Introduction
‘By This Axe I Rule!’ is a fantasy short story by Howard, set in his fictional Thurian Age. It was first published in the Lancer Books paperback King Kull in 1967.
This story was rejected by the pulp magazines Argosy and Adventure in 1929, after which Howard rewrote it as the Conan story ‘The Phoenix on the Sword’, substituting a new secondary plot and adding elements of supernatural horror. The main shared elements of the two stories are the conspiracy and the king’s defeat of it. The Conan story was published in December 1932.
Published in
- KING KULL, Lancer, 1st, 1967 (60 cents)
- KING KULL, Lancer, 2nd, 1969 (75 cents)
- KING KULL, Lancer, 3rd, 1972 (95 cents)
- KULL THE DESTROYER VOLUME 1 NUMBER 11, Marvel Comics, November 1973 (graphic adaptation)
- KULL DI VALUSIA, Editrice Nord, September 1975 (Italian)
- KING KULL, Sphere, 1976
- TERRA FANTASY #29: HERR VON VALUSIEN, Erich Pabel Verlag KG, December 1976 (German)
- KULL, Bantam, September 1978
- TERRA FANTASY #29: HERR VON VALUSIEN, Erich Pabel Verlag KG, August 1979 (German, 2nd printing)
- KULL LE ROI BARBARE, NeO, 1st Quarter 1980 (French)
- KULL LE ROI BARBARE, NeO, May 1983 (French, 2nd printing)
- KULL LE ROI BARBARE, NeO, September 1984 (French, 3rd printing)
- KULL LE ROI BARBARE, Euredif, October 1984 (French)
- KULL, Grant, 1985 (Regular edition)
- KULL, Grant, 1985 (Limited edition)
- KULL LE ROI BARBARE, NeO, April 1988 (French, 4th printing)
- KULL VON ATLANTIS, Bastei Verlag, March 1989 (German)
- THE SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN VOLUME 1 NUMBER 177, Marvel Comics, September 1990 (brief excerpt only)
- KRÁL KULL, Arla, 1991 (Czech)
- MAGAZÍN POUTNÍK 2: CONAN BARBAR A JINÉ POVÍDKY, Klub Julese Vernea, 1991 (Czech)
- KULL LE ROI BARBARE, Fleuve Noir, January 1992 (French)
- CYBER FANTASY 1, Alberto Santos, March 1992 (Spanish)
- YÖN KUNINKAAT, WSOY, 1992 (Finnish)
- KULL DI VALUSIA, Editrice Nord, October 1993 (Italian)
- KULL, Wydawnictwo Andor, 1994 (Polish)
- TUTTI I CICLI FANTASTICI: I CICLI DI KULL DI VALUSIA, DI JAMES ALLISON, DI CTHULHU E DI ALMURIC, Newton Compton Editori, April 1995 (Italian)
- KULL, Baen, July 1995 (restored text)
- HŐSÖK KORA, Valhalla Páholy Könyvklub, 1997 (Hungarian)
- KRÁL KULL, Kunder Publishing, 1997 (Slovak)
- ЦАРь КУЛЛ (TSAR KULL / KING KULL), Азбука-Терра (Azbuka-Terra / ABC-Terra), 1997 (Russian)
- KULL, Laser Books, 2000 (Czech)
- HOLLAND SF Volume 39 Number 1, Nederlands Contactcentrum voor Science Fiction, February 2005 excerpt only (Dutch)
- KULL: EXILE OF ATLANTIS, Del Rey, October 2006
- KULL: EXILE OF ATLANTIS, Science Fiction Book Club, November 2006
- THE BEST OF ROBERT E. HOWARD VOLUME 2: GRIM LANDS, Del Rey, November 2007
- KULL. ESULE DI ATLANTIDE, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, April 2008 (Italian)
- KULL: EXILE OF ATLANTIS, Subterranean Press, August 2008
- KULL: EXILE OF ATLANTIS, Tantor Media Inc., January 2010 (audio)
- THE CHRONICLES OF KULL Volume 2, Dark Horse Books, March 2010 (Graphic adaptation)
- KULL LE ROI ATLANTE, Bragelonne, July 2010 (French)
- THE KULL SERIES: BY THIS AXE I RULE!, Paradox Entertainment Inc., January 2010
- THE KULL SERIES: BY THIS AXE I RULE!, Paradox Entertainment Inc., September 2011
- KULL KIRÁLY ÉS AZ ŐSÖK, Delta Vision Kft., August 2012 (Hungarian)
- KULL KIRÁLY ÉS AZ ŐSÖK, Delta Vision Kft., November 2012 (Hungarian)
- KULL: BANITA Z ATLANTYDY, Rebis, February 2014 (Polish)
- БРАН МАК МОРН, ПОСЛЕДНИЙ КОРОЛЬ. КУЛЛ, ВЫХОДЕЦ ИЗ АТЛАНТИДЫ (BRAN MAK MORN: THE LAST KING. KULL: NATIVE OF ATLANTIS), Eksmo, May 2014 (Russian)
- KULL LE ROI ATLANTE, L’INTÉGRALE, Bragelonne, June 2020 (French)
- ROBERT E. HOWARD FOUNDATION NEWSLETTER V14N2, Robert E. Howard Foundation, Summer 2020
- KULL DI VALUSIA, GM Libri, July 2020 (Italian)
- KULL DI VALUSIA. IL CICLO COMPLETO, Fanucci Editore, September 2020 (Italian)
- LES GUERRIERS DU VALHALLA, Le Livre de Poche, November 2020 (French)
