Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian is a literary character created by Robert E. Howard in a series of fantasy pulp stories published in Weird Tales in the 1930s.
Setting
The Conan stories take place on Earth, but in the mythical (created by Howard) "Hyborian Age", between the time of the sinking of Atlantis and the rise of the known ancient civilizations. Howard was a friend of H. P. Lovecraft, and the two would sometimes insert references to elements of each others' settings in their works; the Conan stories thus could be said to have originally occurred in the Cthulhu Mythos universe. Modern editors have since reworked many of the original Conan stories, however, diluting this connection.
Conan is a Cimmerian, a barbarian of the far north; he was born on a battlefield and is the son of a blacksmith. He grew up fast: by age fifteen he was already a respected warrior, participating in the destruction of Venarium. After this he was struck by wanderlust and began the colorful and exciting adventures chronicled by Howard (and others), encountering fabulous monsters, evil wizards, and delicious wenches and princesses - he has travelled throughout the world and been a slave, a thief and outlaw, a mercenary and commander of a mercenary company, and a pirate and privateer. He begins building larger units of men, aiming for greater territorial ambitions, though his efforts are repeatedly thwarted - usually by the total massacre of his force excepting himself. But in his forties he finally succeeds, becoming king of Aquilonia, the most powerful kingdom of the age, having strangled the previous ruler on the steps to the throne.
The Conan stories are informed by the popular interest of the time in unscientific ideas on evolution and "social Darwinism". Are some peoples destined to rule over others? Are our physical and mental characteristics the result of our experiences or our inheritance from our ancestors?
Modern works and revisions
The character of Conan has proven durably popular, resulting in pastiche Conan stories being assembled by later writers such as Lin Carter, L. Sprague de Camp, Karl Edward Wagner, John Maddox Roberts, Andrew Offut, J. Ramsey Campbell, Poul Anderson, Richard A. Lupoff, Björn Nyberg, Robert Jordan, Steve Perry, Leonard Carpenter and John C. Hocking from Howard's notes and by rewriting his stories of other similar heroes. Ten novels and over sixty shorter Conan tales have been written. Conan has also appeared in comic books (the latest issues are published by ) and in films, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Movies
The film Conan the Barbarian (1982) was written by the unlikely pairing of Oliver Stone and John Milius. The script draws material from a number of stories. It tells the story of Conan rising up in slavery and finally taking revenge on Thulsa Doom, the killer of his parents. The film was directed by John Milius and produced by Dino DeLaurentis. The title role was played by Arnold Schwarzenegger and was his break-through as an actor. A sequel, Conan the Destroyer (1984) was also made. Schwarzenegger also played a muscular sword-fighter (named "Kalidor" due to licensing issues) in the Howard-inspired Red Sonja (1985).
Parody and other references
