Catalogue facts
Introduction
This is the published version of The Phoenix on the Sword, first printed in Weird Tales in December 1932. Howard’s first submitted draft had been returned for revision on March 10, 1932; the revised version was accepted in April, along with The Tower of the Elephant. Howard received $85 for the story.
The story grew out of Howard’s unpublished Kull tale By This Axe I Rule!. L. Sprague de Camp later edited The Phoenix on the Sword for republication in King Conan (Gnome Press, 1953) and Conan the Usurper (Lancer Books, 1967).
Plot Summary spoilers
A middle-aged Conan of Cimmeria tries to govern the turbulent kingdom of Aquilonia.
Conan has recently seized the crown from King Numedides after strangling the tyrant on his throne. Conan is more suited to swinging his broadsword than signing official documents, though. The Aquilonians who originally welcomed Conan as their liberator have turned against him due to his foreign Cimmerian blood. They have constructed a statue to Numedides' memory in the temple of Mitra, and priests burn incense before their slain king, hailing it as the holy effigy of a saintly monarch who was killed by a red-handed barbarian.
A band known as the Rebel Four forms: Volmana, the dwarfish count of Karaban; Gromel, the giant commander of the Black Legion; Dion, the fat baron of Attalus; and Rinaldo, the hare-brained minstrel. Their goal is to put the crown in the hands of someone with royal blood. The Rebel Four recruit the services of a southern outlaw named Ascalante. However, Ascalante secretly plans to betray his employers and claim the crown.
Ascalante also enslaves Thoth-Amon, a Stygian wizard who has fallen on hard times since losing a mystical ring. A thief had stolen his ring and left Thoth-Amon defenseless, forcing him to flee from Stygia. Disguised as a camel driver, he was waylaid in Koth by Ascalante's reavers. The rest of his caravan was slaughtered, but Thoth-Amon saved himself by revealing his identity and swearing to serve Ascalante.
The conspirators plan to assassinate King Conan when he is unprepared and defenseless. Two unforeseen events thwart their plan. Conan is warned of a coup by the arrival of a long-dead sage named Epemitreus, who marks Conan's sword with a mystical phoenix representing Mitra, a Hyborian god. Also, Thoth-Amon murders Dion and recovers his lost ring of power. He then summons a fanged ape-like demon to slay Ascalante. Conan slays the three remaining members of the Rebel Four, breaking his sword upon the helm of Gromel and using a battle-axe against the rest of his would-be assassins. Conan hesitates to kill Rinaldo, whose songs once touched the King's heart. This scruple costs Conan, as Rinaldo manages to stab him before being killed.
Ascalante, his goal in reach, moves to finish off the wounded king. But before Ascalante can strike, he is killed by Thoth-Amon's demon, which is then slain by Conan with the shard of his enchanted sword.
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".
Circa Desember 1932, Howard wrote (letter #226) to Robert H. Barlow:
Price tells me that you are interested in the collection of first drafts of Weird stories. I am sending by express, the first writings — or rather the first typings, since I do all my work on the typewriter — of “The Phoenix on the Sword”, “The Scarlet Citadel”, “Black Colossus”, and “Iron Shadows in the Moon”. Some of the pages seem to be missing from the first named story, but the others are complete. Hoping you will find them of interest, I remain,
Cordially,
P.S. “The Phoenix on the Sword” and “The Scarlet Citadel” have appeared in Weird Tales. “Black Colossus” is scheduled for the June issue, and “Iron Shadows in the Moon” has been accepted, but not scheduled.