Cimmeria (Conan)
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Cimmeria is a fictional land of barbarians in antediluvian earth (cp. the Hyborian Age) and the homeland of Conan the Barbarian in the works of Robert E. Howard.
Howard's Cimmeria is described as a harsh landscape with rugged mountains and dark shadowy forests. Its inhabitants are called Cimmerians. Howard often makes reference to their hardiness and military prowess, as well as to their many other impressive skills. They can climb seemingly unscalable cliffs, track humans and animals with ease, and stalk their prey without making a sound. They are tall, dark with light colored eyes, and exceptionally strong. Despite these almost super-human attributes, he goes on to point out that they are an "uncivilized" and tribal people. Their governing body is vaguely alluded to as the elders, suggesting a sort of tribal oligarchy. The apparent primitiveness of the Cimmerians and their sense of justice is often juxtaposed with the malevolence of the civilized races in Hyperborea. This creates a very different sort of fantasy world, with the barbarians as the just and noble, while the kings and civilized men and women who would be the heroes of traditional medieval fantasy become ruthless, corrupt, and cold.
The inhabitants of fictional Cimmeria are loosely based by Robert E Howard on the historical Cimmerians, who lived on the northern Black Sea coast in the 8th and 7th centuries BC. See Robert E Howard's 'The Hyborian Age' Essay.
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