- Black Colossus
Infobox short story
name = Black Colossus
title_orig = Black Colossus| translator =
author =Robert E. Howard
country = USA
language = English
series =Conan the Cimmerian
genre =Fantasy
published_in = USA
publication_type =Pulp magazine
publisher =Weird Tales
media_type =
pub_date = 1933
english_pub_date =
preceded_by =
followed_by ="Black Colossus" is one of the original short stories starring the fictional
sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian, written by American authorRobert E. Howard and first published in "Weird Tales " magazine, June 1933. [http://www.howardworks.com/storyb.htm#blac5 Publication history of "Black Colossus"] retrieved23 December 2007 ] Howard earned $130 for the sale of this story. [ [http://www.rehupa.com/fiction_timeline.htm#1933 REHupa Fiction Timeline] retrieved23 December 2007 ]It is set in the pseudo-historical
Hyborian Age and concerns Conan leading the demoralized army of Khoraja against an evil sorcerer named Nathok, "the Veiled One."This story formed part of the basis for the later Conan novel, "
The Hour of the Dragon ".Plot overview
cquote2|"They were rumors from the desert that lies east of Stygia, far south of the Kothian hills. A new prophet had risen among the nomads. Men spoke of tribal war, of a gathering of vultures in the southeast, and a terrible leader who led his swiftly increasing hordes to victory. The Stygians, ever a menace to the northern nations, were apparently not connected with this movement; for they were massing armies on their eastern borders and their priests were making magic to fight that of the desert sorcerer, whom men called Natohk, the Veiled One; for his features were always masked..."
Robert E. Howard |"Black Colossus"A powerful wizard named Thugra Kotan is awoken from his three-thousand year sleep by an audacious yet unlucky Zamoran thief named Shevatas (he does not survive the experience). Thugra wakes with dreams of world domination. He assumes the name Natohk, the Veiled One, gathers an army of desert tribes and sets out to conquer the Hyborian nations. However, the tiny kingdom of Khoraja stands in his way, a country presently ruled by the lithesome Yasmela, sister of the king, who is himself a captive of neighbouring Ophir. In dread of Natohk's pending invasion, Yasmela turns for advice to the nigh-forgotten god of her ancestors, Mitra, and is told to venture into the streets and hand over the defense of her kingdom to the first man she meets.
Fatefully, the first man she encounters is Conan the Cimmerian. Conan already has a position in her army, but now he is given full command, much to the chagrin of the other more cultured commanders. Conan demonstrates skill in tactics but his efforts are undermined by arrogant officers below him who fall victim to Natohk's magic. Meanwhile, the wizard himself has made it clear conquering the world isn't the only thing on his agenda: He also desires the lovely Yasmela for himself.
The story climaxes with a large battle. Conan defeats Natohk's army and Natohk makes a last attempt to snatch Yasmela. Conan gives chase and goes mano-a-spello with the wizard in the ruins of a Stygian temple.
Publication history
"Black Colossus" was first published in "
Weird Tales ", June 1933.A version of the story that was edited by
L. Sprague de Camp was first published in the collection "Conan the Barbarian" (Gnome Press , 1954). It was then republished in several collections entitled "Conan the Freebooter " (Lancer Books , 1968; Sphere, 1974; Prestige, 1977; Ace, 1981) and "The Conan Chronicles" Volume 1 (Sphere, 1989).The original version was first republished in "Black Colossus" (Grant, 1979). It has more recently been published in the collections "The Conan Chronicles Volume 1: The People of the Black Circle" (
Gollancz , 2000), "" (Del Rey, 2003), "The Weird Writings of Robert E. Howard" Volume 1 (Girasol Collectables , 2006), "The Complete Chronicles of Conan" (Gollancz, 2006), "Valley of the Worm" (Wildside Press , 2006) and "Three Tales of Conan the Barabrian" (Echo Library, 2007).An Italian translation was published in "L'Era di Conan" (Oscar fantasy Gennaio, 1989).
Adaptations
The story was adapted in comics form in Savage Sword of Conan #2.
References
External links
* [http://conan.wikia.com/wiki/Black_Colossus Conan wiki • Black Colossus] • Synopsis, characters, locations, and publishing history
* [http://www.amrathelion.com/ Conan the Barbarian at AmratheLion.com]
* [http://www.conan.com/ Conan.com: The Official Website]
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