The Hyborian Age (draft A)

REH did three known drafts of his essay The Hyborian Age. These three were presented by the Robert E. Howard Foundation in a chapbook presented to the Legacy Circle members. Drafts A through C are from REH’s original typescripts, furnished by Glenn Lord, and sent to the REH Foundation by Patrice Louinet.

This draft of “The Hyborian Age” explores the cyclical rise and fall of ancient civilizations and barbarian tribes in a fictional prehistoric world. It describes the cataclysmic events that shape these civilizations and their interactions over tens of thousands of years, presenting a grand historical narrative of different peoples and kingdoms as they battle, rise to power, and collapse.

This draft provides a detailed, evolving picture of prehistoric civilizations, tracing their origins, developments, and eventual roles in shaping what would become the modern world.

The essay begins by acknowledging that little is known about the pre-Atlantean age, and historical records truly start when the civilizations of the Atlantean age were already in decline. The primary powers during this period were the kingdoms of Kamelia, Valusia, and Verulia. The origin of these mixed-race people is obscure, but their legends speak of overthrowing a mysterious earlier civilization to establish their own. Meanwhile, the Picts, Atlanteans, and Lemurians were the barbarian peoples of the time.

A series of global cataclysms caused the destruction of Atlantis and Lemuria and led to the transformation of the Pictish islands into towering mountains on a new continent. Civilized races perished, leaving only the barbarian groups to survive. The surviving Picts settled along the coast of Valusia, while the Atlanteans and Lemurians were isolated by geographical upheavals.

As the Atlanteans faced the hostile natural world, they regressed to a Stone Age culture, yet retained some artistic advancement. They clashed with the more advanced Picts in a series of wars that drove the Atlanteans back into savagery. Another cataclysm further ravaged the world, and the descendants of the Atlanteans degenerated into ape-men, while the Picts regressed into primitive cave-dwellers.

In the east, the Lemurians developed a unique semi-civilization, while to the north, a group of blond savages, fleeing the destruction of Atlantis, fought against native snow-apes in the arctic regions. These blond savages, later known as Hyperboreans, gradually spread across the continent in successive waves, becoming the dominant race in the north.

Over time, new kingdoms emerged. The Hyperboreans founded the first real kingdom in the north, and their descendants established a powerful western kingdom known as Aquilonia. Other kingdoms, such as Nemedia, Brythunia, and Koth, rose, while alien bloodlines dominated Zamora and Zingara. The Stygian empire, located far to the south, was founded by a race that had destroyed an older civilization in the region.

The Picts began to climb out of savagery due to contact with the Hyperboreans, while the descendants of the Atlanteans, now known as Cimmerians, developed into a warlike barbarian people. Meanwhile, the descendants of the snow-apes formed the warlike tribes of Vanir and AEsir in the north.

In the far east, the Lemurians, now called the Hyrkanians, emerged as powerful horsemen. Over time, various upheavals led to the collapse of the western kingdoms, the rise of a Pictish empire, and the resurgence of Nordic mercenaries. The Cimmerians, driven from their lands, settled near an inland sea and eventually intermarried with tribes of AEsir, giving rise to the Celts. Similarly, the Nemedians and Britons emerged from these displaced tribes, leading to the early formation of the modern world.

• Kamelia: One of the dominant powers of the Atlantean age.
• Valusia: Another powerful kingdom during the Atlantean age.
• Verulia: A significant kingdom in the same era.
• Picts: Barbarians living on islands in the western ocean; later regressed into cave-dwellers.
• Atlanteans: Dwellers of a small continent between the Pictish islands and the main continent; degenerated into ape-men.
• Lemurians: Barbarians in the eastern hemisphere; developed a semi-civilization after global cataclysms.
• Hyperboreans: Blond savages who fled north after the destruction of Atlantis; founded the first real kingdom in the north.
• Aquilonia: A powerful western kingdom, descended from the Hyperboreans.
• Nemedia: A kingdom akin to Aquilonia.
• Brythunia: Another kingdom related to Aquilonia and Nemedia.
• Koth: Akin to the people of Aquilonia and Nemedia.
• Zamora: A kingdom to the east, of alien blood.
• Zingara: A kingdom to the southwest, of dark complexion or exotic habit.
• Shem: Southeastern kingdom, recently freed from Stygian control.
• Stygia: A southern empire founded by a tribe that overthrew an ancient civilization.
• Cimmerians: Descendants of the Atlanteans, living north of Aquilonia; warlike barbarians.
• Vanir and AEsir: Descendants of snow-apes, living in the far north in the land of Nordheim.
• Hyrkanians: Descendants of the Lemurians; powerful horsemen in the east.
• Celts: Descended from the intermarriage of Cimmerians and AEsir tribes.
• Nemedians (Ireland): Descended from a tribe of Hyperboreans.
• Britons: Descended from a separate tribe of Hyperboreans.

THE HYBORIAN AGE, DRAFT B, and DRAFT C.

• THE HYBORIAN AGE, Robert E. Howard Foundation, June 2011