Introduction
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.
The second draft of The Hyborian Age provides a detailed and expansive mytho-historical narrative, describing the rise and fall of various civilizations in a fictional prehistoric world. The essay outlines the great Cataclysm that reshapes the earth, bringing about the downfall of ancient civilizations and the rise of barbaric and more primitive peoples. It also explores the cyclical nature of empires, the migrations and conflicts among different races and tribes, and the ultimate dominance of the Hyborians, who establish powerful kingdoms before facing their eventual downfall.
Summary
The draft opens by describing the pre-Cataclysmic civilizations of the Valusian continent, where the dominant kingdoms—Kamelia, Valusia, Verulia, Grondar, Thule, and Commoria—shared a common ancestry. Surrounding these kingdoms were barbaric societies, notably the Picts, Atlanteans, and Lemurians. The Picts inhabited islands to the west, the Atlanteans dwelled on a continent between the Pictish islands and the Valusian mainland, and the Lemurians lived on a chain of islands in the eastern hemisphere.
A massive Cataclysm then strikes, destroying these civilizations and reshaping the world’s geography. Atlantis and Lemuria sink into the ocean, the Pictish islands become mountain ranges on a new continent, and many Valusian cities are destroyed. While the more advanced societies are devastated, some barbarian groups—Picts, Atlanteans, and Lemurians—survive in colonies or through migration.
The survivors of Atlantis establish themselves on the Valusian mainland, while Lemurians are enslaved by an ancient race in the east. The western world undergoes vast changes, with newly emerged savage tribes and beasts dominating the landscape. As centuries pass, the Atlanteans and Picts rebuild primitive societies and engage in bloody conflicts, which further hinder their development.
Five thousand years after the Cataclysm, new civilizations begin to emerge. The Lemurians overthrow their masters and found the kingdom of Stygia in the south, while the Hyborians, a northern people, begin their gradual expansion. The Hyborians become dominant in the western world, establishing kingdoms such as Hyperborea and pushing the Picts westward. Simultaneously, the Atlanteans, now called Cimmerians, slowly recover their former greatness, while Lemurians evolve into a new civilization known as the Hyrkanians.
Over millennia, the Hyborian kingdoms flourish but eventually face invasion from Picts, Hyrkanians, and barbarian tribes from the north, such as the Aesir and Vanir. The essay concludes with the ultimate fall of Hyborian civilization, driven by barbarian invasions and internal decline, setting the stage for new peoples and empires to arise in a reshaped world.
Countries and Peoples
- Kamelia, Valusia, Verulia, Grondar, Thule, Commoria: Dominant kingdoms of the pre-Cataclysmic Age.
- Picts: Barbarians inhabiting islands west of the Valusian continent, later forming a powerful post-Cataclysmic nation.
- Atlanteans: Barbarians dwelling on a continent between the Pictish islands and Valusia, eventually becoming the Cimmerians.
- Lemurians: Inhabitants of islands in the eastern hemisphere, enslaved by an ancient race after the Cataclysm, eventually forming Stygia and Hyrkania.
- Thulian Continent: The primary landmass after the Cataclysm, home to various civilizations and barbaric tribes.
- Valusians: Civilized people of the pre-Cataclysmic age, whose culture and history are largely destroyed by the Cataclysm.
- Stygia: A mysterious pre-human civilization in the south, later conquered by the Lemurians.
- Hyboreans/Hybori: A northern people whose expansion leads to the rise of several powerful kingdoms, including Hyperborea.
- Cimmerians: Descendants of the Atlanteans, warlike barbarians in the northern regions.
- Hyperborea: The first kingdom of the Hyborians, located in the northern territories.
- Zamora: A kingdom descended from the ancient non-Valusian Thulians, located southeast of Hyperborea.
- Zingara: A southwestern kingdom formed by a mix of Picts and Hyborians.
- Shem: A land of savages ruled by the Stygians, later developing its own kingdoms.
- Nordheim: A northern land inhabited by the Aesir (yellow-haired) and Vanir (red-haired), barbaric tribes that descend from arctic savages.
- Hyrkanians: Descendants of the Lemurians who establish a vast empire in the eastern part of the world.
- Bossonians: A mixed race of Hyborians and aborigines, serving as a bulwark against the Picts and Cimmerians in the west.
- Nemedia: A Hyborian kingdom to the east of Aquilonia, later dominated by Aesir mercenaries.
- Aquilonia: The most powerful Hyborian kingdom, located in the western part of the Hyborian world.
- Koth: A kingdom located south of Aquilonia, conquered by both Hyborians and Hyrkanians over time.
- Vanir and Aesir: Barbarian tribes from the north, who repeatedly invade Hyborian lands.
- Black Kingdoms: Southern kingdoms inhabited by black-skinned peoples, including Kush, Amazon, and Atlaians.
See also:
THE HYBORIAN AGE, DRAFT A, and DRAFT C.
Published in:
- THE HYBORIAN AGE, Robert E. Howard Foundation, June 2011