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Thread: What book has the "Official" "Cannon" version of Conan's origin?

  1. #1

    Default What book has the "Official" "Cannon" version of Conan's origin?

    Just curious if any of the REH stories have that or if that was picked up by someone else... I have read a few of them, but never saw an origin story in text...

  2. #2

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    I could be mistaken but I think REH only mentions Conan being part of the sack of the Vanaheim (sp) outpost and being talked about council fires when he was 16. At that time he stood as tall as most men but lacked the girth he added as he matured.

    I think a lot of writers have taken some liberties on his youth and other origin aspects like cimmerian life and his family's backstory.
    ----
    Kalur - 80 Bear Shaman, Brunstol - 80 Dark Templar, Tallas - 80 Assassin, Gilben - 80 Conquerer, Pangert - 80 Barbarian, Xoltal - 80 Necromancer, Matzui - 80 Herald of Xolti, and a bunch of lower level alts.
    Wiccana -> Set -> Crom

  3. #3

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    He mentions at one point he was part of a Barbarian assault on an Aquilonian frontier city in his youth, I think that story is "Beyond the Black River". Then you have the reference in the above post as well.

    Howard wrote the stories without any order, his intention was that they were being told as someone remembers them, in no particular order or sequence, just as they came to the story teller. Some events and names are mentioned from one story to another, but most are totally independent of themselves.

    If there was any other history mentioned outside vague references, it probably came from the comic book, or later non-Howard works.
    Doomsayer 2008

  4. #4

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    There are some good replies here already so I will just add to that:

    Conan has no orgin story, there is nothing traumatic about his past, nor he is seeking a revenge. There is nothing to fuel him in his quest because there...is none. Even when he took the crown of Aquilonia he said he did it because....he could.

    He just left Cimmeria to roam the world and to kill, to plunder and to make merry (REH hints that Conan had A LOT of children, especially as king).

    http://aochideout.blogspot.com/2013/...nd-poetry.html

    Conan speaks of Cimmeria as a narrator (supposedly) in REH's poem "Cimmeria"

    puckstop98 nicely recalled the Beyond the black river story where Conan mentions is younger years. In other story Conan mentions his strenght of his younger years:

    Conan's low laugh was merciless as the ring of steel.

    "You fool!" he all but whispered. "I think you never saw a man from the West before. Did you deem yourself strong, because you were able to twist the heads off civilized folk, poor weaklings with muscles like rotten string? Hell! Break the neck of a wild Cimmerian bull before you call yourself strong. I did that, before I was a full-grown man—like this!"

    First published as "Shadows In Zamboula" in Weird Tales, November 1935

    Conan also speaks of Crom and compares the ways of civilization to his barbaric upcoming. You can peice together the idea of who Conan was only by reading the stories and....reading REH's letters to other writers where he speaks of Conan quite a lot.

    Matter of fact Suctum inspired me to write a post on how Conan "materialized" in REH's mind because it is quite a story.

    So don't read non-canon stuff (non REH) because it is full of ****. One of the writers of COnan stories didn't even do his research on what Cimmeria looked like and describet it as "treeless land"(http://aochideout.blogspot.com/2012/...conan-all.html).
    Last edited by Slith; 24th January 2014 at 11:10.
    Retired

  5. #5

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    Of any non-Howard authors, I only really liked the robert jordan novellas, even tho not even he could come as close to what howard captured, when writing... and I'm a huge jordan fan.

    Lots of people consider the mangling of Sprague and De Camp to be authentic, and superb... as they say, tho: ain't nothing like the real thing, baby!

  6. #6

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    Actually, I like how Cimmeria and the Cimmerians are pictured in Conan the Valorous by John Maddox Roberts.

    Age of Conan apparently took some ideas from that book. For instance, Atzel appeared there and was slain by Conan.

    EDIT: Oh, and Hathor-Ka and a great description of her realm in Stygia definitely are worth mentioning too.

  7. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by watchdog79 View Post
    Actually, I like how Cimmeria and the Cimmerians are pictured in Conan the Valorous by John Maddox Roberts.

    Age of Conan apparently took some ideas from that book. For instance, Atzel appeared there and was slain by Conan.

    EDIT: Oh, and Hathor-Ka and a great description of her realm in Stygia definitely are worth mentioning too.
    J.M.Robers... yeah he didn't really research the topic enough...
    http://aochideout.blogspot.com/2012/...conan-all.html
    Retired

  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by Slith View Post
    J.M.Robers... yeah he didn't really research the topic enough...
    http://aochideout.blogspot.com/2012/...conan-all.html
    Well, Funcom did not make Cimmeria treeless. :P

    I still think his writing was one of the best.

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