The Frost-Giant’s Daughter

Introduction

Originally written by REH as a Conan story “The Frost-Giant’s Daughter”(REH1). The 3200 words story was not accepted. It was rejected by Weird Tales on March 10, 1932, so REH rewrote it with a different hero (Amra) and changed the title to “The Frost King’s Daughter” (REH2). He gave the story to 17-year-old Charles D. Hornig for publication in the Fantasy Fan Volume 1 No. 7 March 1934. When published by The Fantasy Fan, they changed the title to “Gods of the North”.

L. Sprague de Camp found the original manuscript, but extensively rewrote it, and called it “The Frost Giant’s Daughter” (REH/LSDC).

Alternate Title: GODS OF THE NORTH
Alternate Title: THE FROST-KING’S DAUGHTER
Alternate Title: THE FROST GIANT’S DAUGHTER

From the letters:

The rejected story is probably one of the three Howard refers to in a letter (#195) to Tevis Clyde Smith, ca. March 1932:

By the way, Farnsworth rejected the last three yarns I sent him, together with a bunch of verse. No rest for the weary.

A very interesting passage can be seen in a letter (#203) to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. April 1932:

I’ve been working on a new character, providing him with a new epoch — the Hyborian Age, which men have forgotten, but which remains in classical names, and distorted myths. Wright rejected most of the series, but I did sell him one — “The Phoenix on the Sword” which deals with the adventures of King Conan the Cimmerian, in the kingdom of Aquilonia.

Probably the rejected Conan stories are “The Frost-Giant’s Daughter” and “The God in the Bowl“.

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