Conan chronologies
Conan Chronologies have been prepared by a variety of people from the 1930s onward to provide a timeline into which to fit the numerous Conan the Barbarian stories by Robert E. Howard and later writers.
A completely consistent timeline that would accommodate every existing Conan story is impossible for several reasons. These include (a) errors that crept into the earliest chronologies, (b) subsequent disregard by the early chronologists of chronological evidence in later-discovered Conan material contrary to the existing schemes, (c) similar disregard for this contrary evidence in the writing of much post-Howard Conan material, and (d) disregard of both the existing chronologies and chronological information established in previous stories by Howard and others in the writing of other post-Howard Conan material.
The following are the major schemes that have been advanced over the years, with their strengths and weaknesses.
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[edit] Miller/Clark/de Camp chronology
A Probable Outline of Conan's Career (1936), completed during Howard's lifetime by P. Schuyler Miller and John D. Clark, was said by Howard to follow his vision "pretty closely." The strongest point in favor of this chronology is the affirmation by Howard. The weaknesses are that it misses a few chronological points in the stories that point to a slightly different arrangement, and it does not cover all Conan stories by Howard, having been compiled before the entire corpus was published. It naturally omits all post-Howard writings. All of these weaknesses were subsequently rectified, as the Miller/Clark chronology was revised on numerous occasions over the years to take into account newly discovered and newly written material.
Notable among subsequent versions was An Informal Biography of Conan the Cimmerian (1952), a revision by Clark and L. Sprague de Camp used to bridge stories in the first hardcover edition of the Conan stories, published by Gnome Press. With further revisions by de Camp, the chronology performed the same service in the first paperback edition, the publication of which was begun by Lancer Books and completed by Ace Books. While these versions incorporated additional Howard stories that became known after 1936, the placement of these stories could not be vetted by the now-deceased Howard. De Camp's successive revisions incorporated all non-Howard material published through the time of each revision, as well as versions of Howard stories rewritten by de Camp to fit his view of the chronology. His final version of the chronology, Conan the Indestructible (1986), also incorporated the first seven volumes of the series of Conan pastiches published by Tor Books.
As the Miller/Clark/de Camp chronology has essentially been the official one for many years, most post-Howard stories were written in conformity with it. It has been argued that it perpetuates some inaccuracies of the 1936 version and force-fits subsequently discovered Howard stories into its scheme (e.g. "The Black Stranger," in which Howard indicated a new piratical career between Conan's stints as Aquilonian general and king of Aquilonia, but which was rewritten by de Camp to lead directly into Conan's kingship).
[edit] Order (earliest and latest forms)
All stories added after the earliest version are indented.
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[edit] Robert Jordan chronology
A Conan Chronology by Robert Jordan (1987) was the attempt of Conan writer Robert Jordan to create a new Chronology including all Conan material written up to that point, including the first sixteen volumes of the series of Conan pastiches published by Tor Books (although inexplicably omitting the eighth, Conan the Valorous). It was first published in Conan the Defiant, by Steve Perry (Tor Books, 1987). It was heavily influenced by the Miller/Clark/de Camp chronologies, though deviating from them in some respects. Its major strength is its inclusion of almost all existing works published at the time of its compilation. Its weakness is its occasional idiosyncratic departure from the Miller/Clark/de Camp chronology, for which Jordan seldom provided his reasoning.
[edit] Order
[edit] William Galen Gray chronology
Timeline of Conan's Journeys (1997, rev. 2004), was fan William Galen Gray's attempt to create "a chronology of all the stories, both Howard and pastiche." Based on a close reading of all the stories and drawing on the earlier Miller/Clark/de Camp and Jordan chronologies, it represents the ultimate expression of their tradition to date. Gray follows sometimes one of his predecessors and sometimes the other, in each case supporting the story placement adopted, and his occasional departures from both are well-reasoned. The Gray chronology's major strength is its inclusion of all existing works published to date, including all the Tor pastiches. Its weaknesses are those inherent in its tradition, as it can only incorporate the complete corpus of pastiches by perpetuating the chronological scheme according to which they were written. It treats inconsistently four pastiches whose portrayals of Conan's early life contradict those established both by Howard and the Miller/Clark/de Camp tradition. Three of these, the movie adaptations Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer and the John M. Roberts novel Conan the Bold, Gray rejects as apocryphal "legends"; the fourth, Harry Turtledove's Conan of Venarium, he accepts.
[edit] Order
Apocryphal:
[edit] Dale Rippke chronology
Dale Rippke established The Darkstorm Conan Chronology (2003), a completely revised chronology, including only those stories written (or devised) by Howard. The Dark Horse comic series mostly follows this chronology. Its strengths are Rippke's various arguments supporting his story placement, based on the texts as Howard wrote them, which lead him to some of the same conclusions as Marek. Most of his significant differences with Marek come in the middle of their respective efforts. Works completed or revised by other hands and post-Howard works find no place in this chronology, but were not intended to, as the allegedly erroneous assumptions under which they were written preclude their inclusion. Rippke's placement of both “The Frost Giant’s Daughter” and “The God in the Bowl” before “The Tower of the Elephant” has been disputed as being erroneous due to a passage in the letter from Howard to Miller dated March 30, 1936, referring to “The Tower of the Elephant” as Conan’s “debut in print”. Others point to the disappearance and reappearance of Conan's horned helm from story to story.
[edit] Order
[edit] Compared order
[edit] References
- "A Probable Outline of Conan's Career," by P. Schuyler Miller and John D. Clark - a transciption of the original 1938 version
- "Conan the Indestructible," by L. Sprague de Camp - the final 1984 version
- "Conan the Indestructible," by L. Sprague de Camp - another transcription of the final 1984 version
- "The Conan Stories in Chronological Order as of 1989," by Curtis M. Scott (based on Robert Jordan's "A Conan Chronology"), from The GURPS Conan sourcebook, Steve Jackson Games, pp. 111–114
- "The Conan Timeline," by William Galen Gray - a transcription of the 1997 version
- "The Conan Timeline," by William Galen Gray - a transcription of the 2000 version
- "Robert E. Howard - Conan," by Joe Marek - a general discussion of the character. Marek's chronology is set forth in the section "Some Comments On Chronologies In Regards To The Conan Series"
- "The Dark Storm Conan Chronology," by Dale Rippke - a transcription of Rippke's chronology
- The Chronicles Of Conan The Cimmerian," by Amra_the_Lion - Determining the chronological order of Howard's Conan Tales
