The Frost Giant's Daughter

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1932 - 1933
The Phoenix on the Sword
The Frost-Giant's Daughter
The God in the Bowl
The Tower of the Elephant
The Scarlet Citadel
Queen of the Black Coast
Black Colossus
Iron Shadows in the Moon
Xuthal of the Dusk
Rogues in the House
The Vale of Lost Women
The Devil in Iron
The Pool of the Black One

1934 - 1935
People of the Black Circle
The Hour of the Dragon
A Witch Shall be Born

1935 - 1936
The Servants of Bit-Yakin
Beyond the Black River
The Black Stranger
Man-Eaters of Zamboula
Red Nails

Unfinished/fragments
The Snout in the Dark
Drums of Tombalku
The Hall of the Dead
The Hand of Nergal
Wolves Beyond the Border

"The Frost-Giant's Daughter" is one of the original short stories about Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard, but not published in his lifetime. It is set in the pseudo-historical Hyborian Age and details Conan pursuing a spectral nymph across the frozen snows of Nordheim in an attempt to rape her. The story has most recently been republished in the collection Conan of Cimmeria: Volume One (1932-1933) (Del Rey, 2003). Rejected as a Conan story by Weird Tales magazine editor Farnsworth Wright, Howard changed the main character's name changed to "Amra of Akbitana" and retitled the piece as The Gods of the North. The story was later adapted in issue #3 of the Dark Horse comic series.

An interior panel of the Conan: The Frost-Giant's Daughter And Other Stories comic adapation by Kurt Busiek featuring the exquisite art of Cary Nord and Thomas Yeates.

The original short story was written by Robert E. Howard in 1932 and was not published during his brief lifetime.

[edit] Plot Overview

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

"The Frost-Giant's Daughter" is, chronologically, the earliest story by Robert E. Howard in terms of Conan's life. The brief tale is set somewhere in frozen Nordheim, near Conan's homeland of Cimmeria, and occurs when Conan is a youthful mercenary among the golden-haired Aesir.

Following a fierce battle against the red-haired Vanir, Conan the Cimmerian, lying exhausted on the corpse-strewn battlefield, is visited by a beautiful, condescending and almost nude woman identifying herself as "Atali." The mere sight of her strange nakedness kindles Conan's lust and, when she repeatedly taunts him, he madly chases her for miles across the snows with the intent of raping her.

Mocking him with each step, Atali leads Conan into a pre-planned trap. Undaunted by the snare, Conan slays her two hulking brothers, the Frost-Giants, and then captures her in his arms, only to have her call upon her father, Ymir, to save her. Before Conan is able to ravage her, Atali disappears in a stroke of lightning which transforms the land and renders Conan unconscious.

Later, when his Aesir comrades arrive, Conan believes he must have dreamed the bizarre encounter until he finds he is still grasping the translucent veil which had served as the sole garment of the Frost-Giant's daughter.