Hyborian Age

The Hyborian Age is a phrase used by author Robert E. Howard to refer to a specific epoch in a fictional timeline used for many of the low fantasy tales of his artificial legendry; in particular, the stories of "Conan the Barbarian".

The word "Hyborian" is a transliterated contraction by Howard of the Ancient Greek "hyperborean"," referring to a "barbaric dweller beyond the "boreas" (north wind)." [Harold Lamb, "The March of the Barbarians"; 1940, Country Life Press, ASIN: B000GQ81MM.] Howard stated that the geographical setting of the Hyborian Age is that of our earth, but in a fictional period in the past, circa 14,000 BC to 10,000 BC. [ [http://hyboria.xoth.net/history/hyborian_age.htm Robert E. Howard's "Hyborian Age" essay] adapted by Roy Thomas and Walt Simonson.]

The reasons behind the invention of the Hyborian Age were perhaps commercial: Howard had an intense love for history and historical dramas; however, at the same time, he recognized the difficulties and the time-consuming research needed in maintaining historical accuracy. By conceiving a timeless setting — a "vanished" age — and by carefully choosing names that resembled our past history, Howard avoided the problem of historical anachronisms and the need for lengthy exposition. [Patrice Louinet. "Hyborian Genesis: Part 1", page 434, "The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian"; 2003, Del Rey.]

Although he is not represented in Howard's library, nor alluded to in his papers and correspondence, there is a strong likelihood that Howard's conception of the Hyborian Age originated in Thomas Bulfinch's "The Outline of Mythology" (1913), acting as a catalyst that enabled Howard to "coalesce into a coherent whole his literary aspirations and the strong physical, autobiographical elements underlying the creation of Conan." [Patrice Louinet. "Hyborian Genesis: Part 1", page 434, "The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian"; 2003, Del Rey.] . Paradoxically, Howard had the majority of the pseudo Celtic Hyborian kingdoms immersed in Near Eastern belief systems with the sole exception of Conan, who supposedly a non-Hyborian, swearing names of Celtic deities.

In Howard's artificial legendry, the Hyborian Age is chronologically situated between several eras: "The Pre-Cataclysmic Age" of Kull (circa 20,000 BC) and the onslaught of the Picts (circa 9,500 BC). [ [http://hyboria.xoth.net/history/hyborian_age.htm Robert E. Howard's "Hyborian Age" essay] adapted by Roy Thomas and Walt Simonson.]

The world

The Hyborian Age was devised by author Robert E. Howard as the post-Atlantean setting of his Conan the Cimmerian stories, designed to fit in with Howard's previous and lesser known tales of Kull, which were set in the Thurian Age at the time of Atlantis. The name "Hyborian" is a contraction of the Greek concept of the land of "Hyperborea," literally "Beyond the North Wind." This was a mythical place far to the north that was not cold and where things did not age.

Howard's Hyborian epoch, described in his essay "The Hyborian Age" (most recently republished by Del Rey in "The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian" in 2003), is a mythical time before any civilization known to anthropologists. Its setting is Europe and North Africa (with occasional references to Asia and other continents; e.g. "Mayapan", representing the American continent) – with some curious geological changes somewhat similar to what geologists theorize. They consider that during the Ice Age, Europe was quite different. The Mediterranean Sea formerly dried out intermittently, alternating with floods over the Straits of Gibraltar. Once there was a land-bridge across the English Channel between England and the Low Countries (but not across the Irish Sea) such that the Thames once flowed into a northern extension of the Rhine. And both the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea were once fresh-water lakes, the former (renamed the Ancylus Sea, after a fresh-water clam) covering much of the eastern half of what is now Sweden.

On a map Howard drew conceptualizing the Hyborian Age, his vision of the Mediterranean Sea is also dry. The Nile, which he re-named the River Styx, takes a westward turn at right angles just beyond the Nile Delta, plowing through the mountains so as to be able to reach the Straits of Gibraltar. Although his Black Sea is also dry, his Caspian Sea, which he renames the Vilayet Sea, extends northward to reach the Arctic Ocean, so as to provide a barrier to encapsulate the settings of his stories. Not only are his Baltic Sea and English Channel dry, but most of the North Sea and a vast region to the west, easily including Ireland, are too. Meanwhile, the west coast of Africa on his map lies beneath the sea. There are also a few islands, reminiscent of the Azores.

Etymology

In his fantasy setting of the Hyborian Age, Howard created imaginary kingdoms to which he gave names from a variety of mythological and historical sources. Khitai is his version of China, lying far to the East, Corinthia is his name for a Hellenistic civilization, a name derived from the city of Corinth and reminiscent of the imperial fiefdom of Carinthia in the Middle Ages. Howard imagines the Hyborian Picts to occupy a large area to the northwest. The probable intended correspondences are listed below; notice that the correspondences are sometimes very generalized, and are portrayed by "ahistorical" stereotypes.

ee also

* Conan the Barbarian
* Kull of Atlantis
* Bran Mak Morn
* Robert E. Howard

References

Notes

* Howard, Robert E., "The Hyborian Age," "The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian" (2003).
* de Camp, L. Sprague, Carter, Lin, and Nyberg, Björn (1978). "Hyborian Names." Appendix to "Conan the Swordsman". Toronto: Bantam Books. ISBN 0-553-20582-X.

External links

* [http://hyboria.xoth.net/maps/ Maps of the Hyborian Age]
* [http://www.amrathelion.com/ Conan the Barbarian at AmratheLion.com]