The Tower of the Elephant

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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 Tower of the Elephant" 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 March 1933. It is set in the pseudo-historical Hyborian Age and concerns Conan infiltrating a perilous city spire to steal a fabled gem from an evil sorcerer named Yara. The story has most recently been republished in the collection Conan of Cimmeria: Volume One (1932-1933) (Del Rey, 2003). Due to its unique moments and atypical science fiction elements, the story is considered an undisputed classic of Conan lore and is often cited by Howard scholars as one of his best tales.

An interior panel of The Tower of the Elephant comic adapation by Roy Thomas featuring the art of John Buscema and Alfredo Alcala.

The original short story was written by Robert E. Howard and first appeared in a 1933 issue of Weird Tales magazine.

There is also a modular adventure based on the tale for Conan: The Role Playing Game.

The Tower of the Elephant has been adapted into comic form three times: twice by Marvel (see Conan (comics)), and once by Dark Horse (see Conan (Dark Horse comic)).

The first adaption by Marvel appeared in Conan the Barbarian #4. The story was adapted by Roy Thomas and illustrated by Barry Windsor-Smith and Sal Buscema.

The second adaption by Marvel appeared in the Savage Sword of Conan #24 and was again written by Roy Thomas, but now drawn by John Buscema and Alfredo Alcala.

The newest adaptation, in Dark Horse's Conan (Dark Horse comic) issues 20-2, was written by Kurt Busiek and illustrated by Cary Nord, Dave Stewart and Mike Kaluta. Two of these have recently appeared in collections released by Dark Horse: the Conan the Barbarian adaptation in The Conan Chronicles Volume 1: The Tower of the Elephant and other stories, and the Dark Horse adaptation in Conan Volume 3: The Tower of the Elephant and other stories.

[edit] Plot Overview

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

In Arenjun, the Zamorian "city of thieves," a young Conan learns of a fabulous jewel called "the Heart of the Elephant" kept in the eponymous tower by an evil sorcerer named Yara.

After a tavern brawl, the Cimmerian sets out to steal the jewel and encounters along the way another thief, Taurus of Nemedia, who has similar designs. The two rogues team up and scale the fabled tower. At the top, Taurus is slain by a gigantic spider which Conan in turn slays in a frenzied battle.

Undaunted, Conan continues on into the eldritch tower and discovers a strange "trans-cosmic being" having a human body yet with the oversized head of an elephant. The being, Yag-kosha, is a blind, tortured prisoner of the sorcerer Yara. At Yag-kosha's behest, Conan uses the "heart of the elephant" to both free the elephant-being and to dispatch the evil Yara.