Introduction
“The Pool of the Black One” is one of the original shorts starring Conan the Cimmerian. Howard earned $110 for this story.
It’s set in the pseudo-historical Hyborian Age and concerns Conan becoming the captain of a pirate vessel while encountering a remote island with a mysterious pool that has the power of transmutation.
First published in Weird Tales in October 1933, the story was republished in the collections The Sword of Conan (Gnome Press, 1952) and Conan the Adventurer (Lancer Books, 1966).
From the letters
From a letter (#259) to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. September or October 1933 Howard talks his tale down:
I liked your “Festival” reprint in the current Weird Tales. Indeed, I believe I like it as well as anything else I ever read of yours. It will quite overshadow my Conan yarn,22 but being overshadowed by your stories is no disgrace.
August Derleth obviously liked it as we learn from a letter (#263) Howard wrote to him, ca. October 1933:
Glad you liked my “Pool of the Black One”. I got a big kick out of Lovecraft’s story, as well as those of Smith, Long etc. I was disappointed at your not being represented in that issue. Hope you have one in the next
Published in:
- WEIRD TALES VOLUME 22 NUMBER 4, Popular Fiction Publishing Company, October 1933
- THE SWORD OF CONAN, Gnome Press, 1952 (edited by John Clark)
- 風雲児コナン (FUUNJI KONAN) (LUCKY ADVENTURER CONAN), Hayakawa Bunko, November 1970 (Japanese)
- THE SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN VOLUME 1 NUMBER 22, Marvel Comics, September 1977 (Part 1 of 2, graphic adaptation)
- THE SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN VOLUME 1 NUMBER 23, Marvel Comics, October 1977 (Part 2 of 2, graphic adaptation)
- CONAN ZDOBYWCA, Klubowe, 1986 (Polish)
- THE POOL OF THE BLACK ONE, Grant, 1986
- L’IRA DI CONAN, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, February 1990 (Italian)
- CONAN, Wydawnictwo Atlantis, 1990 (Polish)
- CONAN NAJEMNIK, Wydawnictwo Nakom, 1990 (Polish)
- CONAN CIMMERIALAINEN, Jalava, 1991 (Finnish)
- IKARIE, Mladá fronta, September 1991 (Czech)
- KARD ÉS BOSZORKÁNYSÁG, Cherubion Könyvkiadó, 1994 (Hungarian)
- TUTTI I CICLI FANTASTICI – IL CICLO DI CONAN TOMO I, Newton Compton Editori, April 1995 (Italian)
- THE CONAN CHRONICLES Volume 1, Millennium, August 2000
- CONAN JA VÄRELEV VARI, Elmatar, 2000 (Estonian)
- CONAN CIMMERIALAINEN, Jalava, 2001 (Finnish)
- CONAN: A ZRODÍSE ČARODĔJKA A JINÉ POVÍDKY, BB Art, 2001 (Czech)
- COMPLETE CONAN OF CIMMERIA VOLUME 1, Wandering Star, 2002
- CONAN, Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, September 2003 (German)
- THE COMING OF CONAN THE CIMMERIAN, Del Rey, December 2003
- THE COMING OF CONAN THE CIMMERIAN, Science Fiction Book Club, December 2003
- PULP REPLICA: WEIRD TALES V22N4, Girasol Collectables, April 2005
- CONAN. IL CERCHIO NERO, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, June 2005 (Italian)
- THE COMING OF CONAN THE CIMMERIAN, Del Rey, November 2005
- THE WEIRD WRITINGS OF ROBERT E. HOWARD Volume 1, Girasol Collectables, January 2006
- THE COMPLETE CHRONICLES OF CONAN, Gollancz, January 2006
- CONAN 1, Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, February 2006 (German)
- VALLEY OF THE WORM, Wildside Press, April 2006
- CONAN, O CIMÉRIO Volume 2, Conrad Editora, 2006 (Portuguese)
- ÖSSZES CONAN TÖRTÉNETE II, Szukits Könyvkiadó, 2006 (Hungarian)
- 新訂版コナン全集3: 黒い予言者 (SHINTEIBAN KONAN ZENSHŪ 3: KUROI YOGENSHA)(THE AUTHORIZED CONAN CHRONICLES 3: THE PEOPLE OF THE BLACK CIRCLE), Tōkyō Sōgensha, March 2007 (Japanese)
- CONAN LE CIMMÉRIEN, Bragelonne, October 2007 (French)
- THE POOL OF THE BLACK ONE, Dodo Press, February 2008
- CONAN LE CIMMÉRIEN, Bragelonne, April 2008 (French, 2nd printing)
- THE CONAN CHRONICLES Volume 1, Gollancz, April 2008
- THE ADVENTUROUS TALES OF CONAN THE CIMMERIAN, Onno Tasler, October 2008
- CONAN. IL CERCHIO NERO, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 2008 (Italian)
- CONAN – O POVO DO CÍRCULO NEGRO, Saída de Emergência, 2008 (Portuguese)
- CONAN II, Aurora, 2008 (Czech)
- CONAN THE BARBARIAN, Prion Books, May 2009 (U.K.)
- THE COMING OF CONAN THE CIMMERIAN, Tantor Media Inc., June 2009 (audio)
- DOLAZAK KONANA SIMERIJANCA, IPS Media, 2009 (Serbian)
- CONAN THE BARBARIAN, Easton Press, January 2010
- CONAN THE BARBARIAN, Prion Books, November 2010
- CONAN LE CIMMÉRIEN, Bragelonne, 2010 (French, 3rd printing)
- CONAN THE BARBARIAN, Metro Books, 2010
- CONAN I PRADAWNI BOGOWIE, Rebis, January 2011 (Polish)
- CONAN IL BARBARO, Newton Compton Editori, July 2011 (Italian)
- CONAN IL BARBARO, Newton Compton Editori, October 2011 (Italian)
- CONAN THE BERSERKER, Gollancz, November 2011
- CONAN BARBARZYŃCA, Rea, April 2012 (Polish)
- CONAN I PRADAWNI BOGOWIE, Rebis, July 2012 (Polish)
- CONAN THE BARBARIAN, Jame-Books, August 2012
- ROBERT E. HOWARD’S COLLECTED WORKS, Jame-Books, February 2013
- CONAN LE CIMMÉRIEN, Bragelonne, September 2013 (French, 4th printing)
- CONAN: MEČ S FÉNIXEM A JINÉ POVÍDKY, Dobrovský, 2013 (Czech)
- CONAN 3, Urco Editora, May 2014 (Galician)
- CONAN BARBARZYŃCA. TOM 1, BookRage, December 2014 (Polish)
- CONAN – DIE ORIGINAL ERZÄHLUNGEN BAND 2, Festa Verlag, June 2015 (German)
- CONAN THE BARBARIAN, Ulwencreutz Media, November 2015
- CONAN BARBARZYŃCA, Rea, November 2015 (Polish)
- КОНАН TOM 1, Изток-Запад (East West), 2015 (Bulgarian)
- THE POOL OF THE BLACK ONE, Speculative!, July 2016 (audio)
- CONAN IL BARBARO, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, October 2016 (Italian)
- CONAN THE BARBARIAN – COLLECTED ADVENTURES, The Castanea Group, December 2016
- CONAN: BROADSWORD LEGACY COLLECTION, Shirtsleeve Press, April 2017
- THE POOL OF THE BLACK ONE, Sir Angels, April 2017
- CONAN THE BARBARIAN – COLLECTED ADVENTURES, The Castanea Group, June 2017
- ROBERT E. HOWARD’S CONAN THE CIMMERIAN BARBARIAN: THE COMPLETE WEIRD TALES OMNIBUS, Pulp-Lit Press, June 2017
- ROBERT E. HOWARD’S CONAN THE CIMMERIAN BARBARIAN: THE COMPLETE WEIRD TALES OMNIBUS, Audible Audio, June 2017
- CONAN, O BÁRBARO – LIVRO 1, Pipoca e Nanquim, December 2017 (Portuguese)
- ROBERT E. HOWARD’S CONAN THE CIMMERIAN BARBARIAN: THE COMPLETE WEIRD TALES OMNIBUS, Easton Press, 2017
- LE CIMMÉRIEN (CONAN, TOME 1), Le Livre de Poche, January 2019 (French)
- STORIES OF SHAPE-SHIFTING, Hjem House, February 2020
- CONAN THE BARBARIAN: COMPLETE COLLECTION, Nighttime Editions, 2020.
- EL FÉNIX EN LA ESPADA, Sportula, May 2021 (Spanish)
- OS CONTOS MAIS ÉPICOS DE CONAN, Saída de Emergência, May 2021 (Portuguese)
- CONAN LE CIMMÉRIEN, Bragelonne, July 2021 (French)
- EL FÉNIX EN LA ESPADA, Sportula, November 2021 (Spanish)
- ROBERT E. HOWARD AND WEIRD TALES, Dennis McHaney, November 2021 (excerpt only)
The L. Sprague de Camp edited version of this story appears in the following places:
- CONAN THE ADVENTURER, Lancer, 1966
- CONAN DER ABENTEURER, Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, 1971 (German)
- CONAN – LA FIN DE L’ATLANTIDE, Edition Spéciale, June 1972 (French)
- コナンと黒い予言者 (KONAN TO KUROI YOGENSHA), Sōgen Suiri Bunko, January 1973 (Japanese)
- CONAN EL AVENTURERO, Editorial Bruguera, September 1973 (Spanish)
- CONAN THE ADVENTURER, Sphere, 1973
- CONAN L’AVVENTURIERO, Editrice Nord, May 1974 (Italian)
- CONAN THE ADVENTURER, Prestige, 1977
- ROBERT E. HOWARD OMNIBUS, Orbit, 1977
- CONAN DE AVONTURIER, Zwarte Beertjes, 1978 (Dutch)
- CONAN L’AVENTURIER, Jean-Claude Lattès, January 1980 (French)
- CONAN DER ABENTEURER, Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, July 1983 (German)
- CONAN EL AVENTURERO, Ediciones Forum, 1983 (Spanish)
- CONAN THE ADVENTURER, Ace, 1984
- CONAN DER ABENTEURER, Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, 1985 (German, 2nd edition)
- KONAN: OPKOLJENI VUKOVI, Niro Dečje Novine, 1985 (Part 1, Serbo-Croatian)
- KONAN: PRINC ČAROBNJAKA, Niro Dečje Novine, 1985 (Part 2, Serbo-Croatian)
- SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN #22 & #23, Marvel, du
- CONAN L’AVENTURIER, J’ai Lu, June 1986 (French)
- LA LEGGENDA DI CONAN IL CIMMERO, Editrice Nord, October 1989 (Italian)
- THE CONAN CHRONICLES Volume 2, Orbit, September 1990
- CONAN ÄVENTYRAREN, Target Games, 1990 (Swedish)
- CONAN RYZYKANT, Wydawnictwo PiK, 1992 (Polish)
- CONAN L’AVENTURIER, J’ai Lu, March 1993 (French, 2nd printing)
- CONAN L’AVVENTURIERO, Editrice Nord, November 1993 (Italian)
- CONAN, AFSF, 1994 (Czech)
- LA SAGA DI CONAN IL CIMMERO, Editrice Nord, 1994 (Italian)
- CONAN EL AVENTURERO, Ediciones Martinez Roca, 1995 (Spanish)
- CONAN EVENTYREREN, Semic / Nordisk Forlag A/S, 1995 (Norwegian)
- КОНАН АВАНТУРИСТА (KONAN AVANTURISTA), Bard, 1997 (Bulgarian)
- CONAN I: BARBAR, AFSF, 1997 (Czech)
- CONAN II: DOBYVATEL, AFSF, 1997 (Czech)
- CONAN DER ABENTEURER, Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, 1998 (German)
- CONAN L’AVENTURIER, J’ai Lu, November 2000 (French, 3rd printing)
Listen to the story:
Source and credits:
Teaser image by Petar Stanimirov.