Tolkien was, even in his own day, an anachronism, writing in a style that was self-consciously old-fashioned, intended to recall the sagas of Northern Europe and create "a mythology for England." Howard, on the other hand, had much less lofty ambitions for his writing, wanting only to tell ripping yarns that would entertain his audience and bring him a meager income. Yet, as he gained experience and honed his craft, Howard nevertheless succeeded in creating the elements of a modern mythology, some of which are arguably more well known in the 21st century than the hoary legends of the ancient world. Conan the Cimmerian stands beside Superman, James Bond, and Darth Vader as a fictional icon of the modern world.
More than that, though, Howard's characters, particularly Conan, typically bring with them thoroughly modern outlooks and concerns. Take, for example, Conan's disinterest in matters of religion, preferring to live his life by his own lights rather than those handed down by tradition. Though a man of his word, Conan adhered to no "code," guided by his wits and his sword rather than by high-minded ideals. "I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and am content," he famously said in "Queen of the Black Coast," the closest the barbarian ever came to stating his personal philosophy – and one that is, in practical terms, not far from the way most people live their lives today. I cannot imagine one of Tolkien's characters giving voice to such a perspective.
It's here, I think, that Howard's impact on fantasy has been the strongest and most enduring. Howard was an iconoclast and freethinker; he had equal disdain for the priests of old and their modern descendants, schoolteachers. His skepticism of tradition and received opinion is distinctively, if not uniquely, American, and this mindset can be seen throughout his literary works, where his characters regularly run afoul of the pettiness and arrogance of the established order. This rebellious streak – Howard would no doubt have called it "independence" – is nowadays ubiquitous among contemporary heroes, fantasy and otherwise and REH was ahead of the curve in valorizing it. In a very real sense, all of fantasy since has been following a trail that Robert E. Howard blazed long ago.
Very nicely said.
ReplyDeleteI one day hope to make the pilgrimage to Cross Plains...
Speaking of Conan’s life philosophy, I’ve often wondered—maybe you can tell me, James, and sorry in advance for bringing up the movie—but did Schwarzenegger’s best line ever come from Howard or from a script writer?
ReplyDeleteFrom memory, Conan and his fellow warlords have finished a meal. The chief warlord goes around the table, asking each one “What is best in life?” and they all have pansy responses, like the smell of wildflowers, the softness of a woman’s breast, etc. Then he comes to the barbarian.
“Conan, what is best in life?”
“To conquer your enemies, to see them driven before you, to hear the lamentation of the women.”
That is entirely an invention of the screenwriters: Oliver Stone and John Milius.
DeleteThanks. I kinda thought it might be. But doesn’t it ring true with the quote from Queen of the Black Coast: “I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and am content”?
DeletePlease don’t kill my character. ;)
That's a quote attributed to Genghis Khan from Muslim sources.
DeleteActually, that quote from the movie is actually attributed to Genghis Khan:
Deletehttp://www.barbariankeep.com/ctbsecrets.html
Interesting! I don't I'd ever read that before.
DeleteThanks for the link, paleologos. I feel smarter.
DeleteWhile that line is definitely not to be found in Howard, I would agree with Stephen that it isn't *too* far removed from Conan's philosophy, at least in his early life. Tower of the Elephant:
Delete"His gods were simple and understandable; Crom was their chief, and he lived on a great mountain, whence he sent forth dooms and death. It was useless to call on Crom, because he was a gloomy, savage god, and he hated weaklings. But he gave a man courage at birth, and the will and might to kill his enemies, which, in the Cimmerian's mind, was all any god should be expected to do."
Howard's rendering is rather more literate, to be sure, but not far removed in meaning from the famous film speech.
I remain fascinated with the might-have-been of what REH might have written had he served in (and survived) WW2. He came so very close to it, and I can't imagine him not volunteering if the draft hadn't claimed him anyway. The man wrote in many genres already - would we have gotten a series of GI tales from whatever theater(s) he wound up in? What would the post-War stories have been like as the Cold War became a thing? Would the Race for the Moon and the US fascination with all things space related have led to REH scifi?
ReplyDeleteSo many possibilities.
He's on the cusp of too old for WW II. I can't see him seeing front line service. Same boat as my paternal grandfather, too young for the first world war, too old for the second.
DeleteHe's an interesting character. I think if he resembles any other author besides his fellow pulp authors it would be Jack London. They both really share a lot of the same interests in the effects of civilization (or the lack thereof), what it means to live a meaningful existence, and to be a man. I think he ends up with the philosophy you describe but their is a lot of thought and philosophizing to get there. I just read Almuric (not considered his greatest work) and you can tell he's really trying to think through these things. It has been rumored to be unfinished and I wonder if that is because he never really figured out what he was trying to say with it.
ReplyDeleteHe's always reminded me quite a bit of Hemingway, personally.
ReplyDeleteCool read. I can't say I have read much of his work, but the influence is there as you indicate.
ReplyDeleteJust as Dick wrote above, I wondered what might have happened to REH's writing had he survived the loss of his mother. When I was younger I read everything of his that I could find, somewhere I have some anthologies of his work including stories that were reworked into conan tales- one thing that came through to me in all of his stuff was energy. Maybe he would have turned his hand to movie scripts- instead of waiting until Arnie came along, we'd be living in a world where an REH scripted conan would have hit the cinema in the 1950s, Solomon kane made by hammer in the 60s and REH'S Superman movie in the 70s.
ReplyDeleteThat really intriguing! I am imagining John Wayne playing Conan instead of Genghis Khan.
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