Introduction

“The Hyborian Age” is an essay by Robert E. Howard pertaining to the Hyborian Age, the fictional setting of his stories about Conan the Cimmerian. It was written in the 1930s but only partly published during Howard’s lifetime. Its purpose was to maintain consistency within his fictional setting.

The essay sets out in detail the major events of Howard’s pseudohistorical prehistory, both period before and after the time of the Conan stories. In describing the cataclysmic end of the Thurian Age, the period described in his Kull stories, Howard links both sequences of stories into one shared universe. The names he gives his various nations and peoples of the age borrow liberally from actual history and myth. The essay also sets out the racial and geographical heritage of these fictional entities, making them progenitors of modern nations. For example, Howard makes the Gaels descendants of his own Cimmerians.

In addition to its use as underpinning to his Kull and Conan stories, Howard drew on his invented prehistory in tales with later settings. For instance, “Kings of the Night” brings King Kull forward in time to fight the Roman legions, while “The Haunter of the Ring,” set in the modern age, makes use of a Hyborian artifact.

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 Hyborian Age” serves as a detailed fictional history, providing a complex world-building foundation for an era preceding recorded human history. This essay outlines the rise and fall of various civilizations and barbarian tribes, spanning epochs and chronicling an intricate tapestry of migration, conquest, and cultural evolution. Each tribe and kingdom experiences cycles of dominance and destruction, shaping a world that is both vast and timeless.

Detailed summary:

The narrative begins in the final days of the Pre-Cataclysmic Age, marked by the civilizations of Kamelia, Valusia, Verulia, Grondar, Thule, and Commoria on the Thurian Continent. In this ancient age, the Picts, Atlanteans, and Lemurians, tribes residing on isolated islands, remain apart from the thriving civilizations. A devastating Cataclysm disrupts this age, sinking Atlantis and Lemuria and reshaping the continents. The Atlanteans, Picts, and Lemurians face adversity but survive, although they regress to primitive ways.

In this post-Cataclysmic world, the Picts and Atlanteans wage fierce wars, halting each other’s cultural development. The Lemurians, enslaved by an eastern race, revolt after thousands of years, leading to the establishment of Stygia in the south. Meanwhile, the Zhemri in the southeast begin reviving a shadow of civilization. In the north, a hardy people known as the Hyborians emerge and begin migrating southward, marking the dawn of a Hyborian expansion.

The Hyborians establish the first stone fortress of Hyperborea, which catalyzes their transformation from hunters into city-dwellers. As Hyborian tribes spread and conquer, they found kingdoms, including Aquilonia, Nemedia, Brythunia, and Koth. Their power extends widely, though they remain in constant tension with the Cimmerians in the north, who descend from the ancient Atlanteans. To the east, Lemurian descendants known as Hyrkanians establish Turan, while other Hyrkanian clans encroach on Hyperborean borders.

The height of Hyborian civilization sees the kingdoms expand and mix racially with conquered tribes, creating a complex cultural mosaic. Eventually, however, the Hyrkanians, Picts, Cimmerians, and Æsir from the north begin to challenge the Hyborian dominance. Aquilonia’s overreach leads to alliances forming against it, and repeated invasions by Hyrkanian forces weaken the western empire. Additionally, a Nemedian priest named Arus, attempting to convert the Picts, inadvertently empowers them with knowledge of ironworking. Under Gorm, a formidable Pictish chief, the Picts become a rising force, ultimately invading Aquilonia and contributing to its downfall.

As Hyborian kingdoms fall, the remaining Picts and Hyrkanians carve out new empires, while the Æsir and Vanir from the north descend to further destabilize the region. The surviving Hyborians and allied Æsir establish strongholds, but the arrival of a glacial age pushes them to migrate or perish. The Æsir conquer Hyperborea, and Cimmerians sweep across former Hyborian lands, eliminating much of the Pictish influence. Eventually, the Hyborian Age world morphs into territories recognizable in modern history, and many tribes fade into myth.

Characters and roles:

  • Arus – A Nemedian priest whose mission to convert the Picts to Mitra’s worship unwittingly aids their military rise, particularly under Gorm’s leadership.
  • Gorm – Pictish chief who, inspired by Arus, becomes a formidable leader, ultimately driving the Picts to expand and destabilize Aquilonia, achieving a nearly empire-like influence.
  • Bori – An ancient chieftain and godlike figure in Hyborian legend, revered as a unifying ancestor for the Hyborians.
  • The King of Aquilonia – Represents the hubris of Aquilonia’s leadership, which, through imperialistic overreach, indirectly causes its own downfall.
  • Hialmar – A chief of the Nemedian Æsir who ultimately kills Gorm, ending the Pictish leader’s long-lived reign and his ambitions.
  • The Hyrkanian King of Turan – Leader who establishes a Hyrkanian empire in the former lands of Zamora, furthering Hyrkanian dominance in the east.

See also:

DRAFT A, DRAFT B, and DRAFT C.

Published in:

L. Sprague de Camp edited this to include his timeline. It appears in the following places:

The Hyborian Age – Wikipedia