A New Conan Chronology

by Gary Grossmann

(This is Gary Grossmann’s first (but hopefully not last) article for my blog. This essay was previously posted on one of the several REH Facebook groups. But I thought it deserved to have a more searchable home on the world wide web. So, I’m posting it here with added graphics. I think it is a worthy entry in the field of “Conan Chronologies.” Author Gary Grossmann encourages responses and critiques. Please post any questions, criticisms, etc. You’re guaranteed to get a response from the author.)

My Conan Chronology
(As determined primarily from The Conan Chronicles, Vol. 1 & 2
Gollancz Publishing, ISBN 1 85798 996 1)

The first thing that should be made clear in discussing a Conan Chronology is that it is a parlor game. Despite the best efforts of Miller and Clark, de Camp, Jordan, and later William Galen Gray, Joe Marek, and Dale Rippke, there is no definitive Conan Chronology. Robert E. Howard himself had no specific ideas about the order in which the stories took place. He gave only vague and general references, if any, to where the stories might fit into Conan’s personal history. Thus, the parlor game of what chronology of stories makes the most sense.

My chronology includes only Howard’s 21 completed stories, although I have inserted notes about the one synopsis and four fragments for folks who want to include them. I focus almost exclusively on the text of those 21 completed stories, along with parts of Howard’s letter to P.S. Miller. His letters and ancillary writings, even his essay “The Hyborian Age,” sometimes conflict with the published stories. This is not a criticism. Howard was a prolific writer trying to make a living in the middle of The Great Depression in a niche market he helped create. It is completely understandable that he might forget a few details, reuse material, compromise a history he had created, or whatever else it took to write a salable story. The bottom line for me is that the text of the published stories trumps everything else.

With respect to the bridges between the stories, they should be as simple as possible while still making sense. This is not always easy, but unnecessarily complex and extensive bridges in a chronology are no different from including pastiches. And compromising the Conan persona to fit a particular narrative is even worse.

Looking at the major Conan chronologies and where they place Howard’s 21 completed stories, you get three; the Miller/Clark/de Camp/Jordan/Gray chronology, the Marek chronology, and the Rippke chronology. And when comparing these three with each other the ordering of the stories can be divided into three sections.

All three chronologies, and mine, agree on the first four stories. We just don’t agree on the order. We also all agree on what the next ten stories are, with no agreement on the order other than that we all end up in the same place. Finally, there are the last seven stories. Here there is some agreement on the order, but radical disagreement on the bridges.

The following is my analysis of the stories, the rationale for the order in which I place them, the bridges I surmise between them, and where appropriate, comments on the other chronologies and why I think my ordering makes more sense.

Howard’s letter to P.S. Miller, dated March 10, 1936, provides an outline of Conan’s earliest years outside of what is in the stories. Howard states that the teenage Conan’s first trip out of Cimmeria was to go north to fight with the Aesir against the Vanir and Hyperboreans, the latter of whom captured him. When he escaped, he went directly to Zamora to begin his career as a thief.

Looking at the first four stories, I place “The God in a Bowl” first followed by “The Tower of the Elephant,” “Rogues in the House,” and “The Frost Giant’s Daughter.”

The “Bowl” Conan is clearly fresh out of Cimmeria (via Hyperborea). As Rippke states, he is practically feral, with virtually no understanding of civilization, even less so than in “Elephant.” But the clincher to placing these two first is that in both stories, and only in these stories, Conan is referred to as a youth.

“Rogues” is next. Conan is fully grown, has become notorious, and knows how to ride a horse. Consistent with Howard’s letter, it takes place in a city-state of Corinthia or Bythunia.

“The Frost Giant’s Daughter” has always been somewhat problematic. Rejected by Weird Tales editor Farnsworth Wright, a non-Conan version was published in The Fantasy Fan magazine in 1934 and the Conan version was finally published in 1953. The attempted rape is rather off putting, notwithstanding that the would-be victim is an evil demigoddess trying to lure Conan to his death. Chalk it up to Conan suffering a severe concussion and being under a demigoddess’s spell.

Regardless, “The Frost Giant’s Daughter” belongs after the three thief stories because of two factors. First, Conan is referred to as a man not a youth, even by the mocking demigoddess, who certainly would have called him a boy as part of her taunts if he was still a teen. Second, Conan states that “Far have I wandered, but a woman like you I have never seen.” These are hardly the words of a teen whose only contact with civilization has been a few raids on frontier forts. They are very easily the words of a young man who has spent time in Nemedia, Corinthia, and the exotic world of Zamora.

To summarize: After teenage Conan participates in raids on Hyborian border outposts, fights in the far north, is captured by the Hyperboreans and escapes, he heads south to exotic Zamora to become a thief. Along the way, in the city of Numalia, he runs across the slumming aristocrat Aztrias Petanius, who is looking for someone with Conan’s athletic abilities to steal for him. “The God in a Bowl” Putting that horror behind him, Conan arrives in Zamora and begins to establish himself as a daring thief. “The Tower of the Elephant” Eventually, he leaves Zamora and heads west, establishing himself as one of the most successful thieves in an unnamed Corinthian city-state. “Rogues in the House” During his time in Zamora and Corinthia he grows to his full manhood and also learns to ride a horse. Needing to leave the Corinthian city and temporarily tired of civilization, he returns to Cimmeria for a short time before traveling further north to again join a band of Asgardians in their perpetual war with Vanaheim. “The Frost Giant’s Daughter”

Conan returns to Cimmeria for a short time before returning to civilization, this time to make a living with his sword.

If the “Hall of the Dead” synopsis were included, I would place it after “Tower.” It’s a complete story synopsis, not a fragment, and fits nicely into the thief stories. On the other hand, “The Hand of Nergal” fragment is as generic a Conan story opening as you could conceive. Conan has survived a battle and finds a nearly dead woman. Meanwhile, a monster has a city afraid to come out at night and we are introduced to two important men. That’s it. Since Conan has no armor and is looking for valuables on the dead, it could be placed immediately before or after either “Rogues” or “Hall.”

The chronology of the next ten stories is the most difficult to determine. The stories take Conan to the far corners of the world where he is a rank and file mercenary, a pirate both in the Sea of Vilayet and the Western Sea, a hetman of the Kozaki, a co-leader of Black corsairs, a chief of Black warriors, an Afghuli chieftain, a captain of the guard, and a Zuigar chieftain. Not surprisingly, the three major chronologies don’t agree on much. It’s a challenge to fit Conan travelling thousands of miles to be all of these things into a reasonable chronology.

Again, my focus is on the text of these ten stories and what they tell us about Conan’s progression from a wild, lawless, and naive barbarian to the slightly less wild, much worldlier, and almost accidentally noble barbarian, who is ultimately transformed, to paraphrase Howard, by “the instinct of sovereign responsibility.”

Before continuing, the issue of Conan and his women must be addressed. Even at his wildest Conan has a rough code of chivalry, protecting whatever beautiful woman he feels responsible for. In nine of the ten stories, and in two of the next four, Conan has a love/lust interest. One dies, he doesn’t end up with three, but in seven stories they end up together, usually in each other’s arms. What happens to these seven women needs to be reasonably explained.

Another component that requires attention is references to past encounters and circumstances that do not actually occur in any published story. For example, in “Shadows in the Moonlight” Conan runs into Sergius of Khrosha and a past meeting of the two is referenced. And when did Prospero become his best friend? Circumstances such as these must be explained in any viable chronology.

After “Frost” the next three stories are “Black Colossus” and “Queen of the Black Coast, and “The Vale of Lost Women.”

In “Colossus,” Conan is still very wild and undisciplined, notwithstanding that he also demonstrates a shrewd understanding of warfare politics and strategies. The red caped Conan even suggests hanging citizens to keep them in line! As his mercenary commander General Amalric puts it; “That’s Conan the northron, the most turbulent of my rogues. I’d have hanged him long ago if he were not the best swordsman that ever donned hauberk’’ and “If the dog ever commanded more than a company of cut throats before, I’ll eat him, harness and all!”

Everything about the story points to “Colossus” being very early in Conan’s career and the first story in which Conan is a mercenary. It’s also worth noting that Conan calls the king of Koth a “cursed miser” who is “no friend of mine.” Apparently the king stiffed the mercenaries for a job as they worked their way south from Corinthia, creating a lasting grudge on Conan’s part against Koth in general which shows up in other stories. During this time Conan also has his run in with the Kothian Sergius of Khrosha.

Although Conan and Queen Yasmela are in each other’s arms at the end of “Colossus,” it doesn’t last long. She’s a queen and he’s a young rogue completely unsuited for any civilized life, let alone life in a royal court. Conan soon moves on.

After “Colossus,” Conan spends enough time in Hyrkania to learn archery before working his way west, selling his sword to whoever pays enough to support his carousing. Though soon a seasoned mercenary, Conan is still expressing puzzlement and frustration with civilized ways when he lands in Messentia, still favoring an Ophirian red cape.

In “Queen” he meets the perfect woman for this stage of his life. Belit is just as ruthless, wild, and morally unfettered as Conan. Between them they carve a legendary path of piracy, pillaging, and blood. Conan learns all about ships, sailing, piracy, Freebooters, Barachan Pirates, and the Red Brotherhood Code (or “Freebooter Law”), which we later learn extends to all pirates, east and west, except perhaps the Black Corsairs. He also learns about fencing booty in Messentia, later referenced in The Hour of the Dragon, and all about the cultures of the people of greater Kush. In short, “Queen” provides the perfect explanation for how Conan learns about sailing and piracy without ever having been a sailor who works his way up the ladder.

It’s clear Conan is devastated at the end of “Queen” by Belt’s death, wants nothing to do with the ocean, at least for a while, and goes brooding into the jungle. This is the perfect segue to “The Vale of Lost Women,” where we find barbarian Conan as war chief of the barbaric Bamulas, in the middle of the jungle full of barbaric tribes. Like “Frost,” “Vale” was initially rejected and not published until 1967. Conan is just as ruthless as he was in “Queen.” He has no compunction about ordering the massacre of an entire village of Blacks to rescue a White woman.

Part of his bargain with Livia for her return to Ophir was to have sex with her, which he later rescinds. (It’s worth noting that Conan states in “Vale” he has never forced himself on an unwilling woman. Apparently the “Frost” situation doesn’t count.) After brooding over Belit’s death for months in true Cimmerian fashion and burying his grief in battle and blood, Livia’s presence is a wake-up call for Conan, reminding him who he is (i.e. not a man who bargains for sex) and that there is a whole world from which he has cut himself off. So instead of returning to the Bamulas after seeing Livia safely on a caravan back to Ophir, he skirts along the eastern end of Stygia and heads north. During this trip he has the later referenced (in “Jewels Gwahlur”) encounter with Stygian “adventurer and rogue” Thutmekri, that creates lasting enmity between them.

It should be noted that in other stories Conan makes it clear he doesn’t really like greater Kush. He doesn’t like a hot humid climate, he doesn’t like Black women, and the level of barbarism is at times too high even for him. In the published stories Conan goes into greater Kush when he’s 1) brooding over the loss of his first great love, 2) chased by an army, and 3) chasing a beautiful woman after joining a gang he wishes he hadn’t. So a chronology that has Conan going to greater Kush when he has money and/or other choices doesn’t really make sense.

To summarize: Conan travels south from Cimmeria to sell his sword and joins Amalric’s mercenary band in Corinthia. They work their way south. Along the way they are underpaid by the king of Koth for a job, creating a lasting grudge, Conan has a run in with Sergius of Khrosha, and the mercenaries eventually end up in Khoraja. “Black Colossus” Totally unfit to be a paramour of Queen Yasmela, he leaves Khoraja, selling his sword arm, first in Hyrkania where he learns archery, and then he works his way west, ending up in Messentia. “Queen of the Black Coast” Devastated by Belit’s death, a brooding Conan wanders into the jungle and eventually becomes war chief of the Bamulas. “The Vale of Lost Women” After rescuing Livia he decides to head back to the Hyborian nations, travelling through the east end of Stygia where he has a run in with Thutmekri.

If included, I would place “The Snout in the Dark” and “The Drums of Tombalku” after “Vale of Lost Women.” After sending Livia home via a Stygian border city, Conan decides to spend a few hours in civilization. He buys a red cape to replace the one he wrapped Belit in, visits a tavern, is recognized as Amra, and everyone wants to kill him. He steals a horse and escapes riding east, eventually ending up in Punt with the horse and red cape he has at the beginning of “Snout.” At the end of the story wholesale murder and mayhem have broken out and Conan and Nemedian slave girl Diana escape in the chaos.

They head north to Khoraja, where he still has friends from “Colossus.” He hears that Argos is putting together a mercenary army for a war with Stygia. He leaves Diana in Khoraja, heads for Argos, and “Drums” takes place. One way or another, the demons are destroyed, Amalric and Lissa end up together, and Conan’s mercenary paradise of Tombalku is turned upside down with him leaving it behind, perhaps on the run. That brings him back to joining the set up for “The Slithering Shadow,” just as I propose at the end of “Vale.”

The next two stories, “The Slithering Shadow” and “Shadows in the Moonlight” are a little problematic for chronologists. While the stories themselves are very different, Howard’s setups to the stories are virtually identical. Conan signs up with a rebel prince of Koth twice. The army and the marauding remnant are destroyed twice. Conan is the sole survivor twice. There is no mention of his having been in a leadership role, twice. And Conan has with him throughout the story a beautiful woman, twice.

The fact that Conan is not a leader indicates both take place early in Conan’s career. Aside from the very temporary stint as commander of the Khoraja forces in “Colossus,” Conan has only been a leader among fellow barbarians; the Black corsairs and the Bamulas. He has not yet forged a leadership role north of the Styx. Also, in “Moonlight” Yildiz is king of Turan, not his son Yezdigerd.

It stretches credulity that an older Conan would be foolish enough to join a doomed army lead by a rebel prince of Koth twice. It stretches credulity a younger Conan would do it, but that’s what we have to work with. However, we can’t make Conan too young and inexperienced because by the time “Moonlight” happens Conan has learned all about sailing, captaining a ship, and the Red brotherhood. He also knows about gray man-apes, what time of year there are storms on the Vilayet, and he knows Sergius of Khrosha. Chalk it up to Conan holding a grudge as only a Cimmerian can, in this case against the king of Koth and Koth in general. (That can be backed up when years later in “The Scarlet Citadel,” a chained and helpless Conan reflects that he had thought to someday ride into the capital of Koth “at the head of his steel clad squadrons.”)

It makes the most sense to me to pair these two stories together, as it creates less zigzagging. And while it might seem better for the prince to make up with his father the first time so the second time it can be the same prince, it’s a lot easier to explain Conan getting back to joining a second prince after the end of “Slithering,” where he’s alone with a slave girl in the southern desert, than to explain how he went from being a Vilayet pirate captain at the end of “Moonlight” to joining the second rebellion.

It’s also worth noting that in “Slithering” Howard states Conan has “an innate sense of decency” when it comes to protecting current girl friend Natala even at the same time he is beguiled by, and lusts after, the more strikingly beautiful Thalis.

After the end of “Slithering” Conan and Natala make their way back to civilization. While doing so he makes the friends in this part of greater Kush later referenced in “Red Nails.” He hears that another Kothian prince has rebelled against the King and letting his grudge overcome his judgment, he signs up. “Moonlight” ensues.

Miller et al place “Slithering” much later and after “The Devil in Iron,” which, as Rippke and Marek point out, is simply wrong. Conan makes a reference to the “Slithering’s” city of Xuthal in “Devil.” So “Slithering” must take place before “Devil.” And yet the error was approved by Howard when he reviewed the chronology sent to him by Miller and Clark, and it was maintained by de Camp, Jordan, and Gray.

Rippke placing “Moonlight” as the first post-thief story makes no sense; he has Conan take on the pirate captaincy without any sailing experience and consequently Rippke has Conan’s crew abandon him. Conan has a lot of self-confidence and bravado, but he is not stupid enough to “try his luck” as a pirate captain with no experience whatsoever. Conan is never stupid. (Have a grudge cloud his judgment, yes, but flat out stupid, never.) Furthermore, Rippke says Conan doesn’t seem to know much about the Red Brotherhood, yet he knows enough to have the pirates “Swear by the hilt” to ensure their loyalty.

To summarize: Returning to the southern Hyborian nations after seeing to Livia’s return to Ophir, Conan hears that Prince Almuric of Koth has rebelled against his father and Conan, bearing a grudge against the King of Koth, joins up. The prince is killed, the army destroyed, and Conan and slave girl Natala, the only survivors, are harried into the southern desert where “The Slithering Shadow” takes place. At the end of “Slithering” the two are alone in the desert. They work their way back to civilization with Conan making friends with at least one tribe along the way. Conan hears that another Kothian prince has rebelled against his father and still bearing a grudge, he signs up again after seeing Natala set up nicely somewhere with a warning she better be well treated. The prince makes up with his father, the army is left hanging, they become the Kozaki, are destroyed by Shah Amurath and “Shadows in the Moonlight” happens. At the end of “Moonlight,” Conan is a Sea of Vilayet pirate captain with a crew and a willing pirate wench in former princess and mistreated slave Olivia.

The next five stories are “The Devil in Iron,” “The People of the Black Circle,” “A Witch Shall Be Born,” “The Shadows of Zamboula,” and “Pool of the Black One.” A significant aspect to the first three is that Conan establishes himself as the leader of whatever band of men he falls in with. From his prior experiences, Conan is now wise beyond his years in the ways of men, dynamic and cunning, invincible in battle, and brilliant in tactics as he leads these groups to plundered riches and victories over enemies.

Sometime after the end of “Moonlight,” Olivia finds the glow of being a pirate wench has worn off. Fortunately for her, word comes that the queen of Ophir has acquired the Star of Khorala (which is later stolen) and “convinces” the king to seek the return of daughters who were sold, even offering rewards. So Conan arranges for Olivia to be escorted to Ophir, without having to threaten the escorts, which he does anyway, and Olivia is returned to the pampered life she wants to become reacquainted with.

Meanwhile, King Yildiz has died and the new king, his son Yezdigerd, has taken the empire building that Yildiz began and accelerated it as described at the beginning of “Devil.” As a result, Conan runs afoul of a fleet of Turanian ships sent to destroy him. His ship is sunk, but he escapes to the southwest. He joins the resurrected Kozaki, quickly becomes their leader, and forges them into bold and daring plunderers who confound the local governor. “The Devil in Iron” ensues.

Despite his boast at the end of “Devil” to his latest paramour, Octavia, things become too hot for Conan in greater Hyrkania. With him as the focus of Turanian ire, Conan and his captains decide the best course of action is for the Kozaki to break up into smaller bands and for Conan to disappear. Before leaving, Conan arranges for his most trusted captains to escort Octavia back to Nemedia from whence she had been kidnapped. He gives the men his share of the divided booty and a Conanesque warning. Octavia, like Olivia before her, is safely returned to her homeland.

Meanwhile, Conan works his way southeast into Afghulistan and its border with the mighty and exotic kingdom of Vendhya. He soon overcomes, to an extent, the prejudices against outsiders and rises to the leadership of an Afghuli tribe, who make their living ravaging the outer provinces of Vendhya. “The People of the Black Circle” takes place. After “Circle” Conan’s leadership among the Afghulis is undermined by persistent rumors that he is in league with the Devi against the Afghulis. Combined with their innate mistrust of foreigners, Conan’s position becomes untenable and he travels, or perhaps flees, westward.

Conan is still on Turan’s most wanted list. But while carefully avoiding Turanian patrols as he makes his way across greater Hyrkania with the idea of heading for the western Hyborian nations, Conan hears that Queen Taramis is looking for a Captain of the Palace Guard. With no reasonable plundering options close at hand, Conan decides to “go straight” for once. He arrives in Khauran and in true Conan style announces that he is perfect for the job. This causes quite an uproar as everyone has heard of Conan, notorious pirate and Kozaki, bloody scourge of greater Hyrkania.

But Conan demonstrates his strategic and tactical knowledge by pointing out flaws in the palace and city defenses. He simultaneously defeats half a dozen soldiers in the practice yard and says he can train them so that he could defeat no more than four. Taramis also discovers that this is the same rogue who led the army that saved the tiny Kingdom of Khoraja from annihilation by a desert horde. He gets the job and before too long “A Witch Shall Be Born” happens.

Word of Conan’s new position undoubtedly reaches Yezdigerd, who is surprised, but at least Conan is not bedeviling Turanian lands. And for now Khauran and Khoraja are too small to be bothered with.

At the end of “Witch,” Conan leads an army of more than 10,000 Zuagir bandits. They raid and plunder Turanian outposts and city-states in eastern Shem with great success. Yezdigerd has his generals organize a massive attack aimed at destroying Conan and the Zuagirs once and for all. When word reaches Conan he sets into motion a plan he had all along. He tells his desert raiders to do what they’ve done to ensure their survival for hundreds of years; disperse. Much as he had done with the Kozaki, only to an even greater degree, he has the Zuagirs break up into their typical tiny bands and disperse into the desert like so many grains of sand.

Conan continues to kick around the desert for a short time, not sure what he wants to do next and running low of coppers, but assured that as long as he’s in the desert there will be Zuagirs to aid him as needed, for he is now a legendary figure around their campfires. As his friend Ghanara tells him “You have dwelt for many moons in the tents of the Zuagirs, and you are our brother.”

He ends up in the city of Zamboula and “The Shadows of Zamboula” takes place. The end of this tale finds Conan riding west to Ophir with a bag of gold and the Star of Khorala to sell back to the Queen of Ophir for a “room full of gold.” After cashing in the “Star” Conan is ready to return to the sea. He travels to Messentia and with his new found wealth he buys a sleek ship, hires a crew of cutthroats, and becomes a Barachan Pirate.

At the beginning of “Pool of the Black One” Conan relates that unnamed circumstances forced him to leave the Barachans in a hurry. Pirates typically set up governments at their strongholds. Perhaps the pirate “governor” of the Barachans saw Conan as a threat and successfully plotted against him. Whatever happened, Conan ends up on the Zingarian Freebooter ship with nothing but his sword. “Pool” ensues.

It’s a little surprising that Zaporavo and his crew have not heard of Conan. However, this can be explained by the Freebooters’ general distain for the Barachans and more specifically, Zaporavo’s progressively insular behavior resulting from his obsession with his search for fabled isles of treasure.

Oddly enough, the major chronologies and mine agree that “Pool” is the last of the ten “middle” stories and fourteenth story overall. As for bridging him to “Pool,” all three have Conan in greater Kush immediately prior to “Pool.” They more or less agree that he heads west until he reaches the sea and joins a pirate crew, swiftly working his way to the captaincy of his own ship. The only way that could happen is for him to be accepted as a crewman by a captain followed shortly by him killing the captain.

For my part, “Zamboula” is one of the few stories where Conan is rich at the end and headed for even more riches. Rather than having him carelessly lose his fortune as the others do, (which, frankly, is a pretty lazy explanation) I like the idea that he used those riches to buy a ship and become a pirate captain again before losing everything to the vagaries of piracy.

To summarize: While pirate Conan is terrorizing the Vilayet, Yezdigerd becomes king of Turan and quickly works to expand his empire as well as rid it of Conan. Shortly after Conan sends Olivia back to Ophir his ship is sunk and he escapes to join the resurgent Kozaki, soon becoming their leader. “The Devil in Iron” occurs and Conan has a new paramour, Octavia. But things become too hot for Conan so after sending Octavia back to her home country of Nemedia, he heads southwest to Vendhya where he becomes the chief of a tribe of Afghulis. “The People of the Black Circle” Eventually, jealousy and mistrust of foreigners causes Conan to leave Afghulistan and head west. Yezdigerd has seemingly made it impossible for him to reestablish himself as a major marauder and plunderer, so he surprises everyone by taking a legitimate job as Captain of the Palace Guard in the tiny Kingdom of Khauran. “A Witch Shall be Born” Having gone from Captain of the Palace Guard to the leader of 10,000 Zuagir warriors, Conan proceeds to terrorize portions of greater Hyrkania and eastern Shem, once again becoming a major thorn in the side of Yezdigerd. When he gets wind of a massive focus on destroying him, Conan has his Zuagirs disperse into the desert, he becomes a loner once more, and we find him in the city of Zamboula. “Shadows of Zamboula” The end of “Zamboula” finds Conan with a bag of gold along with the Star of Khorala heading for Ophir to cash it in. Flush with gold, Conan buys a ship, hires a crew, and becomes a pirate once more. But he runs afoul of Barachan politics and is forced to flee, imposing himself on a Zingarian Freebooter. “Pool of the Black One” At the end of “Pool” Conan has a ship beneath him and beautiful pirate wench Sancha by his side.

The next four stories are “Beyond the Black River,” “The Black Stranger,” “Red Nails,” and “Jewels of Gwahlur.”

At the end of “Pool” Conan is a lusty buccaneer living a life he truly loves. It doesn’t take long for him to become the most feared pirate on the Western Sea, as referenced later upon his entrance in “Stranger.”

But Conan is once again a victim of his own success, running into the Zingarian Royal Fleet sent specifically to destroy him. His ship is sunk and most of the crew is killed, but he manages to get Sancha safely ashore with enough pirate booty in jewels to set herself up somewhere, much as he later does with Belesa in “Stranger.” Sancha is not an innocent like Belesa, but Conan would never leave one of his women destitute if he could help it.

Conan works his way overland to Argos and the dangerous side of Messentia, hoping to muster a new ship and crew, when he hears that Aquilonia is hiring scouts as it tries to expand its western border into land heretofore inhabited by the Picts. He thinks the Aquilonians are crazy, but he travels north to Aquilonia and takes the job because it gives him a chance to do what every Cimmerian wants the opportunity to do: Kill Picts. “Beyond the Black River” takes place.

Eventually, as he later relates, he is captured by the Picts, escapes, and “The Black Stranger” unfolds. We find out his time as a scout fighting Picts has been about three years. At the end of “Stranger” Conan is again a pirate and after taking Belesa back to Zingara he renews his reign of piratical terror, which leads to “Red Nails.”

What turns out to be the end of Conan’s pirate career is outlined by Conan at the beginning of “Nails,” where he has followed the beautiful she-pirate Valeria into the jungle. Besides references to many of his previous occupations, we also hear Conan’s cavalier attitude about the ups and downs of pirate life when he says “’As for being penniless-what rover isn’t most of the time? I’ve squandered enough gold in the sea-ports of the world to fill a galleon.’ ‘Where are the fine ships and the bold lads you commanded now?’ she sneered. ‘At the bottom of the sea, mostly.’ He replied cheerfully.”

At the end of “Nails” Conan and Valeria are headed back to the sea to resume their lives as pirates, now as a team. But as they travel together Valeria, as Howard might put it, reverts to type. She knows that Conan will be in charge and seen by others as her superior and she can’t stand it. They have a big blowout, probably several, eventually part ways, and she continues her way back the sea and piracy, guided by Conan’s friends that he references in the story.

Conan’s lust for Valeria has been at least partially sated and wanting to go in any direction other than hers, he heads inland to the northeast. After years of hearing tales of the fabulous Teeth of Gwahlur, he decides he wants to find and steal them. “Jewels of Gwahlur” ensues and Conan ends up matching wits with the Stygian Thutmekri and battling ghouls. The end of “Jewels” once again finds Conan with a beautiful woman, in this case the dancer and actress Muriela. She has just cost him the Teeth because he chose to save her from the ghouls rather than saving the jewels, but Conan shrugs the loss off with his typical devil-may-care attitude and is already hatching another scheme to pursue in Punt.

With respect to the other chronologies, while I agree with Rippke’s progression of these stories, I cannot agree with his bridges. Suffice to say he has Conan not acting like Conan, particularly at this point in his career.

The problem with the alternative progression of stories taken by Miller et al and Marek is they end with “Stranger,” where Conan is a pirate on the Western Sea. And while getting to everyone’s next story, “The Phoenix on the Sword,” from any story requires an extensive bridge, the “Stranger” to “Phoenix” bridge is made problematic by one sentence in “The Scarlet Citadel.” When Totha offers Conan life and an escort to the “eastern frontiers,” Conan replies “Setting me adrift where I was when I rode into Aquilonia to take service in her armies…” It’s tough to come up with a reasonable bridge from Conan pirating in the Western Sea to approaching Aquilonia from its eastern frontier. It’s much easier when the starting point of the bridge is Conan coming up from the southeast at the end of “Jewels.”

To summarize: After a concentrated effort by the Zingarian Royal Fleet, Conan’s ship is sunk, most of his crew is killed, and he barely saves Sancha. Back in Messentia to try and muster a new ship and crew, he hears the Aquilonian frontier needs scouts. Always ready to kill Picts, he decides to take the job. “Beyond the Black River” The Picts eventually capture him, but Conan escapes and is chased across the entire Pictish Wilderness. “The Black Stranger” At the end of “Stranger,” he happily finds himself a lusty pirate again, accepting the ups and downs of piracy with a shrug of his mighty shoulders. In the midst of one of the downs he finds himself in an unwanted mercenary job that leads to him chasing a beautiful she-pirate, who is also in between ships, into the jungle. “Red Nails” After “Nails,” Conan and Valeria acrimoniously part ways and Conan heads northeast to Punt to try and steal the fabulous Teeth of Gwahlur. “Jewels of Gwahlur” He doesn’t get the jewels, but he does end up with another beautiful woman, Muriela, and a plan to use her acting skills to make them both rich.

The next three stories in everyone’s chronologies are the first published Conan story, “The Phoenix on the Sword,” followed by the second published story, “The Scarlet Citadel,” and finally The Hour of the Dragon. Notwithstanding Conan’s cross continental travels and the challenges they create, by far the trickiest part of the entire chronology is connecting the last pre-king story to “Phoenix.” Somehow Conan goes from being a “red handed plunderer” to the military leader of a rebellion against a sitting king. Howard provided no details. The only clue as to what took place, other than where he joined the Aquilonian army, is found early in “Phoenix” when Conan says “When I led her armies to victory as a mercenary Aquilonia overlooked the fact that I was a foreigner…”

So the questions are: How did Conan come to lead Aquilonia’s armies, what victories is he talking about in “Phoenix,” and how did that lead to him leading the rebellion and becoming king? And while we are at it, how did nobles like Count Trocero ever get the idea, or agree to the idea, of a foreign barbarian becoming their king?

Having stated that bridges between the stories should be as simple as possible, there is no getting around that the answer to these questions requires a rather extensive bridge. Here is my attempt, in as few words as possible, at a bridge that makes sense while incorporating threads from the published texts:

Whether or not the scheme Conan relates at the end of “Jewels” pans out, he and Muriela return to Hyborian civilization and Conan leaves her with a group of actors or dancers, who he of course threatens with a warning about her treatment.

Conan then begins to gather a mercenary band. His name and reputation in this part of the continent are well known among his fellow mercenaries, many of whom, like Conan, have gone back and forth between sellsword and plunderer. Conan soon has a band of 500 mercenaries whose services are purchased by the “dozen or more rebellious barons” of eastern Koth referenced a number of years later in “Scarlet.” It’s reasonable that these problems were brewing for King Strabonus long before “Scarlet” and were fertile ground for mercenaries in between “Jewels” and “Phoenix.”

Meanwhile, things are deteriorating in Aquilonia. As Conan states in “Scarlet;” “The land was torn with the wars of the barons, and people cried out under suppression and taxation.” Count Trocero and other nobles want to remove Namedides, but because of regional mistrust, there is no one to unite the anti-Namedides forces.

During a secret gathering of conspiratorial nobles at Trocero’s castle, someone wistfully brings up Conan’s name; remarking how his rescue of settlers and his fighting ability have become legendary in the western provinces. “People say he killed 100 Picts and Zogar Zag” “I heard it was 500 Picts and a demon” said another. “Too bad he’s dead. Captured by the Picts. No doubt his skull decorates some savage’s hut.”

An eastern baron interjects that Conan is not dead. At least there is a barbarian who calls himself Conan currently leading a mercenary band that is harrying Kothian troops in the eastern half of that nation. Concluding it must be the “Hero of Conajohara” Conan, they hatch a plan. Through General Pallantides, who Namedides mistakenly thinks is loyal, they plant the seed that to quell the troublesome and rebellious provinces that border the Pictish Wilderness, Namedides needs to send a portion of his army led by someone who 1) Has the ability to successfully fight the Picts, 2) Is trusted by the locals, and 3) Won’t become a threat to Namedides no matter how successful he is. The King is then told that Conan, who the King remembers from the reports on Conajohara, would be perfect because as a foreign barbarian it’s inconceivable he would be accepted as a king. Namedides takes the bait, not realizing the conspirators hope to use Conan’s victories over the Picts as a means to unite the outer provinces with them and start a focused rebellion with Conan as its leader.

Prospero volunteers to go to eastern Koth where he finds Conan, telling him the plan and offering him the one thing he has dreamed about, as referenced in “Nails,” and not achieved; a kingship. What Prospero does not tell Conan is that Trocero and the other nobles envision Conan being a figurehead guided by them.

Conan takes Prospero up on the offer. On the journey with Conan and his mercenaries, Prospero and Conan talk a great deal. Prospero is surprised that this barbarian mercenary has a detailed grasp of military tactics and international politics, speaks a dozen languages, and has at times lead thousands of men into various types of battle. They become fast friends and Prospero begins to realize that Conan will not be the mere figurehead the nobles had envisioned. By this time Conan has matured into the man that Howard first introduced us to in the excerpt from the “Nemedian Chronicles.” The Conan who came “…to tread the jeweled thrones of earth under his sandaled heel.”

Conan is welcomed back to the western provinces as a returning hero. Under his leadership the Picts are routed again and again, and driven deep into the Pictish Wilderness. By this time, most of the soldiers are more loyal to Conan than Namedides. Meanwhile, communications and negotiations have been secretly taking place between all the major anti-Namedides factions. Full blown civil war breaks out in Aquilonia. Conan unifies the rebel forces, at some point is betrayed, lands in the Iron Tower as referenced in Hour escapes, and leads the rebellion to victory, strangling Namedides on his throne.

To summarize: Following “Jewels,” Conan and Muriela return to the Hyborian nations, he leaves her with a troupe of actors, puts together a large band of mercenaries, and hires out to the rebellious barons of eastern Koth. Prospero seeks him out to inform him of Trocero & company’s conspiracy to overthrow Namedides with Conan as the unifying factor and eventual king under the guise of Conan being hired to lead a major offensive against the Picts. Conan accepts the offer and he and Prospero become fast friends. Prospero and the other conspirators soon realize Conan will not be the figurehead they had envisioned. Conan leads the rebellion to victory.

With Trocero, Prospero, Pallantidies, and administrative wizard and historian Publius as his core advisors, Conan forges a government that properly supports the outer provinces, keeps taxes reasonable by not engaging in royal excesses and by denying other nobility their excesses, while making it very clear that mistreatment of even the humblest of his subjects by anyone will not be tolerated. Thus is the situation at the beginning of “The Phoenix on the Sword” and further described near the beginning of “The Scarlet Citadel,” followed by The Hour of the Dragon. The End.

With respect to the “Wolves” fragment, it’s not really a Conan fragment and all it does, if it’s included, is establish a minimum period of time between Conan’s time as a scout and the rebellion.

As for the other chronologies, de Camp takes two or three pastiches to make the bridge while Rippke rejects the “victories over Picts” scenario. He claims the “Wolves Beyond the Border” fragment “…dispels a notion…that Conan’s [referenced] army victory came by defeating the Picts.” He states that “Howard’s reason that [the] Thandarans give for supporting Conan is that “We have not forgotten Conajohara.” So Conan’s victory had to come from someplace else” He then proceeds to explain his “war with Zingara” scenario. I strongly disagree.

First, why does one province’s support of Conan based on his Pict fighting heroics in “Black River” preclude his referenced victories being victories over the Picts? Rippke’s logic escapes me.

Second, a war with Zingara makes no sense. In Hour Howard makes it very clear that the Knights of Poitain have proudly protected their border with Zingara for centuries. They especially wouldn’t want help from Namedides, a bitter enemy of their liege lord Count Trocero. Conversely, Namedides would be more than happy to see Trocero crushed by a Zingarian invasion before he sent any troops to Poitain. It makes much more sense that Conan is initially hired to lead an army against the Picts, since that’s what he is famous for in Aquilonia.

So there it is. My All Howard Conan Chronology with or without the synopsis and fragments. I am more than happy to hear objections and in depth analysis from anyone as to where I have gone wrong.

A couple of quick notes:

As many have pointed out, The Hour of the Dragon was never intended to be seen in the US. It was supposed to be published in book form in Great Britain. But the publisher went out of business and the story never saw publication in any form before it was serialized in Weird Tales. In addition to being a cannibalization and expansion of stories previous published in Weird Tales, primarily “The Scarlet Citadel” and “Black Colossus,” Howard created for this story the ancient, sorcerous empire of Acheron, which the early Hyborians overthrew 3,000 years before Conan’s time. This pivotal historic event in Howard’s universe is never mentioned anywhere else, including in the essay “The Hyborian Age.” But so what? It’s a magnificent story and a marvelous capstone to Conan’s chronology.

Another ”So what?” is the name of the Aquilonian capital being Tamar in “Scarlet” and “Tarantia” in Hour. Rippke comes up with a Conan-moves-the-capital scenario. I think this is completely unnecessary. Howard gave the capital a cooler name for a story not originally intended for a US audience. Nobody cared when it was eventually published in Weird Tales and no one should care now. A one sentence explanation that one is the inner city or that Conan changed the name for some reason could suffice if it was decided an explanation was necessary.

Gary Grossmann
Tumwater, WA
June 14, 2023

Gary Grossmann is a retiree who has been a fan of the Conan books and stories for over 40 years. He has nothing against the pastiches (John Roberts Maddox’s and Robert Jordan’s are his favorites) but has always been interested in researching and creating a Conan Chronology of only Howard’s work. He is also known as a major fan of the comic book satire of the barbarian genre, Sergio Aragones’ “Groo the Wanderer.”