Talk:Hyborian Age

Organization of Page
I organized this discussion page and put everything under appropriate category names Hope there's nothing wrong with that. Spartan198 (talk) 15:32, 30 September 2008 (UTC) Spartan198

Pictish Wilderness-Colonial California Connection
I am interested in finding out what relation the Pictish Wilderness has to do with colonial California. --Kortoso 18:55, 18 July 2005 (UTC)
 * Uh, nothing? The 'pictish wilderness' would be set in Europe.  Name is taken from the Picts.  It has nothing to do with North America.  --Emb021 19:32, 12 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Howard's Picts originated in his equivalent of Northern America ages before the Hyborian Age. They moved to the west and inhabited islands at the time of King Kull. That could be the link they have to Northern America. Furthermore Howard gave an American colonial feeling to the Pictish Wilderness, with Picts more or less inspired by Amerindians and waring against Aquilonia which was trying to settle westward into the Pictish lands. Corriel 11:39, 3 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Howard's borderer Pict stories reference tales of the Old Northwest Territory such as Drums Along the Mohawk and Last of the Mochicans. AusJeb (talk) 23:10, 19 January 2023 (UTC)

Eastern Kingdoms
What about the Eastern kingdoms of the Hyborian Age: Kosala, Kusan, Uttara Kuru? Kusan's name is most likely inspired by the historical Kushan Empire.

These are not mentioned in the original essay, and appeared only in pastiche tales. Kortoso (talk) 18:36, 4 October 2010 (UTC)

Asgard/Vanaheim
Someone changed Asgard to "scandinavian". If Vanaheim is denmark and norway, asgard gotta be sweden. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.231.118.48 (talk) 10:53, 15 November 2007 (UTC)

I reverted Vanaheim and Asgard back to their original descriptions as describing them, as "Scandinavian" seems a rather vague comparison. Spartan198 (talk) 03:35, 2 October 2008 (UTC) Spartan198

Asgard and Vanaheim have been reverted to "Scandinavian". —Preceding unsigned comment added by Wingsforsheeba (talk • contribs) 15:48, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

"Scandinavian" describes numerous countries in northwestern Europe, and REH's Aesir and Vanir are predominantly Viking, which is reminiscent of Dark Age Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. Spartan198 (talk) 16:59, 24 May 2008 (UTC) Spartan198

Scandinavia describes only 3 countries, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. I don't know how to properly sign my post, sorry if that doesn't make me serious. -Wingsforsheeba —Preceding unsigned comment added by Wingsforsheeba (talk • contribs) 17:06, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Again, REH's Aesir and Vanir are a predominantly Viking culture. That's pretty specific. Spartan198 (talk) 17:11, 24 May 2008 (UTC) Spartan198

No one is saying they're not viking. Scandinavian equals "viking", but there's not enough info to draw a line to a specific Scandinavian nationality Wingsforsheeba (talk) 17:13, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Okay, let's compromise, then. Just "Scandinavian" could apply to any point in the history of those countries from the Bronze Age to modern times. Can we settle on "Dark Age Scandinavia"? That would denote specifically the so-called Golden Age of Viking society. Spartan198 (talk) 17:22, 24 May 2008 (UTC) Spartan198

That ok with me. :) Wingsforsheeba (talk) 17:30, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

All right. Glad we could come to even ground. As for the seriousness remark, I'd thought better of it yesterday during our conversation and removed it. That was rude and uncalled for, and I apologize. Spartan198 (talk) 23:59, 25 May 2008 (UTC) Spartan198

Hyborian Age vs Hyboria
Anyone think that it's worth pointing out that "Hyboria" is incorrect? Maybe in the text box of the Hyborian Age map (which uses the word). The recent release of AoC has awakened me to how much I despise that non-REH term. (62.136.99.14 (talk) 12:35, 18 June 2008 (UTC))

Yeah, that's true. REH didn't ever use that specific term. But I gave both map boxes a glance and didn't see it used. Spartan198 (talk) 17:36, 26 June 2008 (UTC) Spartan198

Wait, I found it. I'm changing it to "Hyborian Age", since REH never specified a name for the continent itself. Spartan198 (talk) 17:38, 26 June 2008 (UTC) Spartan198
 * One problem, for me, is that that the actual image of second map says "Hyboria". I thought it might be worthwhile pointing out the mistake in the text. Even with the passing of the Thurian Age, the continent of Thuria remains named as such. :) (84.69.82.159 (talk) 19:43, 14 July 2008 (UTC))

Hyborian Age inspired by the bible?
"Due to the Biblical settings and characterization of the Conan stories, the Bible is also seen as a major inspiration for the barbarisms and politico-cultural sociologies of the majority of the Hyborian peoples." If anyone has a source confirming this, please add it. I'm not meaning to be offensive here, but this sounds an awful lot like vandalism for religious cause. Spartan198 (talk) 15:29, 30 September 2008 (UTC) Spartan198

Okay, I just spoke with REH scholar Rusty Burke via the REH Forum and he confirms there's no source that confirms the above quote, so I'm removing it. Spartan198 (talk) 08:07, 1 October 2008 (UTC) Spartan198

Removal of Lemuria from Hyborian Age kingdoms
I think Lemuria should be removed from the list,as it sank during the cataclysm that destroyed the Thurian civilization,and is henceforth not a Hyborian Age kingdom. This was outlined by REH himself in his essay,making the presence of Lemuria and Mu on numerous maps wrong. Spartan198 (talk) 05:35, 29 March 2008 (UTC) Spartan198

It's been over a month since I suggested removing Lemuria, and since no one seems to object to it, I did. Spartan198 (talk) 11:02, 4 May 2008 (UTC) Spartan198

Typo
Someone changed "legendry" to "legendary". That's incorrect. Those words have two entirely different meanings. I've corrected. Spartan198 (talk) 03:44, 10 October 2008 (UTC) Spartan198

Pseudo Celtic Hyborian Kingdoms?
I have removed the following from the lead: "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." Unless I've misunderstood something, none of the Hyborian kingdoms are pseudo-Celtic. Only the Cimmerians are supposed to be Celts, so there is no paradox. The Hyborians are not really the ancestors of any modern people as they are almost exterminated before modern history. They are generally equivalent to other European nations (eg. Argos=Greece) but not celts. In any case, this statement is unsourced. - AdamBMorgan (talk) 12:32, 18 March 2009 (UTC)

Hybarians are something like Slavs, but it isn't really explained well. 99.236.221.124 (talk) 01:05, 14 February 2010 (UTC)

Nemedia
"Nem" means "silent" or "mute", and the rest is what places are called. So it's "the place of the silent" in translation 99.236.221.124 (talk) 01:05, 14 February 2010 (UTC)

It's from Irish mythology. Seek "Nemed" on Wikipedia. Kortoso (talk) 18:39, 4 October 2010 (UTC)Nemedia might also be based on the legend of the Nemean Lion slain by Heracles. REH borrowed from mythology wherever he could, and that particular myth has a lot to do with Conan himself, since he was called Amra (lion). Thetrellan (talk) 21:53, 17 June 2017 (UTC)

south east europe
seems to be the only part of europe not represented. is this Howard's fault, or an oversight from the wikipedia people? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 27.32.135.162 (talk) 03:46, 21 December 2010 (UTC)

Hyborian Age page confusion rectified
I ran this by an administrator months, if not over a year, ago, and never got a reply, but the pages for the universe and the essay were titled very confusingly, so I've taken it upon myself to act and moved the world to The Hyborian Age (fictional universe) and the essay to The Hyborian Age (essay) so as to alleviate this confusion. If I was out of line doing so, I apologize, but I felt it necessary to take the initiative on this issue myself. Spartan198 (talk) 22:48, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

Requested move

 * The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section. 

The result of the move request was: page moved and the essay too. -- JHunterJ (talk) 02:30, 14 July 2012 (UTC)

The Hyborian Age (fictional universe) → Hyborian Age – Clear primary meaning, the only other article with a similar title is about Howard's essay, which should probably be merged with it. PatGallacher (talk) 19:44, 3 July 2012 (UTC)
 * Comment and  go to different places, they were both renamed at the same time, so the move at the essay also be reverted. ;  ;  -- 70.49.127.65 (talk) 04:45, 4 July 2012 (UTC)
 * Support as primary topic. Merging the essay could be a separate decision.  Kanguole 14:04, 12 July 2012 (UTC)
 * Support per nom. -- Necrothesp (talk) 14:07, 12 July 2012 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Pathenia
I'll like to turn the attention of anyone who has edited this aricle on this topic. There's a very big mass of land in the extreme north of eastern Hyboria called Pathenia surrounded by mountains and it is not mentioned in the etymology table. I've tried done research on many sites including the Conan wiki but nothing ecept an very obiuous fact that it's shape and size matches that of Greenland. But me ain't sure because there is nothing about it's similarity to any country or geographical region provided in any story of Conan. Thanks in advance. SuperNerdMan83 (talk) 10:32, 28 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Added Pathenia to the etymology table since no one was responding. If someone feels it shouldn't have then they can inform me and I will remove it afterwards from the table. SuperNerdMan83 (talk) 04:05, 1 September 2012 (UTC)


 * Is Pathenia mentioned by Howard in The Hyborian Age, or shown on his map, or used in any of his original stories, or is this from a later pastiche? I believe that should be the touchstone in this regard. Kortoso (talk) 17:56, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

Some claim it was mentioned in "The Road of Kings" and "The Flame Knife". The name might be based on Athens and be a contraction of "Pan Athenia", although it seems a strange name for a place deep in the heart of proto-China. But one can hardly argue with either Howard or DeCamp (authors of The Flame Knife), so it's definitely canon.Thetrellan (talk) 01:02, 19 June 2017 (UTC)


 * Many people argue with DeCamp and dispute his contributions to Conan and the Hyborian Age. "Pathenia" does not appear on Howard's maps reprinted in The Coming of Conan (Del Ray). AusJeb (talk) 23:16, 19 January 2023 (UTC)

Modest proposal
The citations for the individual nations are all over the map, so to speak. IMHO, it gives the wrong impression of the organization of this universe.

Information regarding each Hyborian land comes from several sources, and I think it would be good to display that transparently. So for each land, there can be a few different headings, and this might even be a good ordering in importance:

Current content needn't be removed or extensively modified; the entries can simply be sorted according to which area they are addressing. Kortoso (talk) 18:04, 12 August 2013 (UTC)
 * Description in The Hyborian Age.
 * Description in the yarns.
 * Possible origin of name.
 * Geographical placement on the map vis-a-vis modern Europe.


 * Reckon I got most of it sorted out now. Kortoso (talk) 19:45, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

Argument for the Hyborian continent being based on the Arab world and South Asia rather than Europe and North Africa
While there is a general correlation between the nations REH modeled his world after in a general N S E W sense, there is really no geographical resemblance to Europe, most of Asia, or Asia Minor. The Hyborian age appears to be a kind of proto-Africa, India, Arabia. and south Asia. It could be that all the maps of the Hyborian age don't look at all like what REH had in mind, though. But if you can think of Aquilonia as a kind of inland Carthage, then Africa kind of makes makes sense. But not if you get too real about it, because something would be wrong climate wise. Thetrellan (talk) 22:02, 18 June 2017 (UTC)
 * You are confusing the shape of the Hyborian Age continent with that of modern world Africa.--Manfariel (talk) 00:58, 17 July 2018 (UTC)

Vilayet might not relate to the Caspian
Modern interpretations of the Hyborian age model it after Africa and southern Asia, and indeed there was always a resemblance. If you look at one, you see that the Caspian is nowhere to be found, and that the Vilayet looks as it always has on all maps: Like the Red sea, one of the most recognizable features on Earth. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nouprOuzjXU/TQ-vdWA2vNI/AAAAAAAAAhI/Agf5vH_ha0w/s1600/vd_hyborian_age_full.jpg Thetrellan (talk) 22:01, 17 June 2017 (UTC)
 * You are confusing the shape of the Hyborian Age continent with that of modern world Africa.--Manfariel (talk) 01:01, 17 July 2018 (UTC)

About the Styx
Maps of the Hyborian age have always resembled Africa and parts of Asia, more so since video gaming came into play. Modern versions are modeled after that part of the world. If we are to use such a model, though, then the river Styx doesn't demark the future coast of the Mediterranean Sea at all. It would be a now-extinct river that bends Westward right around where the source of the White Nile river currently is located. Clearly it is based on the Nile. REH makes that much plain. Its two axes of movement represent the two source rivers of the Nile. Thetrellan (talk) 21:45, 18 June 2017 (UTC)

Response
I hope you don't mind, but I reorganised the section headers for your arguments, since you had spread reiterations of the same main thesis over three different top-level sections, one of which was crowding into a different section altogether. Anyway. Have you read "The Hyborian Age" essay, or seen Howard's own original maps of the Hyborian world (which are superimposed over the outlines of real-world Europe and North Africa)? Both those sources are explicit that Africa separated from Europe "along the line of cleavage formed by the River Nilus [the Styx] on its westward trend" and that the Vilayet "still later, much reduced in size, was known as the Caspian". Howard made it clear that the Hyborian kingdoms, as well as Cimmeria, the Pictlands and Nordheim, were located on the territory of real-world Europe. One could argue that post-Howard derivations of his work have given Conan's world a more Eastern flavour, but to include that in the article you'd need reliable sources that discuss it.

Dating
I guess Wikipedia talk is probably not the right place to reignite the discussion of when the Hyborian Age would be set but… I have to point out that REH's essay explicitly states it ends with the coming of the glacial period. From the edition I own: “For a short age Pict and Hyrkanian snarled at each other over the ruins of the world they conquered. Then began the glacier ages, and the great Nordic drift. Before the southward-moving ice-fields the northern tribes drifted, driving kindred clans before them.” This starts the last detailed period, during which Hyrkanians are pushed to Asia and Vanir found Egypt for example, ending with the final “cataclism” that would put the Earth in the shape we know. -- Lalo Martins (talk) 15:23, 26 September 2017 (UTC)

Lacking features
The Provinces of Thandara, Conawaga, Oriskonie and Schohira. At least, Conawaga comes likely from Caughnawaga site in NY State, matching Picts to Native Americans, as seen in Conajohara.--Manfariel (talk) 01:17, 17 July 2018 (UTC)

Vendhya - the immemorial nemesis of the earthly empire of the dark gods?
One might wonder how the lemurian slaves,"reduced to svagery", and perhaps the gentile khitanians, after thousands of years suddenly were able to overthrow the evil empire in the far east(perhaps originally a colony from Mu in the eastern ocean?). Apart from political and military power and resources the ancestors of the ruling elite of Stygia no doubt did posess great and terrible magic and ockult knowledge. Did the rebels get aid and support from outside - or had the empire been seriously weakened after a presumably great and lost war or other conflict with an external enemy? Or both these things? In either case ancient, wise, powerful and all in all benign Vendhya seems the likeliest. Perhaps the hyborians were able to overthrow Acheron, another daughter kingdom of Mu, with the same background. As the hyborians have preferred to forget!Or been made to forget! Note the presence of asura-worship, originally from Vendhya since long in the hyborian lands. In the Kull story "The altar and the scorpion" the scorpion is a symbol for good. The one tradition where the scorpion is regarded positively is in originally indian(=Vendhya) buddhism. There the scorpion with its raised stinger is seen as the image of the spirit warrior wielding the sword of truth.Note that it is when archdarkpriest Thuron starts messing with the Girl that the scorpion crawls out from between her breasts and sting him.Also in the Kull-stories a sage and/or prophet with the quasi-hinduistic name Raamaa has much the same role as Empimetreus the sage to the hyborians. The hindu deity Rama was allegedly born in historical Ayodya which also is the name of the capital of Vendhya!!-- Template:Unsigned IP --> — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.130.31.203 (talk) 09:04, 29 March 2019 (UTC)

Negari from 'Solomon Kane must have existed in Conans days
Negari from the Solomon Kane story "Vampire queen of Negari" with an african majority brutally ruled by a white skinned elite worshipping the dark gods with human sacifice dates back to thurian times and may have had its heydays in Conans days. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.198.216.242 (talk) 08:23, 31 March 2019 (UTC)

The devil in iron ,shadows in the moonlight and the empire of the ancestors of Stygias elite.
The shaman who originally defeats Khosatral Khel must have been an agent of the empire in the east of the ancestors of the white-skinned elite of Stygia. Perhaps a daughter kingdom of ancient MU? Note that Khel like Xaltotun of Acheron speaks archaic nemedian. The people that Conan confronts on the island of the iron statues resemble what is usually meant with "Stygians" i.e. the stygians below the white-skinned master race. The youth that they sacrifice must come from this eastern empire. He is obviously a mortal son of one of the Dark gods, perhaps The Great Dark Nameless One himself. Perhaps an ancestor, or at least kinsman of king Ctesphon in Conans days?

Luxur
Luxor is a late name of the necropolis, greek :"City of the dead" of ancient Thebes. Luxur in Stygia is a stronghold of the cult of "the queen of the dead". In Conans world "the nameless gods" or "the nameless ones" is a common label for the dark gods."The great Dark Nameless One" is arguably identical with Skelos, appaerently one, or The, god of death, as many gods of death(Odin for one) also connected with wisdom and learning of the darker kind. In "The hour of the dragon" is spoken of a dead nameless holy city being the center of Stygias religion. Is this perhaps actually Luxur, Holy city of the nameless god of death? The hour of the dragon is one story where it proves out that much of what both the outside world and the people of Stygia believe about Stygia, not least religious matters, is wrong, part camouflage and desinformation on behalf of the ruling elite of Stygia. Luxur is the last stronghold of the white-skinned masterrace and seat of their, rather than Stygias, priest-king. Khemi is in many ways a strong competitor to Luxur.(Khemet was the name of the ancient egyptians themselves of their country)Did Conan succeed in plundering Khemi because this did sit well with the rulers at Luxur? As said: Why sacrifice or risk anything yourself if you can have someone else to do the job for you? Luxur being "more ancient"than Khemi should be understood in the light of that in Conans world great age is as a rule something ominous! This also for Stygia being more ancient than Acheron. Even Xaltotun naturally speaks of "dark Stygia"! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.130.31.203 (talk) 08:09, 18 June 2019 (UTC)

Thugra Khotan
Tughra is the persian word for "autograph", especially the sacred autograph of the ruler. The most known tughra is that of the ottoman sultans. They had a way of writing it so that it looked much the same no matter the name. Khotan is the name of a tributary to, and creating,the river Tarim = the name of the perhaps most important turanian deity. Erlik, another, and perhaps in principle supreme, turanian deity is historically a mongolian lord of death and darkness, much like persian Ahriman or mesopotamian Nergal. Note that the last king of Persia before the islamic conquest was named Yazdegerd III(!) residing in the capital Ctesiphon. Ctesphon is the name of the king of Stygia, motherland of Kutchemes and Acheron.Interestingly "Tarim" is an anagram of "Mitra" - and vice versa! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.130.31.203 (talk) 09:10, 3 October 2019 (UTC)

Borri - the real Mitra?
The hyborians did worship the god Borri before the destruction of Acheron. Icelandic 19th century scholar Finnur Magnusson did connect the name Borri to Borz, the name of a mountain in Persia, homeland of the god Mitra,and this ones- alleged!- father Ahura(Asura) Mazda. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.198.216.242 (talk) 11:08, 9 November 2019 (UTC)

Etymology Section
This section, while trying to reference de Camp and Carter, has a LOT of original research and is just not reliable in general. For instance, the "Acheron" entry implies it references the Roman Empire, while the actual appendix in Conan the Swordsman mentions nothing of the sort; it seems to imply a connection to Stygians instead. This also seems to be the case for a lot of entries in the table, so I wouldn't trust it at all. For anyone interested, I recommend acquiring Conan the Swordsman yourself and checking the appendix at the end. It lists a lot more concepts and interesting terms, and it also references which source each of them originates from.--191.176.103.86 (talk) 01:47, 19 January 2020 (UTC)

A royal attribute was an attribute of dark priests at work.
Note that when darkpriest Orastes resurrects Xaltotun in The hour of the dragon with an incantation to Skelos, old when Atlantis was young( and hence older than Stygia or Set-worship) he wears an ermine-brimmed cloak, a traditional royal attribute!¨¨¨¨ — Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.198.216.242 (talk) 10:30, 16 February 2020 (UTC)

"Commoria" = "Cimmeria"
During the Thurian age the atlanteans did establish colonies and daughter-kingdoms on the thurian continent. It is hardly a coincidence that "Commoria" in Kulls days so resemble "Cimmeria" in Conans days. The atlanteans did wage war against the city-state spoken of in "The altar and the scorpion". Perhaps archdarkpriest Thuron is of atlantean descent. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.198.216.242 (talk) 08:29, 1 March 2020 (UTC)

Mu and Kaa-u
In the Kull-story "By this axe I rule" is spoken of the nations Mu and Kaa-u. Mu, the Atlantis of the Pacific, was created by british colonial-officer gone american writer John Churchward. What Churchward says about Mu sounds like the continent in the eastern ocean from where the master-race minded white elite of Stygia stem. "Kaa" is an indian word for Python.In Rudyard Kiplings "The jungle book" the python Kaa is a friend of Mowgli and a good guy. This with Kaa as an enemy and a villain is an odd idea of Disneys!Kaa-u is probably an old- or the real!- name of Vendhya. Note "Kaa" in the prase "Ka naama Kaa lajerama". The serpent men are probably based on the Nagas, wise- and usually good!- serpent beings from indian(= Vendhyan)lore. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.213.119.32 (talk) 10:10, 31 October 2020 (UTC)

Vathelos the blind
Vathelos the blind was the author of "The book of Skelos", the "Bible" of maltheists and necromancers in Conans world. The blind seer Tiresias in greek mythology was strongly connected with Hades, The realm of the dead. As was the land of "Cimmeria". Note The Odyssey where Odysseus visits Cimmeria and the gates of Hades in order to confer with the shade of Tiresias. Luxur, throne city of Stygia, lies roughly where a volcanic mountain called Watellen lies in real S.Algeria. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.79.245.252 (talk) 11:09, 9 February 2021 (UTC)