World of Orenda

Author notes

“Nos es gauisus quoniam nos es securus”

oachambers

on May 24, 2007

One of my all-time favorite writers is Robert E. Howard, the creator of Conan. If all you know is the Conan of the movies, then you’re doing yourself a disservice. Howard’s writing is filled with primal and lyric imagery, having more in common with Jack London than Robert Jordan. Also, he wrote of more than one larger-than-life hero; Solomon Kane, Bran Mak Morn, King Kull of Atlantis, Steve Costigan, to list a few.

Anyway, back to Conan. Frequently, at the end of one story, Conan has wealth, power, and the girl. Then in the next yarn, Conan has spent all the money, his company of mercenaries has been slaughtered, and the girl has long-since deserted him. Life is transience, it is joyous and grim. Robert E. Howard’s suicide note contained the following verse:
“All fled—all done, so lift me on the pyre;
The feast is over, and the lamps expire.”
-Jordan