“Beyond the Black River” 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, v. 25, nos. 5-6, May-June 1935. The story was republished in the collections King Conan (Gnome Press, 1953) and Conan the Warrior (Lancer Books, 1967). It has more recently been published in the anthology The Mighty Swordsmen (Lancer Books, 1970), and the collections The Conan Chronicles Volume 2: The Hour of the Dragon (Gollancz, 2001) and Conan of Cimmeria: Volume Three (1935-1936) (Del Rey, 2005). It’s set in the pseudo-historical Hyborian Age and concerns Conan’s battle against a savage tribe of Picts in the unsettled lands beyond the infamous Black River.

The story takes place in Conajohara, a newly established Aquilonian province recently annexed by King Numedides from the Picts. Balthus, a young settler on his way to Fort Tuscelan at the Black River, the province’s border to the Pict Lands, encounters Conan in the forest slaying a Pict. Accompanying the young man back to the fort, Conan finds the corpse of a merchant left by a Pictish wizard named Zogar Sag and slain by a swamp demon. The fort’s commander, Valannus, desperately asks Conan to slay Zogar Sag before he raises the Picts against the whole borderlands, especially since Tuscelan is vastly undermanned after Numedides foolishly decided to withdraw most of its garrison. Taking a hand-picked team of scouts and Balthus, Conan sets off stealthily in his canoe.

Contents

• fep • Coming Next Month (Weird Tales, May 1935) • essay by uncredited
• 530 • The Death Cry • novelette by Arthur B. Reeve
• 530 •  The Death Cry • interior artwork by Vincent Napoli
• 558 •  Weird Tales, May 1935 • [Weird Tales Decorations] • interior artwork by Andrew Brosnatch (variant of Weird Tales, November 1924 1924)
• 559 • Yellow Doom • novelette by Robert H. Leitfred
• 559 •  Yellow Doom • interior artwork by Vincent Napoli
• 581 • Under the Tomb • poem by Robert Nelson
• 582 • The Bronze Casket • short story by Richard H. Hart
• 583 •  The Bronze Casket • interior artwork by Vincent Napoli
• 591 • Beyond the Black River (Part 1 of 2) • [Conan] • serial by Robert E. Howard
• 591 •  Beyond the Black River (Part 1 of 2) • interior artwork by Hugh Rankin
• 609 • Lord of the Lamia (Part 3 of 3) • serial by Otis Adelbert Kline
• 609 •  Lord of the Lamia (Part 3 of 3) • interior artwork by Joseph Doolin
• 624 • The Flower-Women • [Maal Dweb] • short story by Clark Ashton Smith
• 625 •  The Flower-Women • interior artwork by Vincent Napoli
• 632 • On Hangman’s Hill • poem by Robert Avrett
• 633 • Muggridge’s Aunt • short story by August Derleth [as by August W. Derleth]
• 638 • The Secret in the Tomb • short story by Robert Bloch
• 642 •  Weird Story Reprint • (1928) • interior artwork by Hugh Rankin
• 642 • Arthur Jermyn • short story by H. P. Lovecraft (variant of The White Ape 1921)
• 648 • Tea-Drinking • poem by Frank Owen [as by Hung Long Tom]
• 650 •  The Eyrie • (1924) • interior artwork by Andrew Brosnatch
• 650 • The Eyrie (Weird Tales, May 1935) • [The Eyrie] • essay by The Editor
• 650 •  Letter (Weird Tales, May 1935): Cheers for Mrs. Brundage • essay by Michael Liene
• 650 •  Letter (Weird Tales, May 1935): Smith for Dessert • essay by Alvin V. Pershing
• 650 •  Letter (Weird Tales, May 1935): For Weird-Scietific Stories • essay by A. S. Doan
• 651 •  Letter (Weird Tales, May 1935): Robert Bloch’s Rejoinder • essay by Robert Bloch
• 652 •  Letter (Weird Tales, May 1935): Anguish and Horror • essay by Fred Anger
• 652 •  Letter (Weird Tales, May 1935): Two Fine Stories • essay by L. K. Leftwich
• 652 •  Letter (Weird Tales, May 1935): A Sweet, Pleasant Plot • essay by Henry Kuttner
• 653 •  Letter (Weird Tales, May 1935): The Psychological Story • essay by Mrs. E. W. Murphy
• 653 •  Letter (Weird Tales, May 1935): Moore and Lovecraft • essay by Lacy L. Harold
• 654 •  Letter (Weird Tales, May 1935): Seconding Mr. Reynolds’ Suggestion • essay by G. H. January
• 654 •  Letter (Weird Tales, May 1935): Exceptionally Good Issue • essay by B. M. Reynolds
• 654 •  Letter (Weird Tales, May 1935): Brief Comments • essay by Henry Hasse
• 654 •  Letter (Weird Tales, May 1935): February Issue a Corker • essay by E. L. Mengshoel
• 655 •  Letter (Weird Tales, May 1935): A Cover Story Contest • essay by Jack Darrow
• 656 •  Letter (Weird Tales, May 1935): A Few Dislikes • essay by C. A. Butz [as by Carl A. Butz]
• 656 •  Letter (Weird Tales, May 1935): Comments from an Author • essay by Clark Ashton Smith

Notes

Volume 25, Number 5.
Page numbers run from 529 to 656 and do not include the covers.

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