King CONAN is captured by a sorcerer.

The sorcerer Tsotha approaches King CONAN after a battle.

The black armoured figure loomed in terrible menace over the lean, silk-robed shape, the notched, dripping sword hovering on high.
"I offer you life, CONAN," said Tsotha, a cruel mirth bubbling at the back of his voice.
"I give you death wizard," snarled the king, and backed by the iron muscles and ferocious hate the great sword swung in a stroke meant to shear Tsotha's lean torso in half. But even as the host cried out, the wizard stepped in, too quick for the eye to follow, and apparently merely laid an open hand on CONAN's left forearm, from the rigid muscles of which the mail had been hacked away. The whistling blade veered from its arc and the mailed giant crashed heavily to earth, to lie motionless. Tsotha laughed silently.
"Take him up and fear him not; the lion's fangs are drawn."

From "The Scarlet Citadel"
Page 46. "The Complete Chronicles of CONAN"

King CONAN, son of blacksmith

King CONAN has been overcome by sorcery and his army defeated. As his enemies approach his tent, his aides urge him to surrender and save his life.

"But your majesty!" cried the squire in great perturbation. "The battle is lost! It were part of majesty to yield with dignity becoming one of royal blood!"
"I have no royal blood," ground CONAN. "I am a barbarian and the son of a blacksmith."

From "The Hour of the Dragon"
Page 732. The Complete Chronicles of CONAN.

Artwork displayed with the kind permission of the artist, Memed .
Please check out his web page HERE for more of his work.

King CONAN feels responsible for his subjects

King CONAN has been defeated and captured by a mix of sorcery and treachery, yet he refuses to sell out his people for the chance of his own survival.

He would not sell his subjects to the butcher. And yet it had been with no thought of any one's gain but his own that he had seized the kingdom originally. Thus subtly does the instinct of sovereign responsibility enter even a red-handed plunderer sometimes.

From "The Scarlet Citadel"
Page 53. "The Complete Chronicles of CONAN"

King CONAN chooses his queen

After being defeated by his enemies who were aided by the sorcery of Xaltotun, CONAN regains his throne after a battle. CONAN dos not forget the help given to him by Zenobia, a slave girl in the Seraglio of Tarascus, so when Tarascus, one of those who had conspired against CONAN asks what the ransom for his life will be, CONAN does not forget that Zenobia risked her life to save his,

Tarascus spoke.
"You have not yet named my ransom."
CONAN laughed and slapped his sword home in its scabbard. He flexed his mighty arms, and ran his blood-stained fingers through his thick black locks, as if feeling there his re-won crown.
"There is a girl in your seraglio named Zenobia."
"Why, yes, so there is."
"Very well." The king smiled as at an exceedingly pleasant memory. "She shall be your ransom, and naught else. I will come to Belverus for her as I promised. She was a slave in Nemidia, but I will make her queen of Aquilonia"

From "The Hour of the Dragon"
Page 732. The Complete Chronicles of CONAN.

Introducing... Zenobia

Zenobia is a slave girl who helps a captured King CONAN escape from her masters dungeon. We first meet her as she appears at the bars of his cell.

It was a girl who stood grasping the bars with her slender fingers. The dim glow behind her outlined her supple figure through the wisp of silk twisted about her loins, and shone vaguely on jewelled breast-plates. Her dark eyes gleamed in the shadows, her white limbs glistened softly, like alabaster. Her hair was a mass of dark foam, at the burnished luster of which the dim light hinted.

From "The Hour of the Dragon"
Page 604. The Complete Chronicles of CONAN.

You can tell a lot about a girl by the kind of knife she gives you!

After escaping from Xaltotun's dungeon with aid of Zenobia, a girl from the kings seraglio, CONAN stops to admire the knife she left for him to help him escape.

He inspected the weapon the girl had given him, and smiled grimly. Whatever else she might be, she was proven by that dagger to be a person of practical intelligence. It was no slender stiletto, selected because of a jeweled hilt or gold guard, fitted only for dainty murder in milady's boudoir; it was a forthright poniard, a warrior's weapon, broad-bladed, fifteen inches in length, tapering to a diamond-sharp point.

From "The Hour of the Dragon"
Page 606. The Complete Chronicles of CONAN.

 Artwork displayed with the kind permission of the artist, Loopydave .
Please check out his web page HERE for more of his work.

Meet King CONAN as viewed in a magic mirror

Xaltotun is brought back from the dead after 3,000 years to help CONAN's enemies defeat him. As they discuss there plans they bring up an image of King CONAN in a mirror.

It floated hazily, then leaped into startling clarity- a tall man, mightily shouldered and deep of chest, with a massive corded neck and heavily muscled limbs. He was clad in silk and velvet, with the royal lions of Aquilonia worked in gold upon his rich jupon, and the crown of Aquilonia shone on his square-cut black mane; but the great sword at his side seemed more natural to him than the regal accouterments. His brow was low and broad, his eyes a volcanic blue that smoldered as if with some inner fire. His dark scarred, almost sinister face was that of a fighting-man and his velvet garments could not conceal the hard, dangerous lines of his limbs.

From "The Hour of the Dragon"
Page 581-2. The Complete Chronicles of CONAN.

King CONAN stands for religious freedom

After being defeated by the army of an evil sorcerer, King CONAN is aided by the secretive followers of the cult of Asura. Whom he refused to persecute while he was king.

CONAN had been told dark tales of hidden where intense smoke drifted up incessantly from black altars were kidnapped humans were sacrificed before a great coiled serpent, whose fearsome head swayed for ever in the haunted shadows.
Persecution caused the followers of Asura to hide their temples with cunning art, and to veil their rituals in obscurity; and this secrecy, in turn, evoked more monstrous suspicion and tales of evil.
But CONAN's was  the broad tolerance of the barbarian, and he had refused to persecute the followers of Asura or to allow the people to do so on no better evidence than was presented against them, rumours and accusations that could not be proven. "If they are black magicians," he had said, "how will they suffer you to harry them? If they are not, there is no evil in them. Crom's devils! Let men worship what gods they will."

From, "The Hour of the Dragon"
Page 643-4 "The Complete Chronicles of CONAN"

His name is CONAN and no man can stand before him in battle

King CONAN has a fearful reputation amongst his enemies,

Their present king is the most renowned warrior among the western nations. He is an outlander, an adventurer who sized the crown by force during a time of civil strife, strangling King Namedies with his own hands, upon the very throne. His name is CONAN, and no man can stand before him in battle.

From, "The Hour of the Dragon"
Page 581 "The Complete Chronicles of CONAN"

CONAN in black plate mail.

King CONAN stands as the lone survivor of an ambush that saw his host of 5,000 men slaughtered by 30,000. As the victors move in to capture King CONAN, we see a,

...grim iron-clad figure looming among the dead. Before the savage blue eyes blazing murderously from beneath the crested, dented helmet, the boldest shrank. CONAN's dark scarred face was darker yet with passion; his black armour was hacked to tatters and splashed blood; his great sword red to the cross piece.

From "The Scarlet Citadel"
Page 46. "The Complete Chronicles of CONAN"

Splendour is no match for vitality

CONAN is taken prisoner through a combination of ambush, deception and sorcery. He is brought before his gloating, enemies, Tsotha the evil sorcerer, and the silk wearing, divan lounging Kings, Strabonus and Amalrus. They try and impress him with their wealth and opulence, but it is to no avail.

In strong contrast stood CONAN, grim, blood-stained, naked but for a loin-cloth, shackles on his mighty limbs, his blue eyes blazing beneath the tangled black mane that fell over his low broad forehead. He dominated the scene, turning to tinsel the pomp of the conquerors by the sheer vitality of his elemental personality, and the kings in their pride and splendour were aware of it each in his secret heart.

From "The Scarlet Citadel"
Page 49. "The Complete Chronicles of CONAN"

Villains, with naked slave-boys...

CONAN is taken prisoner through a combination of ambush, deception and sorcery. He is brought before his gloating, enemies, Tsotha the evil sorcerer, and the  silk wearing, divan lounging Kings, Strabonus and Amalrus.

In front of him stood Tsotha, and on divans lounged Strabonus and Amalrus in their silks and golds, gleaming with jewels, naked slave-boys beside them pouring wine into cups carved of a single sapphire.

From "The Scarlet Citadel"
Page 49. "The Complete Chronicles of CONAN"

So far in,(About 500 pages) this reference to "naked slave-boys" is the only reference to imply homosexual activity that I've picked up on. There was some lesbian S. and M, but references to homosexuality, other than the subtle one here seem pretty much non-existent so far*.

I think this an instance that brings home how long ago the stories were written, when you read an implication of homosexuality being used to emphasise negative traits in the villains.
 

*Obviously I'm not counting the unavoidable homoerotic aspects of a series of books based entirely on the adventures of a largely shirtless, sun tanned guy that works out a lot! :-)

The First Description of CONAN

King CONAN sits in a richly decorated room.

Behind an ivory, gold-inlaid writing-table sat a man whose broad shoulders and sun-browned skin seemed out of place among those luxuriant surroundings. He seemed more a part of the sun and winds and high places of the outlands. His slightest movement spoke of steel-spring muscles knit to a keen brain with the co-ordination born of a fighting-man.

From "The Phoenix on the Sword"
Page 25-6 "The complete Chronicles of CONAN"

Where was CONAN from?

CONAN King of Aquilonia faces defeat after being lured into a trap,

In this stress all the venner of civilazation had faded; it was a barbarian who faced his conquerors. CONAN was a Cimmerian by birth, one of those fierce moody hillmen who dwelt in their gloomy, cloudy land in the north. His saga which led him to the throne of Aquilonia, was the basis for a whole cycle of hero-tales.

From "The Scarlet Citadel"
Page 46. "The Complete Chronicles of CONAN"

There's Nothing quite like slaying to build up a thirst.

After beating of a group of 20 attackers and some sort of demon thing, a wounded King CONAN, sits down to recover,

"Wine!" gasped the king from the couch where they had lain him. They put a goblet to his bloody lips and drank like a man half dead with thirst.
"Good!" he grunted, falling back, "Slaying is cursed dry work."
They had staunched the flow of blood, and they innate vitality of the barbarian was asserting itself.

You can't fault a guy for liking his wine :-)

From "The Phoenix on the Sword"
Page 41 "The complete Chronicles of CONAN"

Artwork displayed with the kind permission of the artist, Nicolas Bournay.

Please check out his web page HERE for more of his work.

The First mention of CROM

King CONAN of Aquilonia is discussing the people of the north with his adviser Prospero, he says of them,

Their gods are CROM and his dark race, who rule over a sunless place of everlasting mist, which is the world of the dead.

I'm curious to see how CROM evolves through the stories, since apart from his use as an expletive, he's not getting mentioned very much so far.
But hey, now I play a waiting game!

From "The Phoenix on the Sword"
Page 29 "The complete Chronicles of CONAN"

CONAN on the importance of the arts.

King CONAN of Aquilonia recognises the value and longevity of art. When an adviser tells him he should hang Rinaldo, an artist whose songs are rowsing the people agianst King CONAN, he replies,

...he's beyond my reach. A great poet is greater than any king. His songs are mightier than my scepter; for he has ripped the heart from my chest when he chose to sing for me. I shall die and be forgotten, but Rinaldo's songs will live for ever.

 From "The Phoenix on the Sword"
Page 28 "The Complete Chronicles of CONAN

 I was quite surprised to read this passage, perhaps unfairly, because CONAN is always described as being intelligent. He sees the futility of trying to censor the arts, but it all get's put in perspective a few page turns later when CONAN kills Renaldo,  albeit reluctantly,

"Rinaldo!" his voice was strident with desperate urgency. "Back!" I would not slay you-"
"Die, tyrant!" screamed the mad minstrel, hurling himself headlong on the king. CONAN delayed the blow he was loth to deliver, until it was too late. Only when he felt the bite of steel in is unprotected side did he strike, in a frenzy of blind desperation.
Ronaldo dropped with his skull shattered...

  From "The Phoenix on the Sword"
Page 38 "The Complete Chronicles of CONAN.