offut wrote a Conan novel titled, The Sword of Skelos. This sword was enchanted to fly about and fight of its own accord.

And it seems as though some sorcerer’s use Skelos’ name as a curse, and I’ll end off with such a quote from “The People of the Black Circle.”

‘“Follow the golden vein through the abyss,” muttered Khemsa. “Wear the girdle. I had it from a Stygian priest. It will aid you, though it failed me at last. Break the crystal globe with the four golden pomegranates. Beware of the Master’s transmutations – I am going to Gitara – she is waiting for me in hell – aie, ya Skelos yar!” And so he died.

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Vincent Darlage currently works as an accountant in Indiana. He discovered REH in 1983 when he was 13 years old. He wrote sixteen supplements to Mongoose’s Conan the Roleplaying Game and small bits here and there in Monolith’s game. He is one of the moderators of the Robert E. Howard Readers group on Goodreads.

https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/6417-robert-e-howard-readers 

He invites everyone to join in the REH discussions!