The Phoenix on the Sword

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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 Phoenix on the Sword" is one of the original short stories about Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard and first published in Weird Tales magazine circa 1932. It is set in the pseudo-historical Hyborian Age and details Conan foiling a nefarious plot to unseat him as king of Aquilonia. The story has most recently been republished in the collection Conan of Cimmeria: Volume One (1932-1933) (Del Rey, 2003). The tale was a rewrite of the unpublished Kull story, "By This Axe, I Rule", with long passages being identical word for word, with the exception of character names.

An interior Weird Tales illustration sketched by, assumably, Margaret Brundage in 1932. The illustration depicts a scene from Robert E. Howard's The Phoenix on the Sword.

The original short story was written by Robert E. Howard and first appeared in a 1932 issue of Weird Tales magazine.

[edit] Plot Overview

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

"The Phoenix on the Sword" begins with a middle-aged Conan of Cimmeria attempting to govern the turbulent kingdom of Aquilonia.

Conan has recently seized the crown of Aquilonia from King Numedides; however, things have not gone well, as Conan is more suited to swinging a broadsword than to signing official documents with a stylus.

Meanwhile, the people of Aquilonia, who originally welcomed Conan as their liberator from Numedides' tyranny, have gradually turned against him due to his foreign blood. Desiring to give the crown to one who is of royal blood, a band known as the Rebel Four recruit the services of a southern outlaw named Ascalante. But, in secret, Ascalante is merely using the rebels to gain the crown of Aquilonia for himself.

At the same time, Ascalante has a slave named Thoth-Amon, formerly a powerful Stygian wizard, who has fallen on hard times since he lost a magic ring which was the source of his power.

The story centers around the plot of the Rebel Four to assassinate King Conan but, when Thoth-Amon recovers his lost ring, the Stygian unleashes a demon that unintentionally foils the assassination attempt on Conan's life by the Rebel Four and slays Ascalante.