The Phoenix on the Sword

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An interior Weird Tales illustration sketched by Jayem Wilcox in 1932. The illustration depicts a scene from Robert E. Howard's The Phoenix on the Sword. The original short story was written by Robert E. Howard and first appeared in the December 1932 issue of Weird Tales magazine.
An interior Weird Tales illustration sketched by Jayem Wilcox in 1932. The illustration depicts a scene from Robert E. Howard's The Phoenix on the Sword.

The original short story was written by Robert E. Howard and first appeared in the December 1932 issue of Weird Tales magazine.

"The Phoenix on the Sword" is one of the original short stories about Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard and first published in Weird Tales magazine December 1932. The tale was a rewrite of the unpublished Kull story, "By This Axe I Rule," with long passages being identical word for word. The Conan version of the story was republished in the collections King Conan (Gnome Press, 1953) and Conan the Usurper (Lancer Books, 1967). It has most recently been republished in the collections The Conan Chronicles Volume 2: The Hour of the Dragon (Gollancz, 2001) and Conan of Cimmeria: Volume One (1932-1933) (Del Rey, 2003). It is set in the pseudo-historical Hyborian Age and details Conan foiling a nefarious plot to unseat him as king of Aquilonia.

“ "Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandalled feet..." ”
 
— Robert E. Howard, "The Phoenix on the Sword"

"The Phoenix on the Sword" begins with a middle-aged Conan of Cimmeria attempting to govern the turbulent kingdom of Aquilonia.

Conan has recently seized the bloody crown of Aquilonia from King Numedides whom he strangled upon his throne; however, things have not gone well, as Conan is more suited to swinging a broadsword than to signing official documents with a stylus. The people of Aquilonia, who originally welcomed Conan as their liberator from Numedides' tyranny, have gradually turned against him due to his foreign Cimmerian blood. They have built a statue to Numedides' memory in the temple of Mitra, and people burn incense before it, hailing it as the holy effigy of a saintly monarch who was done to death by a red-handed barbarian.

Desiring to give the Aquilonian crown to someone of royal blood, a daring band known as the Rebel Four is formed consisting of Volmana, the dwarfish count of Karaban; Gromel, the giant commander of the Black Legion; Dion, the fat baron of Attalus; Rinaldo, the hare-brained minstrel. The Rebel Four recruit the services of a southern outlaw named Ascalante. But, in secret, Ascalante is merely using the rebels to gain the crown of Aquilonia for himself.

At the same time, Ascalante has a unique slave named Thoth-Amon, formerly a powerful Stygian wizard, who has fallen on hard times since he lost a magic ring which was the source of his power. A thief had stolen the ring from Thoth-Amon and, thus, broken his power in Stygia. The other magicians rose up to slay him, and he fled. Disguised as a camel-driver, he travelled in a cavaran in the land of Koth, where Ascalante's reavers fell upon them. All in the caravan were slain except for Thoth-Amon who saved his life by revealing his identity to Ascalante and swearing to serve him.

Overall, the story centers around the plot of the Rebel Four to assassinate King Conan when he is unprepared and defenseless. However, two unforeseen events occur: Conan is forewarned of the impending coup d'etat by Epemitreus the Sage who marks Conan's sword with a mythical phoenix representing Mitra, a Hyborian god. Asynchronously, Thoth-Amon recovers his lost ring of power and unleashes a fanged, ape-like demon that unintentionally foils the assassination attempt on Conan's life by the Rebel Four then slays Ascalante. Conan then uses his enchanted sword to slay the demon.

The story was adapted by Roy Thomas in Conan Annual #2.

Wikisource has original text related to this article:
v • d • e
Conan the Barbarian
Original stories by
Robert E. Howard		 Beyond the Black River • Black Colossus • The Black Stranger • Cimmeria • The Devil in Iron • Drums of Tombalku • The Frost Giant's Daughter • The God in the Bowl • The Hall of the Dead • The Hand of Nergal • The Hour of the Dragon • Iron Shadows in the Moon • Jewels of Gwahlur • The People of the Black Circle • The Phoenix on the Sword • The Pool of the Black One • Queen of the Black Coast • Red Nails • Rogues in the House • The Scarlet Citadel • Shadows in Zamboula • The Snout in the Dark • The Tower of the Elephant • The Vale of Lost Women • A Witch Shall be Born • Wolves Beyond the Border • Xuthal of the Dusk
Collections Black Colossus • The Bloody Crown of Conan • The Coming of Conan • The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian • The Complete Chronicles of Conan • Conan • The Conan Chronicles • The Conan Chronicles, 1 • The Conan Chronicles 2 • The Conan Chronicles, 2 • Conan of Aquilonia • Conan of Cimmeria • Conan the Adventurer • Conan the Avenger • Conan the Barbarian • Conan the Freebooter • Conan the Swordsman • Conan the Usurper • Conan the Wanderer • Conan the Warrior • The Conquering Sword of Conan • The Devil in Iron • The Essential Conan • Jewels of Gwahlur • King Conan • The People of the Black Circle • Pool of the Black One • Queen of the Black Coast • Red Nails • Rogues in the House • Sagas of Conan • The Sword of Conan • Tales of Conan • The Tower of the Elephant • The Treasure of Tranicos
Novels Conan and the Amazon • Conan and the Emerald Lotus • Conan and the Death Lord of Thanza • Conan and the Gods of the Mountain • Conan and The Grim Grey God • Conan and the Manhunters • Conan and the Mists of Doom • Conan and the Shaman's Curse • Conan and the Sorcerer • Conan and the Spider God • Conan and the Treasure of Python • Conan at the Demon's Gate • Conan, Lord of the Black River • Conan of the Isles • Conan of the Red Brotherhood • Conan of Venarium • Conan, Scourge of the Bloody Coast • Conan the Barbarian • Conan the Bold • Conan the Buccaneer • Conan the Champion • Conan the Defender • Conan the Defiant • Conan the Destroyer • Conan the Fearless • Conan the Formidable • Conan the Freelance • Conan the Gladiator • Conan the Great • Conan the Guardian • Conan the Hero • Conan the Hunter • Conan the Indomitable • Conan the Invincible • Conan the Liberator • Conan the Magnificent • Conan the Marauder • Conan the Mercenary • Conan the Outcast • Conan the Raider • Conan the Rebel • Conan the Relentless • Conan the Renegade • Conan the Rogue • Conan the Savage • Conan the Triumphant • Conan the Unconquered • Conan the Valiant • Conan the Valorous • Conan the Victorious • Conan the Warlord • The Hour of the Dragon • The Return of Conan • The Road of Kings • The Sword of Skelos
Scholarship The Blade of Conan • The Conan Grimoire • The Conan Reader • The Conan Swordbook • The Spell of Conan
Authors Robert E. Howard • Poul Anderson • Leonard Carpenter • Lin Carter • L. Sprague de Camp • Roland J. Green • John C. Hocking • Robert Jordan • Sean A. Moore • Björn Nyberg • Andrew J. Offutt • Steve Perry • John Maddox Roberts • Roy Thomas • Harry Turtledove • Karl Edward Wagner
Other media Conan the Adventurer (animated series) • Conan and the Young Warriors • Conan the Adventurer (TV series) • Conan (comics) • Conan (Dark Horse comic) • Conan the Barbarian (film) • Conan the Destroyer • Red Sonja (film)
Characters Bêlit • Conan the Barbarian • Crom • Kulan Gath • Red Sonja • Serpent Men • Set • Thoth-Amon • Thulsa Doom • Valeria • Vammatar • Xaltotun • Zenobia
Other Conan (books) • Conan Chronologies • Hyborian Age • The Hyborian Age • The Shadow of the Vulture • Aquilonia • Cimmeria • Stygia
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phoenix_on_the_Sword"
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