The reason Conan can withstand the sight of an otherworldly monstrosity is not because of his simplicity of mind. Otherwordly beings are known to exist by the barbarian tribes, they know there are things beyond us. Civilized minds however break at the mere sight of these things because it challenges their preconceived notions of how the World works.
Well, yes and no. Certainly not "simplicity" as in simpleton. REH clearly paints Conan as a strategist, a polyglot, a pragmatist, etc. which do not support the trope of the dumb brute. But yes to simplicity in the straight-forwardness of his guiding beliefs. He grew up understanding that survival cannot be divorced from competition, and that there were sinister forces afoot that mankind has no choice but to avoid or contend with. While the minds of civilized men are paralyzed by the "wrongness" of things that break the rules of their intricate philosophies and ideologies, Conan carries on because he is a realist. He simply sees these things as another apex predator to be dealt with in order to live another day.
Pedro. That’s what’s so cool about Conan. Howard and lovecraft were friends. And Howard’s hero’s are basically the exact opposite of Lovecraft's main characters. They’re ancient and superstitious. While Lovecraft’s are modern and sceptical. When eldritch monstrosities are seen, Lovecraft’s are completely shocked, and doubt their sanity. Howard’s heroes however, believe in and are aware of the supernatural. So, while they’re scared, and excited. They aren’t traumatized. But instead, charge into battle. It’s a perfect example of ancient pagan heroism vs modern secular skepticism.
It’s deeper than that too. Civilization itself is always balanced between comfort and violence. Conan won’t allow himself to be civilized because barbarians live this truth. In a savage world, it’s best to be savage. Otherworldly enemies aren’t stagnating when your way is to survive. And that’s what he was taught: “Never forget, the world is rich with sorcery. Ambition lurks in every shadow. One must avoid the unknown whenever possible. But Conan… If you cannot avoid it, if your back is to a wall or that which you hold dear is threatened… …then charge the darkness with all the fires your heart can muster.” ~Connacht, Grandfather of Conan
@@Bubbles99718 hes probably referencing the fact that most people are generally not interested in reading anything, and unwilling to scratch the surface of knowing where did the stuff they enjoy today came from? they wont even read current stuff, let alone some "ol' timey sword & sorcery story from the 30's".
@@nostromo9743 Put simply, he's with the giants; Burroughs, Asimov, Wells, Verne, London etc. Not only is he in the Canon of great authors he's given credit for helping to create the entire sword and sorcery genre. Underrated? Annoying, false statement
My Conan story. Was walking with my girlfriend and we passed a barber/tattoo place, 9pm or so. At the door they had one of those vertical comic book stands filled with only Conan comics. Bit odd. Asked the guy there what that was about. He said there's a small comic book store upstairs and that he loved Conan. Considered that and then spooled it up. Set myself and with a steely gaze said, "You ready?" Hit him with this. "What do I know of cultured ways The guilt the craft the lie I who was born in a naked land and bred under the open sky The subtle tongue, the sophists guile These fail when the Broadsword swings Rush in and die, dogs, I was a Man before I was a King" There were 3 other people in the shoppe. All stood and cheered. We 6 were now ready to take on Thulsa Doom....or as it was, continue our stroll.... But that is a tale for another time...
It's often mentioned in Conan stories that Conan has inherited his people's fear of the supernatural. Yet in People of the Black Circle, it says his people fought wizards and demons as matter-of-factly as they fought men.
I collect everything Conan, he’s the one character I always come back to. Started out with Savage Sword back in the day saw all the films, came to the actual novels later in life. Robert E Howard’s original stories are the best by far. Kull and Solomon Kane are great characters as well, Howard’s creations have brought me so much joy.
When developing the first Conan movie,I heard they wanted to have Conan be the King of Aquilonia and Charles Bronson was to be Conan. Btw HPL and REH were friends and their stories are in the same universe
@@wunone67 shlock or not it got me into Conan I know the books are better then the films but I would never have heard of conan if it weren't for the movie
A lot of Conan books are here on RUclips, dramatized(unabridged) by some talented creators. I recommend the RUclipsr cybrarian, his readings are quite good.
Hell yeah! Let a bunch of animators read howard and go. Pretty much anything reh. It's all ways visceral and moving. Descriptive as all hell. Anime all the way for robert e howard!
There is a good list on the Wikipedia entry on Conan the Barbarian en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conan_the_Barbarian But one of the greatest things about the Conan series is you can read them in ANY ORDER. No story is dependent on another
Sure there are monsters in the oceans they are giant octopuses, giant squids, whales, great white sharks, Jelly fish, and Sting Rays not sure what primordials are?
I know, how intimidated I was, when my skill-level could not match ``one of the dead authors, who inspired me´´. I think, for his time, Robert E. Howard was quite good, and a lot more productive than his buddy, HPL.
All of Howard's stuff was fun to read. Conan, Bran Mak Morn, Kull and a few others made up his Sword and Sorcery (what they called fantasy back in the 60s) works. He also wrote wonderful boxing stories as well as a few other types. He tried his hand at comedy and succeeded wildly with a char named Breckinridge Elkins, "the bearcat of the Humbolts".
@@John_on_the_mountain I think you're in for a treat. Howard's other fantasy chars include Bran Mak Morn (darker stuff than Conan and Kull), Cormac Mac Art and Turlogh O'Brian. Breckinridge Elkins is a giant hillbilly who gets himself into some outrageously funny situations. REH was a big boxing fan. His fighters are scaled down versions of his barbarian heroes set in modern (1930s for Howard) times. I believe his work is all in the public domain now and can be found for free online if you want to check some of it out. Enjoy!
@@John_on_the_mountain Revisionist historical fiction? Ahistorical fiction? Dasein fiction - referring to Heidegger's term for "being there"? Historical fiction sounds like an oxymoron, if you consider history as definitive as the claims of science. If you consider history as "written by the winners", then historical fiction could work.
@@jimwojton7369 Good catch. Loved that character. Now if only I could remember what he told Conan. It was something I considered valuable, but now I can't remember it though I still remember the name.
That's odd you are the 2nd person I've seen say that someone should read Conan inside 24 hours - the previous person was recommending it as reading material for young boys (specifically) to get them interested in books.
I really like, let's say, Logen ninefingers, for example. But man the forst trilogy from Abercrombie is, what, 1500 - 2000 pages. Read Conan, beyond the black river. It's about 80 pages or so, but so tense written, you think you have read a much larger book. Such was the talent of Robert E. Howard....
The omnibus of Howard's work is also on k ok kindle and it's way cheap. Def worth buying. ALSO, The Cimmerian is a graphic novel all about Conan and it's a wonderful piece
We know there are whales, giant squids, giant octopus, stingrays, sharks, orcas, spider crabs and other dangerous animals in the ocean some other types could also exist we don't. know about.
I usually read in publication order. Most of the books don't have any overt continuity between them so you don't have to worry too much about when something happens
One thing I did like about his intro was that he did not mention the show Vikings. Which has Ragnar who personifies a Conan type character. The show was great and it gets very little respect.
Dark Fantasy? I thought it was "Sword 'n Sorcery" , sure it's a bit dark, but has none of the angst, nihilistic whining and armchair misanthropy and high-school naval-gazing of Dark Fantasy. ....I mean, you have Elrich of Meliboné for that. :P
The reason Conan can withstand the sight of an otherworldly monstrosity is not because of his simplicity of mind. Otherwordly beings are known to exist by the barbarian tribes, they know there are things beyond us. Civilized minds however break at the mere sight of these things because it challenges their preconceived notions of how the World works.
Well, yes and no. Certainly not "simplicity" as in simpleton. REH clearly paints Conan as a strategist, a polyglot, a pragmatist, etc. which do not support the trope of the dumb brute. But yes to simplicity in the straight-forwardness of his guiding beliefs. He grew up understanding that survival cannot be divorced from competition, and that there were sinister forces afoot that mankind has no choice but to avoid or contend with. While the minds of civilized men are paralyzed by the "wrongness" of things that break the rules of their intricate philosophies and ideologies, Conan carries on because he is a realist. He simply sees these things as another apex predator to be dealt with in order to live another day.
Not related to your comment but I love the cover of Dune you have as your profile.
Pedro. That’s what’s so cool about Conan. Howard and lovecraft were friends. And Howard’s hero’s are basically the exact opposite of Lovecraft's main characters.
They’re ancient and superstitious. While Lovecraft’s are modern and sceptical. When eldritch monstrosities are seen,
Lovecraft’s are completely shocked, and doubt their sanity.
Howard’s heroes however, believe in and are aware of the supernatural. So, while they’re scared, and excited. They aren’t traumatized. But instead, charge into battle.
It’s a perfect example of ancient pagan heroism vs modern secular skepticism.
It’s deeper than that too. Civilization itself is always balanced between comfort and violence. Conan won’t allow himself to be civilized because barbarians live this truth. In a savage world, it’s best to be savage. Otherworldly enemies aren’t stagnating when your way is to survive. And that’s what he was taught:
“Never forget, the world is rich with sorcery. Ambition lurks in every shadow.
One must avoid the unknown whenever possible. But Conan…
If you cannot avoid it, if your back is to a wall or that which you hold dear is threatened…
…then charge the darkness with all the fires your heart can muster.”
~Connacht, Grandfather of Conan
Robert E. Howard, may be the greatest of all underrated authors.
Underrated by who?
Woke Hollywood (always lib) isn't interested in real heroes....
@@Bubbles99718 hes probably referencing the fact that most people are generally not interested in reading anything, and unwilling to scratch the surface of knowing where did the stuff they enjoy today came from? they wont even read current stuff, let alone some "ol' timey sword & sorcery story from the 30's".
@@nostromo9743 Put simply, he's with the giants; Burroughs, Asimov, Wells, Verne, London etc. Not only is he in the Canon of great authors he's given credit for helping to create the entire sword and sorcery genre.
Underrated? Annoying, false statement
My Conan story.
Was walking with my girlfriend and we passed a barber/tattoo place, 9pm or so. At the door they had one of those vertical comic book stands filled with only Conan comics. Bit odd. Asked the guy there what that was about. He said there's a small comic book store upstairs and that he loved Conan.
Considered that and then spooled it up.
Set myself and with a steely gaze said, "You ready?"
Hit him with this.
"What do I know of cultured ways
The guilt the craft the lie
I who was born in a naked land
and bred under the open sky
The subtle tongue, the sophists guile
These fail when the Broadsword swings
Rush in and die, dogs, I was a Man
before I was a King"
There were 3 other people in the shoppe. All stood and cheered. We 6 were now ready to take on Thulsa Doom....or as it was, continue our stroll.... But that is a tale for another time...
Damn straight Howard's Conan stories are mandatory reading.
I got my start with Fantasy reading the Howard/L. Sprague de Camp books in the mid 70s, loved those Frazetta covers
Yep..my friends and I sure read them
Me too, brother.
It's often mentioned in Conan stories that Conan has inherited his people's fear of the supernatural. Yet in People of the Black Circle, it says his people fought wizards and demons as matter-of-factly as they fought men.
I actually like Conans unease of weird shit in the stories, adds humanity to the character
Just got down reading one of the newer comics by Marvel, and I must say Conan's conversation with Crom was pretty epic in the comic.
I collect everything Conan, he’s the one character I always come back to. Started out with Savage Sword back in the day saw all the films, came to the actual novels later in life. Robert E Howard’s original stories are the best by far. Kull and Solomon Kane are great characters as well, Howard’s creations have brought me so much joy.
I like Conan so much that I don't read, I just lift weights.
Do yourselves a favor and read Howard's Dennis Dorgan stories. As well as Steve Costigan. Great yarns.
My favorite dark fantasy series will always be Berserk
And for that you are not wrong.
Berserk definitely takes a lot from Conan, but that is okay. Both are close to perfection.
@@Jericko427 Well while both are sword and sorcery there is evidence to suggest that berserk is based more on elric of melnibone than conan.
There are a lot of similarities between Conan the Cimmerian, Elric of Malnibone and Geralt of Rivia.
Isn't Geralt a ripoff of Elric?
Love how he dated Conan to early 30's most people don't know Conan is older than batman
Yeah 1932 conan will soon be publuc domain
I ordered the Complete Conan recently after another BookTuber recommended him as well. I can’t wait to read these stories.
Which series? Ace 12 paperback? From who? Would like to order them myself.
When developing the first Conan movie,I heard they wanted to have Conan be the King of Aquilonia and Charles Bronson was to be Conan.
Btw HPL and REH were friends and their stories are in the same universe
That's because the authors are in the same universe.
Bronson as Conan.....hmmm....damn it, now I wish it happened XD.
Yes, REH was part of the so-called ``Lovecraft Circle´´, hence he also must have dabbled into RL occultism for a while.
CONAN, WHAT IS BEST IN LIFE ?
TO CRUSH YOUR ENEMY'S!
SEE THEM DRIVEN BEFORE YOU!
AND HEAR THE LAMENTATIONS OF THEIR WOMEN!
Please don't confuse that movie shlock BS with the true Conan. That movie was NOT a Conan story.
@@wunone67 shlock or not it got me into Conan
I know the books are better then the films but I would never have heard of conan if it weren't for the movie
Robert E Howard wrote about a King Kull. Krull was an unrelated 1983 movie character.
Barbarian basically meant non-Greek or non-Roman.
In Hyborea, EVERYone was a non-Greek and non-Roman
@@bbb462cid thus everyone was a Barbarian
@@hedgehognegative1059 But "Conan the Human" is a crappy title
@@bbb462cid conan the cis normative human
@@hedgehognegative1059 lol
Conan is fun interesting and has stood the test of time
Great video. I’d love to see you do a vid on John Carter. I think he’s just as influential, but in the science fiction genre
A lot of Conan books are here on RUclips, dramatized(unabridged) by some talented creators. I recommend the RUclipsr cybrarian, his readings are quite good.
Crom approves, Howards Kull, Solomon Kane and Cormac mac Art are also fun reads
Conan is not Dark Fantasy, it's Sword and Sorcery. Dark Fantasy is just a mutation spawned from Sword and Sorcery and the mess that is high fantasy.
Kull, not Krull(that's an unrelated movie)
Aw yeah! Elric get's mentioned!
Agreed
Conan can face monstrosities because of his unparalleled courage. Nothing more to say on that.
That's quite an endorsement. I'll order a book/collection off amazon.
You will not be dissapointed.
I wonder what would happen if they made Conan an anime like castlelavanna?
Hell yeah! Let a bunch of animators read howard and go. Pretty much anything reh. It's all ways visceral and moving. Descriptive as all hell. Anime all the way for robert e howard!
No way
@@jeremykern7806 They did that in the 90's.
@@wunone67 That stuff was kid friendly. We need an TV-MA, 16+, unedited anime series in likes of Ninja Scroll and Berserk.
Could not agree more, both as a fellow Conan-tuber and as a lover of literature!
He was my introduction to fantasy. Howard is still my favorite. I get tired of the reluctant hero. Conan is a different archetype.
Is there a resource that lists all of the Conan stories/books in order?
There is a good list on the Wikipedia entry on Conan the Barbarian en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conan_the_Barbarian But one of the greatest things about the Conan series is you can read them in ANY ORDER. No story is dependent on another
@@curtpowell3795 Thank you
Excellent! It's nice to see more REH videos.
Sure there are monsters in the oceans they are giant octopuses, giant squids, whales, great white sharks, Jelly fish, and Sting Rays not sure what primordials are?
Minor nitpick: It's Kull, not Krull.
Some of the names were changed not sure about if Kull was ever Krull but Red Sonja was originally Red Sonya.
@@hydrolito No Kull was never Krull. Red Sonja's original name was Agnes. Forty year fan here.
I know, how intimidated I was, when my skill-level could not match ``one of the dead authors, who inspired me´´. I think, for his time, Robert E. Howard was quite good, and a lot more productive than his buddy, HPL.
All of Howard's stuff was fun to read. Conan, Bran Mak Morn, Kull and a few others made up his Sword and Sorcery (what they called fantasy back in the 60s) works. He also wrote wonderful boxing stories as well as a few other types. He tried his hand at comedy and succeeded wildly with a char named Breckinridge Elkins, "the bearcat of the Humbolts".
And dont forget Solomon Kane! Probably my favorite of Howards characters
@@John_on_the_mountain Just wondering. Have you tried any of his non sword and sorcery stuff?
@@Grendelbc no i havnt. Really ive only read the Conan and Kane stories. Are they good?
@@John_on_the_mountain I think you're in for a treat. Howard's other fantasy chars include Bran Mak Morn (darker stuff than Conan and Kull), Cormac Mac Art and Turlogh O'Brian.
Breckinridge Elkins is a giant hillbilly who gets himself into some outrageously funny situations.
REH was a big boxing fan. His fighters are scaled down versions of his barbarian heroes set in modern (1930s for Howard) times.
I believe his work is all in the public domain now and can be found for free online if you want to check some of it out. Enjoy!
Ive read them all. Just starting to read them all again.
If science fiction deals with the possible future, then something that deals with the possible past should be called evolutionary fiction.
Speculative evolution is the technical term.
Love the name! That is a deep dive in the Conan stories. 👍
So that what would historical fiction be?
@@John_on_the_mountain Revisionist historical fiction? Ahistorical fiction? Dasein fiction - referring to Heidegger's term for "being there"? Historical fiction sounds like an oxymoron, if you consider history as definitive as the claims of science. If you consider history as "written by the winners", then historical fiction could work.
@@jimwojton7369 Good catch. Loved that character. Now if only I could remember what he told Conan. It was something I considered valuable, but now I can't remember it though I still remember the name.
That's odd you are the 2nd person I've seen say that someone should read Conan inside 24 hours - the previous person was recommending it as reading material for young boys (specifically) to get them interested in books.
I really like, let's say, Logen ninefingers, for example. But man the forst trilogy from Abercrombie is, what, 1500 - 2000 pages. Read Conan, beyond the black river. It's about 80 pages or so, but so tense written, you think you have read a much larger book. Such was the talent of Robert E. Howard....
The omnibus of Howard's work is also on k ok kindle and it's way cheap. Def worth buying. ALSO, The Cimmerian is a graphic novel all about Conan and it's a wonderful piece
First book I've read. It started a trend
great writing, great characters and great creative stories. Whats not to like
Yeah dude, these stories are great
Dude... "Krull" and "Chimer-ia" with a K sound instead of an S sound, really "Kill" your credibility. And I am interested in your ideas....
Anyone know where i can find the link or app to read these?
We know there are whales, giant squids, giant octopus, stingrays, sharks, orcas, spider crabs and other dangerous animals in the ocean some other types could also exist we don't. know about.
What story or book do you suggest I start with?
Conan tv show is now going to netflix. I hope they do it right
They won't, it's fucking Netflix.
In what order should I read the Conan books? Can somebody help me?
I usually read in publication order. Most of the books don't have any overt continuity between them so you don't have to worry too much about when something happens
Ivan Krolo Thanks a lot!
One thing I did like about his intro was that he did not mention the show Vikings. Which has Ragnar who personifies a Conan type character. The show was great and it gets very little respect.
Beowulf is original savage hero.
Dang! Throw some shade at the end like wtf?. Your right though.
Did he really say Krull?
Yes.
I read to my kids as bedtime story
"He carried a gun around" bro he was from the heartland of Texas, EVERYONE carries guns around hahahaha
Your last sentence speaks all 😁
It's not ' Chimera' ! That's the monster of Greek Mythology ! It Cimmeria . As in See-meria ! SMH
Dark Fantasy? I thought it was "Sword 'n Sorcery" , sure it's a bit dark, but has none of the angst, nihilistic whining and armchair misanthropy and high-school naval-gazing of Dark Fantasy.
....I mean, you have Elrich of Meliboné for that. :P
Or if you want paragraphs of incoherent purple prose autistic babbling, I guess Lovecraft's your bag. :P
Fair review
Came here after the game
Dark Fantasy? I believe you mean Sword & Sorcery. Dark Fantasy evolved out of, the now dead genre, Horror.
Conan rules King Conan😅😂😂😂
You can get the complete Robert Howard Conan collection on Amazon Kindle for .99 cents.
Jefferson W Or you could get the far superior unedited books from Del Rey.
I have the books. I didn't realize the Kindle collection was edited. Thanks for the heads up.
Ironically LOTR, Star Wars OT, and Legend of Zelda have a Dark Fantasy setting to them. But they tend to focus on light hearted aspects.
It's so ironic that Conan inspired indirectly that She-Ra Netflix series we got today !
He never liked Wizards.
Gutenberg Australia free e-books.
Either read the old big giant magazine size conan from the 70 and 80s or none at all
You live too close to the road my dude
Ohhhh man Howard?Lovecraft? You didn't read it?KIDDING?!