The Purple Heart of Erlik

by Robert E. Howard

The Purple Heart of Erlik is a short story by Robert Ervin Howard. Robert Ervin Howard (January 22, 1906 – June 11, 1936) was an American author who wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. He is well known for his character Conan the Barbarian and is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre. Howard was born and raised in the state of Texas. He spent most of his life in the town of Cross Plains with some time spent in nearby Brownwood. A bookish and intellectual child, he was also a fan of boxing and spent some time in his late teens bodybuilding, eventually taking up amateur boxing. From the age of nine he dreamed of becoming a writer of adventure fiction but did not have real success until he was 23. Thereafter, until his death at the age of 30 by suicide, Howard's writings were published in a wide selection of magazines, journals, and newspapers, and he had become successful in several genres. Although a Conan novel was nearly published into a book in 1934, his stories never appeared in book form during his lifetime. The main outlet for his stories was in the pulp magazine Weird Tales. Howard’s suicide and the circumstances surrounding it have led to varied speculation about his mental health. His mother had been ill with tuberculosis his entire life, and upon learning that she had entered a coma from which she was not expected to wake, he walked out to his car and shot himself in the head. In the pages of the Depression-era pulp magazine Weird Tales, Howard created Conan the Barbarian, a character whose cultural impact has been compared to such icons as Tarzan, Count Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, Batman, and James Bond. With Conan and his other heroes, Howard created the genre now known as sword and sorcery, spawning many imitators and giving him a large influence in the fantasy field. Howard remains a highly read author, with his best works still reprinted. Howard spent his late teens working odd jobs around Cross Plains; all of which he hated. In 1924, Howard returned to Brownwood to take a stenography course at Howard Payne College, this time boarding with his friend Lindsey Tyson instead of his mother. Howard would have preferred a literary course but was not allowed to take one for some reason. Biographer Mark Finn suggests that his father refused to pay for such a non-vocational education. In the week of Thanksgiving that year, and after years of rejection slips and near acceptances, he finally sold a short caveman tale titled "Spear and Fang", which netted him the sum of $16 and introduced him to the readers of a struggling pulp called Weird Tales. Now that his career in fiction had begun, Howard dropped out of Howard Payne College at the end of the semester and returned to Cross Plains. Shortly afterwards, he received notice that another story, "The Hyena," had been accepted by Weird Tales. During the same period, Howard made his first attempt to write a novel, a loosely autobiographical book modeled on Jack London's Martin Eden and titled Post Oaks & Sand Roughs. The book was otherwise of middling quality and was never published in the author's lifetime but it is of interest to Howard scholars for the personal information it contains. Howard's alter ego in this novel is Steve Costigan, a name he would use more than once in the future. The novel was finished in 1928 but not published until long after his death.

36 pages, Paperback

First published August 9, 2014

About the author

Robert Ervin Howard was an American pulp writer of fantasy, horror, historical adventure, boxing, western, and detective fiction. Howard wrote "over three-hundred stories and seven-hundred poems of raw power and unbridled emotion" and is especially noted for his memorable depictions of "a sombre universe of swashbuckling adventure and darkling horror."

He is well known for having created—in the pages of the legendary Depression-era pulp magazine Weird Tales—the character Conan the Cimmerian, a.k.a. Conan the Barbarian, a literary icon whose pop-culture imprint can only be compared to such icons as Tarzan of the Apes, Count Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, and James Bond.

—Wikipedia

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Clint · Rating 2 out of 5]

REH is my favorite author, but he wrote for money, hands down. This is one of his “spicy” stories that he wrote when “splashing the field” looking for pulps, any pulps, that would publish his stuff.

I’ve read so much REH, I can tell when the story had him and when he was simply punching the time card. This is one of the later.

The protagonist Arline is in a tight spot. A despotic Baron is her master. At his demand, she must impersonate a Lady Elizabeth and steal the Purple Heart of Erlik from the diabolical Woon Yeun.

Enter Wild Bill Clanton, a gunslinging adventurer with hot lust for Arline. Arline is nearly raped by Clanton, then is raped by Woon Yeun. After teaming up with Wild Bill and getting the bad guys, she swoons for Clanton.

Not REH at his best. This short story was adapted into a Conan tale by Roy Thomas. It appeared in Conan the Barbarian issue 42 of the original Marvel Comics run. In its original form it can be found in the Ace Fantasy Anthology _The She-Devil_ and in the Robert E Howard Foundation Press book _Spicy Adventures_.

EDIT: Arline’s last name is Ellis. This is only an oddity, Novalyne Price’s second husband would give her the surname Ellis. It would be neat to think “Arline Ellis” was a nod towards her; however, REH’s suicide precludes that. Also of interest, REH wrote this spicy under the byline Sam Walser.

[Andrew Hale · Rating 2 out of 5]

"She needed his strength—needed a man who would fight for her."
This line would be more potent if not for some flaws of the spicey genre. Even to this day, men and women eat sensual stories up as much as in Howard's time, if not more, and even find a thrill with aggressive steamy beaus or sultry quasi-sadist beauties. Personally, I find no relation to what basically amounts to rape in our main character's initial actions. It's a weird genre to say the least. Outside of that, Howard is still Howard and gives a good tale of subterfuge, sinister characters, and obsession over either false gods or treasure. Or in this case, obsession also over sex. If not for the spicey aggression, I would like this story more. Thank god this wasn't his forte.

While in Canton, Arline Ellis seeks thrills at the very important Japanese official Baron Takayami. Unfortunately, a Russian spy, acting as Takayami's servant, murders the official and steals important international documents, a catalyst to calls for war. Acquaintance of Takayami, Duke Tremayne, darling of the adventure world, sees Arline on the scene and blackmails her into stealing the Heart of Erlik from sinister (and highly perverted) Mongolian Chinese merchant, Woon Yuen. Beore posing as millionaire collector Lady Elizabeth Willoughby, Arline runs afoul of Wild Bill Clanton, a bullish brute of a man with a bit too much horny-over-common-sense going on. Filth and chaos ensue as Arline infiltrates the antique shop, with Bill fortunately and unfortunately hot on her trail.

[Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Shanghai a corrupt lord blackmails a woman into attempting to steal a jewel. Meh

[Bill Ramsell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Does not work well today.