The World of Conan the Barbarian: What you NEED to know (Hyborian Age Essay)

Comments · 626

• MA

  @markuscriticus8278 · 1 year ago

  People forget this was actually the norm with fantasy for a long time, it did not take place in a literal alternate world, but in a mythical pre-history, even Middle-Earth.

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• TH

  @TheManFromWaco · 2 years ago (edited)

  I can&apos;t remember where I read this, but I originally heard Howard&apos;s three &quot;states&quot; of culture were described as Barbarism, Civilization, and Decadence. &nbsp;In cultures in the Barbarism stage, life can be nasty, brutish, and short, but its members also tend to be the most vigorous and daring. Cultures in the Decadence stage may have the most luxury and stability, but tend to slide ever deeper into stagnant, arrogant, apathy- until they become easy pickings for someone (like say, a Barbarian) who doesn&apos;t care about their &quot;rules&quot; and is strong enough to get away with it. Civilization is the most desirable state, where plenty of the old Barbarian energy remains, but it is now governed by reason and morality. The problem with Civilization is that can never seem to escape the trend of &quot;Strong men create good times, good times create weak men&quot; and it eventually slides into Decadence.<br><br>Civilization defeats Barbarism, Barbarism defeats Decadence, Decadence defeats Civilization. Conan, as a super-barbarian wandering an utterly decadent Hyborian world, is basically a human &quot;rock&quot;, while everyone around him is &quot;scissors&quot;.

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• RH

  @Rhondaandjames · 2 years ago

  That was one of the most gripping things about Howards&apos; work. The Hyborian Age was entirely plausible. It made you wonder if he was Imagining his work, or channeling a forgotten History.

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• JO

  @josesosa3337 · 2 years ago

  Pro tip: drawing maps and understanding the flow of history and time will upgrade anyones writing prowess. Knowing where things are on a map will also make events feel natural. Just like real life.👍

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• GR

  @greghersom7925 · 1 year ago

  I remember when I first started reading Conan as a teen; I would be mowing the lawn and wondering if their was ever a great battle that took place here and forgotten by history.

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• RI

  @ride-time · 1 year ago

  For someone so young, I’m amazed by the depth of Howard’s historical and cultural knowledge. It’s almost like he had a looking glass that let him see deep into our collective past. Cataclysms and all.

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• AR

  @Archlyte-Kade · 1 year ago

  The short stories make it feel like a world where the supernatural is possible. Games and comics make it feel like it&apos;s a world where the supernatural is force-fed into every square meter of the world.

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• NI

  @nikkat79 · 2 years ago

  The stages of savagery , barbarianism and civilization was a real anthropological classification system suggested by anthropologist lewis henry morgan and was used as a classification system up until recently

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• LU

  @luduar · 9 months ago

  robert e. howard is my favorite author really like his worldbuilding

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• TY

  @Tyranthraxus78 · 2 years ago

  The MMO “Age of Conan” captures the spirit perfectly. ❤

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• SE

  @seanyb5289 · 1 year ago

  Ngl we need this guy to get unbelievably fucking jacked to live up to his channel name

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• JB

  @JB-1138 · 1 year ago (edited)

  If you&apos;re not aware already look up Doggerland. That&apos;s when Europe had more land mass, before the UK became islands. The UK used to be directly connected to mainland Europe and also Norway. The North Sea and the English channel were once above water. That was less than 10,000 years ago.<br><br>There&apos;s a great map out there somewhere that shows the real Doggerland, but also includes the fictional locations of the Conan universe. <br>It&apos;s really cool.

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