Swords of the Northern Sea. Unpublished during Howard’s lifetime. This is one of a handful of short stories Howard wrote about yet another in his large clan of ferocious Irish warriors. Cormac Mac Art is an outlawed Gael, a pirate, and a Reiver. He is very similar to Turlogh O’Brien.
THE WAY OF THE SWORDS is the name from an early draft Glenn Lord published in the Donald Grant book ‘Road of Azrael’. The original title is THE ROAD OF THE EAGLES for which two drafts presently exist. It’s an unpublished historical adventure store that de Camp turned into a Conan story.
Swords of the Red Brotherhood. Featuring Terence “Black” Vulmea. “The Black Stranger” is a fantasy short story by American writer Robert E. Howard, one of his works featuring the sword & sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian. It was written in the 1930s, but not published in his lifetime. When the original Conan version of his story failed to find a publisher, Howard rewrote “The Black Stranger” into a piratical Terence Vulmea story entitled “Swords of the Red Brotherhood”. This story was also not accepted.
Swords of Shahrazar” is a direct sequel to “The Treasures of Tartary”, following Kirby O’Donnell only days later. The story starts with a recap of “The Treasures of Tartary”, then brings us up to date.
UNTITLED STORY (“I”, said Chuchulain, “was a man, at least.”). Unfinished. 175 words.
The story begins with a conversation between the narrator and Chuchulain, a legendary figure from the Red Branch kings of Ulster, Ireland. Chuchulain suggests, with a touch of humility and pride, that he was a notable man among his peers.
UNTITLED STORY (The Dane came in with a rush, hurtling his huge body forward . . .). Featuring Turlogh Dubh O’Brien.
UNTITLED STORY (Between berserk battle-rages, the black despair of melancholy . . .). Unfinished, 225 words.
The untitled draft presents a dark introspection of Wulfhere Skull-crusher, a warrior who, in the throes of his existential despair, contemplates the futility and emptiness of life. Amidst his battles and berserk rages, he comes to see through the illusions of life, recognizing the “Nothing” that lies at the core of existence. This realization strips away the comforting deceptions that people wrap around their lives, leaving Wulfhere to stare into the bleak “Abyss” that is reality.
The story begins with James Allison, lying on his deathbed, reminiscing about his past lives. He believes he has lived through many incarnations, always as a member of the Aryan or Nordheimer race. Allison recalls a specific life as Niord, a powerful warrior, and his encounter with a horrific, demonic entity known as the Worm.
The Tower of Time. A fragment. Lin Carter completed this for Fantastic Sword & Sorcery and Fantasy Stories June 1975.
Alternate title: AKRAM THE MYSTERIOUS.
Tigers of the Sea. This was only a fragment and the story was unpublished and unfinished during Howard’s lifetime. The story was first published by Grant in Tigers of the Sea in 1974 and Richard Tierney completed it based on Howard’s fragment.
This is one of a handful of short stories Howard wrote about yet another in his large clan of ferocious Irish warriors. Cormac Mac Art is an outlawed Gael, a pirate, and a Reiver. He is very similar to Turlogh O’Brien.
