Conan Chronologies

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Conan Chronologies have been prepared by a variety of people from the 1930s onward to provide a timeline into which to fit the numerous Conan the Barbarian stories by Robert E. Howard and later writers.

Due to errors that crept into the earliest chronologies, the later disregard by the early chronologists of material by Howard that did not fit the existing schemes, the writing of much post-Howard Conan material to conform to these demonstrably erroneous chronologies, and the writing of other such material that ignored both existing chronologies and chronological information established in previous stories by both Howard and others, no completely consistent timeline that would accommodate every Conan story that has been written is possible.

The following are the major schemes that have been advanced over the years, together with their strengths and weaknesses.

Contents

[edit] Miller/Clark chronology

A Probable Outline of Conan's Career (1936), completed during Howard's lifetime by P. Schuyler Miller and John D. Clark, was said by Howard to follow his vision "pretty closely." The strongest point in favor of this chronology is the affirmation by Howard. The major weaknesses are that it misses a few chronological points in the stories that point to a slightly different arrangement, and it does not cover all Conan stories by Howard, having been compiled before the entire corpus was published. It naturally omits all post-Howard writings. All of these weaknesses but the first were subsequently rectified, as the Miller/Clark chronology was revised on numerous occasions over the years to take into account newly discovered and newly written material.

Notable among subsequent versions was An Informal Biography of Conan the Cimmerian (1952), a revision by Clark and L. Sprague de Camp used to bridge stories in the first hardcover edition of the Conan stories, published by Gnome Press. With further revisions by de Camp, the chronology performed the same service in the first paperback edition, the publication of which was begun by Lancer Books and completed by Ace Books. These versions included additional Howard stories that became known since 1936, though their placement of these stories could not be vetted by the now-deceased Howard. De Camp's successive revisions included all non-Howard material published through the time of the revision, as well as versions of Howard stories rewritten by de Camp to fit his view of the chronology. His final version of the chronology, Conan the Indestructible (1986), incorporated the then-published volumes of the series of Conan pastiches published by Tor Books.

As the long-time "official" chronology, most of the post-Howard stories were written to fit into de Camp's chronology. Its major weakness were its perpetuation of the inaccuracies of the 1936 version, erroneous placements of Howard stories that had come to light after that version, and the shoe-horning in of Howard tales that either did not fit the scheme or had no obvious placement through rewriting or completion (in the instance of fragments) by de Camp and/or his collaborator Lin Carter.

[edit] Order earliest and latest forms

All stories added after the earliest version are indented.

  • "Legions of the Dead"
  • Conan the Barbarian (as an alternate account of Conan's early years)
  • "The Thing in the Crypt"
  • "The Road of the Eagles"
  • "Black Tears"
  • "Shadows of Zamboula"
  • "The Star of Khorala"
  • "The Ivory Goddess"

[edit] Robert Jordan Chronology

A Conan Chronology by Robert Jordan (1987) was the attempt of Conan writer Robert Jordan to create a new Chronology including all Conan material written up to that point. It was heavily influenced by the Miller/Clark/de Camp chronologies, although deviating from them in some respects. Its major strength was its inclusion of all existing works published at the time of its compilation. Its weaknesses are the perpetuation of those from previous chronologies, as well as its often idiosyncratic departures from them, for which Jordan's arguments are either poorly supported or unsupported.

[edit] Order

  1. "Legions of the Dead"
  2. "The Thing in the Crypt"
  3. Conan the Defiant
  4. "The Tower of the Elephant"
  5. Conan and the Sorcerer
  6. Conan the Mercenary
  7. Conan: The Sword of Skelos
  8. Conan the Destroyer
  9. Conan the Magnificent
  10. Conan the Invincible
  11. "The Hall of the Dead"
  12. Conan the Fearless
  13. "The God in the Bowl"
  14. Conan the Warlord
  15. Conan the Champion
  16. "Rogues in the House"
  17. Conan the Victorious
  18. Conan the Unconquered
  19. "The Hand of Nergal"
  20. "The City of Skulls"
  21. "The People of the Summit"
  22. "The Curse of the Monolith"
  23. Conan the Valiant
  24. "The Blood-Stained God"
  25. "The Frost Giant's Daughter"
  26. "The Lair of the Ice Worm"
  27. Conan and the Spider God
  28. Conan the Defender
  29. Conan: The Road of Kings
  30. Conan the Triumphant
  31. "Queen of the Black Coast" (Part 1)
  32. Conan the Rebel
  33. "Queen of the Black Coast" (Part 2)
  34. "The Vale of Lost Women"
  35. "The Castle of Terror"
  36. "The Snout in the Dark"
  37. "Hawks Over Shem"
  38. "Black Colossus"
  39. "Shadows in the Dark"
  40. Conan the Renegade
  41. "Shadows in the Moonlight"
  42. "The Road of the Eagles"
  43. "A Witch Shall be Born"
  44. "Black Tears"
  45. "Shadows in Zamboula"
  46. Conan the Raider
  47. "The Star of Khorala"
  48. "The Devil in Iron"
  49. "The Flame Knife"
  50. "The People of the Black Circle"
  51. Conan the Marauder
  52. "The Slithering Shadow"
  53. "Drums of Tombalku"
  54. "The Gem in the Tower"
  55. "The Pool of the Black One"
  56. Conan the Buccaneer
  57. "Red Nails"
  58. "Jewels of Gwahlur"
  59. "The Ivory Goddess"
  60. "Beyond the Black River"
  61. "Moon of Blood"
  62. "The Treasure of Tranicos"
  63. "Wolves Beyond the Border"
  64. Conan the Liberator
  65. "The Phoenix on the Sword"
  66. "The Scarlet Citadel"
  67. The Hour of the Dragon
  68. The Return of Conan
  69. "The Witch of the Mists"
  70. "Black Sphinx of Nebthu"
  71. "Red Moon of Zembabwei"
  72. "Shadows in the Skull"
  73. Conan of the Isles

[edit] Dale Rippke Chronology

The Darkstorm Conan Chronology (2003) is a completely revised and heavily researched chronology, including only those stories written (or devised) by Howard. The Dark Horse comic series follows this chronology. Its major strength is its well-documented support for its various arguments for story placement, based on the texts as Howard wrote them. While works completed or revised by other hands and post-Howard works find no place in this chronology they were not intended to, the often erroneous assumptions under which they were written precluding their inclusion. A minor weakness is the disappearance and reappearance of Conan's horned helm.

[edit] Order

  1. "The Frost Giant's Daughter
  2. "The God in the Bowl
  3. "The Tower of the Elephant"
  4. "The Hall of the Dead"
  5. "Rogues in the House"
  6. "The Hand of Nergal"
  7. "Shadows in the Moonlight"
  8. "Black Colossus"
  9. "Queen of the Black Coast"
  10. "The Snout in the Dark"
  11. "The Slithering Shadow"
  12. "A Witch Shall Be Born"
  13. "The Devil in Iron"
  14. "The People of the Black Circle"
  15. "Shadows in Zamboula"
  16. "Drums of Tombalku"
  17. "The Vale of Lost Women"
  18. "The Pool of the Black One"
  19. "Beyond the Black River"
  20. "The Black Stranger"
  21. "Red Nails"
  22. "The Teeth of Gwahlur"
  23. "Wolves Beyond the Border"
  24. "The Phoenix on the Sword"
  25. "The Scarlet Citadel"
  26. The Hour of the Dragon


Conan the Barbarian

Original stories by Robert E. Howard: Beyond the Black River • Black Colossus • The Black Stranger • Cimmeria • The Devil in Iron • Drums of Tombalku • The Frost Giant's Daughter • The God in the Bowl • The Hall of the Dead • The Hand of Nergal • The Hour of the Dragon • Iron Shadows in the Moon • Jewels of Gwahlur • The People of the Black Circle • The Phoenix on the Sword • The Pool of the Black One • Queen of the Black Coast • Red Nails • Rogues in the House • The Scarlet Citadel • Shadows in Zamboula • The Snout in the Dark • The Tower of the Elephant • The Vale of Lost Women • A Witch Shall be Born • Wolves Beyond the Border • Xuthal of the Dusk

Collections: Black Colossus • The Bloody Crown of Conan • The Coming of Conan • The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian • The Complete Chronicles of Conan • Conan • The Conan Chronicles • The Conan Chronicles, 1 • The Conan Chronicles 2 • The Conan Chronicles, 2 • Conan of Aquilonia • Conan of Cimmeria • Conan the Adventurer • Conan the Avenger • Conan the Barbarian • Conan the Freebooter • Conan the Swordsman • Conan the Usurper • Conan the Wanderer • Conan the Warrior • The Conquering Sword of Conan • The Devil in Iron • The Essential Conan • Jewels of Gwahlur • King Conan • The People of the Black Circle • Pool of the Black One • Queen of the Black Coast • Red Nails • Rogues in the House • Sagas of Conan • The Sword of Conan • Tales of Conan • The Tower of the Elephant • The Treasure of Tranicos

Novels: Conan and the Amazon • Conan and the Emerald Lotus • Conan and the Death Lord of Thanza • Conan and the Gods of the Mountain • Conan and The Grim Grey God • Conan and the Manhunters • Conan and the Mists of Doom • Conan and the Shaman's Curse • Conan and the Sorcerer • Conan and the Spider God • Conan and the Treasure of Python • Conan at the Demon's Gate • Conan, Lord of the Black River • Conan of the Isles • Conan of the Red Brotherhood • Conan of Venarium • Conan, Scourge of the Bloody Coast • Conan the Barbarian • Conan the Bold • Conan the Buccaneer • Conan the Champion • Conan the Defender • Conan the Defiant • Conan the Destroyer • Conan the Fearless • Conan the Formidable • Conan the Freelance • Conan the Gladiator • Conan the Great • Conan the Guardian • Conan the Hero • Conan the Hunter • Conan the Indomitable • Conan the Invincible • Conan the Liberator • Conan the Magnificent • Conan the Marauder • Conan the Mercenary • Conan the Outcast • Conan the Raider • Conan the Rebel • Conan the Relentless • Conan the Renegade • Conan the Rogue • Conan the Savage • Conan the Triumphant • Conan the Unconquered • Conan the Valiant • Conan the Valorous • Conan the Victorious • Conan the Warlord • The Hour of the Dragon • The Return of Conan • The Road of Kings • The Sword of Skelos

Scholarship: The Blade of Conan • The Conan Grimoire • The Conan Reader • The Conan Swordbook • The Spell of Conan •

Authors: Poul Anderson • Leonard Carpenter • Lin Carter • L. Sprague de Camp • Roland J. Green • John C. Hocking • Robert E. Howard • Robert Jordan • Sean A. Moore • Björn Nyberg • Andrew J. Offutt • Steve Perry • John Maddox Roberts • Roy Thomas • Harry Turtledove • Karl Edward Wagner

Other media: Conan and the Young Warriors • Conan the Adventurer • Conan (comics) • Conan (Dark Horse comic) • Conan the Barbarian (film) • Conan the Destroyer • Red Sonja (film)

Characters: Bêlit • Conan the Barbarian • Crom • Kulan Gath • Red Sonja • Serpent Men • Serpent people • Set • Thoth-Amon • Thulsa Doom • Valeria • Vammatar • Xaltotun

Other: Conan (books) • Conan Chronologies • Hyborian Age • The Hyborian Age • The Shadow of the Vulture • Aquilonia • Cimmeria • Stygia
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