Robert E. Howard Readers discussion
Howard's Themes
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The Strength of the Strong
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Aye, Esau Cairn. He "...was, in short, a freak - a man whose physical body and mental bent leaned back to the primordial." With a clenched fist he broke Boss "...Blaine's skull like an eggshell and stretched him lifeless on the floor." Well, good call, Jim. I did mention Esau Cairn as a runner-up for REH's strongest character; but, when you get down to it, Conan and Cairn might tie for first. Certainly the characters are very similiar, and I may even go as far as saying that Esau is the stronger and tougher of the two... maybe. I hesitate in my answer only because I haven't read "Almuric" in a coon's age.
Conan is in fantasy world and deals with supernatural monsters with strength above humans. He needs more than human strength even if he isnt superhuman like a superhero.Francis. X Gordon is more like great fighter. A warrior, fighter who lives on his skills and not his strength.
Strongest i would choose Solomon Kane of the heroes, he feels like immovable object.
Solomon Kane as Howard's strongest character? How do you validate that claim, Mohammed? Can you show it to be true? I confess, I have not read any Solomon Kane tales in a long while; nevertheless, if there is a part in those stories where Kane exhibits a burliness greater than Conan's or Esau Cairn's, I think I would have marked it. As much as I remember, Solomon Kane is one REH character not particularly noted for his exemplary physical strength.
John Norwald from the historical adventure "The Lion of Tiberias" might also be in the running. Set in the real world, not a fantastic one, Howard manages to make a most fantastic strength believable. Below are a few, very memorable paragraphs from the end of the story. If you haven't read it, don't read this.
(view spoiler)
You can find the entire story here:
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Lio...
BTW, great topic, Ó Ruairc. It's fun thinking through Howard's stories for examples of strength.
Ó Ruairc wrote: "Solomon Kane as Howard's strongest character? How do you validate that claim, Mohammed? Can you show it to be true? I confess, I have not read any Solomon Kane tales in a long while; nevertheless,..."He like Conan fights supernatural beings with strength too. You dont see him break bull necks because he is more toned down.
Strength plus ability i would choose him above Conan. He treats vampires and the like things he can hit to death.
I can compare him to Conan in the way they use strength in the stories. Red Shadows, Hills of the dead show him superhuman beings that he can fight with superhuman strength. Red Shadows he fights in that african village a much stronger foe with strength.
I have not read Cairn book so i cant compare to him.
Thanks, Jim. You know, "The Lion of Tiberias" is one of the few Howard tales I have yet to read. I went and perused your 'spoiler' alert; I couldn't help myself. John Norwald is certainly a bastion of strength. Indeed, his physical endowment seemingly parallels Conan's and Esau Cairn's... "As he felt the inhuman strength of his attacker...he might have been wrenching at a steel bar welded to his throat," etc, etc, etc...I understand your fondness for Solomon Kane, Mohammed, and I don't doubt Kane is a physically powerful character. The point is, all of Howard's protagonists are a mass of "steel springs and rawhide." I'm merely trying to determine which REH hero is the strongest, and the way to do that is to look, not at Howard's physical description of them, but at the feats of strength he has them perform. Conan can break a man's bone just by squeezing the fellow's arm; Esau Cairn can crush a man's skull with one blow from his fist; the massed muscles of John Norwald's arm are strong enough to snap a man's wrist in two. In short, if REH has Solomon Kane executing such phenomenal displays of strength, I want to hear about it.
Conan and Kane are very similar in strength feats that i have read when they face superhuman foes. Kane too doesnt have much else than his strength. Similar type S&S stories after all just different settings. Just because Kane doesnt fight humans who are easy to break doesnt mean he is weaker.The proof is in the stories. I would remember if i saw Conan doing something with more strenght. Normal human bones would be as easy for Kane.
The thing is most of his S&S heroes are similar in looks but also their ability, strengths.
I never had the impression that Kane, Bran, or most of Howard's characters were as strong as Conan, with a few exceptions. They were definitely all as tough, but most weren't as big & brawny. A lot were rangy & some were kind of short, like Bran Mak Morn.In strength, Norwald was pretty much a one-trick pony, so he might have been as strong as Conan in that one instance, but that was about it. I think Cairn was every bit as strong, though. Kull, probably, but it's tough to tell as there aren't that many stories.
That's another point, the amount of stories & situations we get to see any of these heroes in. Some were only in one or two while Conan had 20 or so. That tends to build him up a lot more than the others. He was a fairly mature character of Howard's & had to keep topping himself.
Of all the scenes that prove Conan's strength, the one I come back to is in A Witch Shall Be Born.Spoiler Alert here.
http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0600...
Conan has been crucified. Nails through his hands and feet. And yet he still can slay.
In his dulled ears sounded the louder beat of wings. Lifting his head he watched with the burning glare of a wolf the shadows wheeling above him. He knew that his shouts would frighten them away no longer. One dipped--dipped--lower and lower. Conan drew his head back as far as he could, waiting with terrible patience. The vulture swept in with a swift roar of wings. Its beak flashed down, ripping the skin on Conan's chin as he jerked his head aside; then before the bird could flash away, Conan's head lunged forward on his mighty neck muscles, and his teeth, snapping like those of a wolf, locked on the bare, wattled neck.
Instantly the vulture exploded into squawking, flapping hysteria. Its thrashing wings blinded the man, and its talons ripped his chest. But grimly he hung on, the muscles starting out in lumps on his jaws. And the scavenger's neck bones crunched between those powerful teeth. With a spasmodic flutter the bird hung limp. Conan let go, spat blood from his mouth. The other vultures, terrified by the fate of their companion, were in full flight to a distant tree, where they perched like black demons in conclave.
Ferocious triumph surged through Conan's numbed brain. Life beat strongly and savagely through his veins. He could still deal death; he still lived. Every twinge of sensation, even of agony, was a negation of death.
"By Mitra!" Either a voice spoke, or he suffered from hallucination. "In all my life I have never seen such a thing!"
Shaking the sweat and blood from his eyes, Conan saw four horsemen sitting their steeds in the twilight and staring up at him.
And not only that ... he is given a chance at life though not truly rescued when they see if he can survive the fall when the crucifix is chopped at the base. And to top that, they don't give him water and make him ride ten miles ... after being crucified.
THAT is bad-assed strength, my friends.
Yes! An excellent example, John. And If I remember a-right, once that henchman pried out the nails from Conan's hands, the Cimmerian shoved the soldier's ass to the ground then proceeded to pry out the nails pinning his feet himself. Too, after Conan mounted that horse, Olgerd whipped the beast in order to make it buck, but the Cimmerian, using his almighty bicep muscles, brought the horse to heal - almost dislocating the animal's jaw in the process. Awesome! 'The Tree of Death' chapter in "A Witch Shall Be Born" epitomizes Conan's raw, elemental power, and, in my opinion, it is some of Howard's finest writing. They really fugged that scene up in the film, "Conan the Barbarian," by the way. Fuggin' movies!But Jim made a good point about Conan's extraordinary feats of strength and endurance. In truth, Howard did write more stories about Conan than any of his other heroes; as such, it stands to reason why the character of the Cimmerian is able to exhibit his physical prowess more.
For all of that, I have another thought as to why REH might have made some of his characters physically mightier than the others. As every fan knows, Howard had a great passion for the western frontier - not only for the frontier itself, but for the wild and woolly men who fought in it. Keeping that in mind, observe the lines Conan utters to Baal-Pteor just before he snaps the latter's spine:
"You fool!" he all but whispered. "I think you never saw a man from the WEST before. Did you deem yourself strong..."
Next, observe the lines Conan says to Olgerd in "A Witch Shall Be Born":
"I give you life, Olgerd, as you gave it to me... It was a bitter test you gave me then; you couldn't have endured it; neither could anyone, but a WESTERN BARBARIAN."
Finally, it is interesting to note that another one of Howard's most powerful characters, Esau Cairn in "Almuric", is: "Born in the SOUTHWEST, of old FRONTIER stock."
I may be wrong in this assertion, but I believe REH tends to make those characters who are somehow associated with the West, or the frontier, a bit more powerful and primordial than, say, a puritan, like Solomon Kane. This, of course, is no mark against the physical facilities of Solomon Kane; nevertheless, I do believe Howard fashioned him in a mold different than his more massive and mightier "western" heroes.
I get what you guys mean with his strength Conan but i dont remember reading him being a giant who is brawny. REH describes him small waist etc He cant be both a giant and light,agile as a panther. I saw Kane being bigger length,body wise in the way their looks are written. Less agile,not as quick as Conan.Jim has a very good point about Conan 20+ stories, REH got to build his strenght up and up, show it more often.
I think Conan was relatively lean of waist, but he towered over almost everyone in all the stories or was built heavier with very few exceptions & he was always faster. Another thing that hints at his brawn is his ax play, as in "The Phoenix on the Sword". In "Black Colossus", his arm & shoulders are described as massive. My picture of Conan is built up little by little through reading all of the stories.Howard actually wrote more Steve Costigan & Breckinridge Elkins stories than even Conan, I think. I read that somewhere. Maybe it is published more, though. There are more Conan stories, but that's because other writers have added a lot. I find it difficult to keep them all straight, especially since I started reading them so young & never paid attention to the credits.
Mohammed wrote: "I get what you guys mean with his strength Conan but i dont remember reading him being a giant who is brawny. REH describes him small waist etc He cant be both a giant and light,agile as a panther..."Mohammed, Conan is at once both massive and agile. Too, I do recall him being described as a "giant" in some stories. Anyway, to illustrate, here are just a few descriptions:
From "The Vale of Lost Women": "He was tall; neither in height nor in massiveness was he exceeded by many of the giant blacks. He moved with the suppleness of a great panther..."
From "The Black Stranger": "The stranger was as tall as either of the freebooters, and more powerfully built than either, yet for all his size he moved with pantherish suppleness in his high, flaring-topped boots."
From "Red Nails": "He was almost giant in stature, muscles rippling smoothly under his skin which the sun had burned brown."
Again, I haven't read any Solomon Kane tales in awhile but if memory serves me right, Kane, while "tigerishly powerful and quick," is also described as "gaunt." To be certain, however, I'd have to look up some examples of Solomon Kane's physical makeup. In any case, when it comes to stupendous strength and colossal size, I'd wager characters like Conan and Esau Cairn have Solomon Kane beat.
You may be right about the Costigan and Elkins' stories, Jim. Probably, combined, Howard wrote more of them than the 20-something Conan tales. In truth, I don't know for sure. While Howard is my favorite writer, I really don't keep track of such things either.
I checked out HowardWorks.com & there are 26 Conan stories listed here:http://howardworks.com/subject.htm#conan
28 if you count a poem & "The Hyborian Age", but I wouldn't.
There are 30 Steve Costigan stories (3 fragments) & 10 more Dennis Dorgan, so I consider that 37 since the two are obviously the same character, just renamed for the market.
http://howardworks.com/subject.htm#do...
There are 27 Breckinridge Elkins stories:
http://howardworks.com/subject.htm#el...
He's also mentioned, although not actually a character in a couple of other western stories.
Scroll to the top of the page or just read through it & you'll see there are only a dozen or so stories on El Borak & Kane, the next two characters with the most stories.
Ó Ruairc, it's interesting that you seem to have done the same thing I did - built a picture of Conan up through a series of stories rather than finding any single paragraph. Another favorite author of mine, Roger Zelazny, wrote that he limited his descriptions to 3 items per paragraph, I think. If he needed to add more, he'd dribble it in as part of the action or something in later paragraphs. Howard does the same thing. That really keeps the action moving & everything immediate. I rarely skim anything written by Howard or Zelazny. Every word is important, the writing is lean. Not like Dickens, who was paid by the word & wrote like it. His long descriptions always leave me bored stiff. Even in a short story like "A Christmas Carol" he spends a lot of words on debating why a door nail is deader than a coffin nail, a long winded idiocy I've never understood.
Ó Ruairc wrote: "Mohammed wrote: "I get what you guys mean with his strength Conan but i dont remember reading him being a giant who is brawny. REH describes him small waist etc He cant be both a giant and light,a..."Hehe i have not read none of those stories, i have read the first 14-15 stories. I remember other descriptions and not the later REH saying he was a giant. Interesting.
I havent finished Conan because my collection was not original text but pc corrected, edited Conan stories.
Read Kane he was written to be tall, powerful too but i dont remember him being massive. Not like he has to be tall, massive to be very strong. It is fantasy stories after all.
I'd put Conan and Esau Cairn pretty much on a par in terms of raw strength. But Cairn always struck me as being a bit thick, whereas Conan is presented as a pretty shrewd guy: uneducated (hey, he's THE Barbarian!), yes, but clever nonetheless. I think that his natural cunning would make him a better fighter.Kane's my fave Robert E. Howard character and, tough though he is, I've got to disagree with you, Mohammed - I don't think he comes near to Conan for brute strength. Again, his brains would make him a really worthy opponent. Plus, a flintlock pistol or a musket might even up the odds a bit!
Doesn't REH describe Solomon Kane as thin and gaunt, but with broad shoulders? Too, unlike most of Howard's swarthy characters, doesn't Kane have a pale complexion? I could have sworn I've read these descriptions of the Puritan.Yeah, Michael, Esau Cairn and Conan - that's a toss-up. As Jim pointed out, John Norwald in "The Lion of Tiberius," along with Niord in "Valley of the Worm," these characters, I'd have to say, are Howard's mightiest.
Thanks for the breakdown of REH's stories, Jim. I'm going to have to print that out. Ye gods, Howard wrote more Costigan and Elkins' stories than I thought!
Damn, I need to start reading some Zelazny.
I forgot about Niord. Howard seemed to have a similar build for a lot of his characters. Who is this?Tall he was, towering well over six feet, leanly built, with mighty shoulders and narrow hips, the build of a fighting man. Both his hands and his feet were long and slim; and his features, thrown into bold profile by the flickering torch-light, were intelligent, with a high, broad forehead, topped by a mane of [removed] hair."
That description could fit pretty much any of Howard's heroes, with the exception of Bran & a couple of others, couldn't it? I think it fits Kane as well as Conan, although I didn't crib that from a story about either one.
I'd give Howard's barbarians the edge in strength over any of his civilized ones, with the exception of Cairn & Norwald, both of whom are exceptions to every other rule. Cairn is described as a throwback, unsuited for civilization, & Norwald was forcibly turned into a savage. Everything else being equal, his barbarians are quicker & have better senses than any civilized human could have, according to his descriptions.
Did you figure out where that description came from?
(view spoiler)
Ó Ruairc, I have a spreadsheet that I made up from HowardWorks.com, if you want it. I listed all the stories, what I have, etc... You could edit it to suit yourself. It's the only way I can keep track of the stories I have. It was a lot of work to make up, but has been worth it.As far as Zelazny goes, he's a fantastic writer, but nothing like Howard. If you're interested, I started a group devoted to Zelazny's works here:
http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/2...
We'd love to have you. It's not very active because the moderators aren't nearly as good as Michael for drumming up conversation. (Yes, I mean you too, Mohammed!)
;-)
Well, Jim, I could certainly put to use such a spreadsheet for my own REH collection. The only account of them is what I have here on Goodreads. All of the stories do confuse me at times (see my post for "The Black Stranger").I may have some Zelazny in my library; I'll have to check. I'll join the group by and by. He wrote the "Amber" series, did he not?
As for the description you were after giving, I can only say it does fit most any REH hero. The "long and slim hands and feet," however, should be a clue. It's not Conan, not Cairn, and it's not Bran Mak Morn (whose height was only medium). Hmmmmmmm, gads, could it be Solomon Kane? Don't reveal it yet - maybe someone else wants to give it a try.
I pm'd you with my email address.Yes, Zelazny did the Amber series. While that's his most popular, I don't think it is his best work. He is a master of the short story, but 2 of his novels are my all time favorites out of all authors.
No, I don't think of Conan's hands as slim, either. The answer is in the same message, #22, at the bottom under the spoiler tag. Just click on it when you're ready & all will be revealed.
;-)
Also something to consider Conan vs Kane is that Kane stories is darker, more horror vien and not superhero like fights with monsters like Conan often does. Conan strength is more use to him than Kane stories i have read where his strength isnt used as a weapon.
"Spear and Fang", Howard's first story - I would have never guessed it. Even the characters in REH's early stories are built on a rugged plan.Mohammed - Conan does battle a lot of beasts and supernatural entities, but do they really exceede his human opponents?
I definitely remember Kane as being gaunt and pale. Zelazny did some excellent sword and sorcery stuff. I've always liked Dilvish the Damned. Some of the stories are a bit patchy but the best ones are great.
Ó Ruairc wrote: ""Spear and Fang", Howard's first story - I would have never guessed it. Even the characters in REH's early stories are built on a rugged plan.Mohammed - Conan does battle a lot of beasts and s..."
Yeah there are many beings i remember he couldnt break holds or just overpower as easily as breaking human bones. Human foes were child play compared the beings he could fight evenly at times with. Some monsters scaried him, he couldnt beat and those stoeries ended different then when he could fight monsters.
Kane unhuman enemies often were the kinds that even Conan would not fight hand to hand with.
I just skimmed through "Swords of the Red Brotherhood". Although a Black Vulmea story, I believe it is identical to the Conan story "The Black Stranger" save for some name changes. As I recall, these lines are the same in "The Treasure of Tranicos", too. In it, I found the following descriptions bearing on Conan's size...The stranger was as tall as either of the freebooters, and more powerfully built than either, yet for all his size he moved with a pantherish suppleness in his flaring-topped boots.
The giant [Conan/Vulmea] strode up to the table, laughing sardonically at their amazement.
The [Irishman], for all his savage frankness, was no less subtle than the others-and even fiercer. His gigantic shoulders and massive limbs seemed too big even for the great hall. There was an iron vitality about the man that overshadowed even the hard vigor of the other freebooters.
Anyway, these descriptions certainly make Conan seem bigger than life.
Interesting, Jim. "Gigantic shoulders", "massive limbs", and "iron vitality." Descriptions such as these fit a lot of Howard characters, as evidenced by the stories you listed. Indeed, the same descriptions are used for both Conan and Black Vulmea! But even though REH does use the same physical characterizations for Conan and Vulmea, I would say Conan is the brawnier hero. My conclusion is partially based upon what Mohammed sort of hinted at - Conan's world is a fantasy world; as such, I believe REH is more wont to give the Cimmerian preternatural strength. Black Vulmea, on the other hand, is an early 20th century adventurer. Though REh describes him in the same manner, I think Vulmea's physical abilities are not as prodigious as Conan's. This is all quite ironic, of course, because Howard once said Conan was his most realistic character.
I thought Vulmea was a couple of centuries earlier - 1700's - Spanish Main & such. Also, he's from a civilized background, although I'm not sure quite how civilized Howard thought the Irish were. They had a pretty rough reputation in his time.I agree that the description fits a lot of his characters, but I also think that his barbarians get the edge on toughness, speed, instinct, & strength. He uses that as a reason for Conan winning too many fights.
From "The Tower of the Elephant",
The Cimmerian, with the unerring instinct of the barbarian, had killed his man in the darkness and confusion.
No civilized man could have moved half so quickly as the barbarian moved.
I'm sure you'll find & remember similar statements in all of his stories.
Ach, pardon my error. You're right, Jim, Black Vulmea lived and slayed during that time period, not the early 20th century as I mistakenly mentioned. Thanks for the correction.
Having just read a Black Vulmea story, I can tell you that REH said that, during a battle, Vulmea lost his "thin veneer of civilisation" and reverted to barbarianism.
Actually, 1700's was a guess & covers a lot of ground. Does anyone have a better idea of when Black Vulmea was around? Did Howard leave any notes about it or are there clues in the few stories?
Jim, There's a timeline thread on Conan.com that might help - seems Vulmea's around the 1660s. Posts #18-#22 in this thread deal with his chronology.
I'm a little late to this conversation, but I'd say Breckinridge Elkins is his strongest character, just because he is a walking caricature, a tall tale. "It was at this moment that somebody swung at me with a ax and ripped my ear near off, and I begun to lose my temper. For or five other relatives was kicking and hitting and biting me all at oncet, and they is a limit even to my timid manners and mild nature. I voiced my displeasure with a beller of wrath, and lashed out with both fists, and my misguided relatives fell all over the yard like persimmons after a frost. I grabbed Joash Grimes by the ankles and begun to knock them ill-advised idjits in the head with him, and the way he hollered you'd of thought somebody was man-handling him." ~ War on Bear Creek.
In "Meet Cap'n Kidd", he pulls a tree up (roots and all) and uses it to smack his horse. Just about every story has prodigious feats of strength unmatched by REH's other characters.
Haw, ha, ha, I started this thread a couple of years ago because the topic intrigued me; still does, in fact. You are definitely correct, Vincent, Breckinridge Elkins is doubtless Howard's strongest character; nevertheless, in this particular thread, we were excluding REH's burlesque, comic-like characters.Vincent wrote: "I'm a little late to this conversation, but I'd say Breckinridge Elkins is his strongest character, just because he is a walking caricature, a tall tale.
"It was at this moment that somebody swu..."
That's true. I had forgotten that caveat after I had read the rest of the thread! Ultimately, I think your original assertion is correct, Conan is his strongest non-burlesque character. In addition to the examples you gave:In "Iron Shadows on the Moon," he throws (barely) a massive stone: “The stone was a symmetrical block…astonishingly massive. The Cimmerian grasped it…and with legs braced…the muscles standing out on his arms and back in straining knots, he…cast it from him, exerting every ounce of nerve and sinew. It fell a few feet in front of him.”
In “The Devil in Iron,” Conan throws “a heavy bench…, a missile few men could even lift.”
In “Queen of the Black Coast” he exerts great strength to cast part of a stone column from his legs; “With a terrible cry he heaved upward, hurling the stone aside.”
Vincent wrote: "I'm a little late to this conversation, but I'd say Breckinridge Elkins is his strongest character, just because he is a walking caricature, a tall tale. "It was at this moment that somebody swu..."
I can see what you mean and i agree his is a tall tale, his strenght is way over human level.
It depends on what we mean strongest when we think about his serious characters that are not tall tale,over the top like Elkins.
I would say El Borak is the best figther in human peak condition. I would say Solomon Kane is the deadliest, the best killer. Like in that story he chases that french killer to Africa, he just grinds down his enemies.
It's been a while, but what about Esau Cairn in Almuric? I seem to recall he was extremely strong & tough.
Esau certainly was, but I'm not familiar enough with the tale to find specific instances of strength (I've only read it once). Also, was gravity the same on Almuric as on Earth? John Carter was strong because of the weak gravity, and can't recall if something similar was at work there, too.
The gravity on Almuric is about the same as earth, if I remember correctly. Cairn is one of Howard's atavistic 'mighty caveman' types and on earth, he was forced to give up his boxing career due to the massive injuries he caused to his opponents. The inhabitants of Almuric gave him the nickname Ironhand, as he could kill with his fists, even though they were generally stronger than Cairn was.One feat of strength I remember from the book is Cairn lifting a massive slab of rock (view spoiler). There are probably others I can't call to mind.
Esau Cairn is a strong but he was a bit weak as REH character. He didnt stand out on his own. He didnt have his own strenght, his own mentality,color,style to him. He felt like a lesser John Carter. Which is rare for REH character not to stand tall on his own. Maybe because the novel felt unfinished, not usual REH quality.Isnt even his strenght, gravity thing a bit too much John Carter new super strenght in Mars?
I cannot agree with you, Mohammed. As Howard writes in 'Almuric',"Esau Cairn was, in short, a freak - a man whose physical body and mental bent leaned back to the primordial. Because of his peculiar physical make-up, full enjoyment in a legitimate way, in the ring or on a football field was denied him".
Insofar as a listing REH's most powerful characters (physically), I'd have to say the list runs thus:
John Norwald in 'Lion of Tiberious'
Niord in 'Valley of the Worm'
Esau Cairn in 'Almuric'
Conan
Of the four I'd have to go with Cimmerian, mainly because Howard gives many examples of Conan's prodigious strength - more so than the other characters.
No doubt, all of Howard's characters are physically strong, but these four stand out more than any others, in my opinion. Solomon Kane, for instance, is physically imposing but Howard doesn't dote upon his strength as much as he does with the four characters listed above.
Ó Ruairc wrote: "I cannot agree with you, Mohammed. As Howard writes in 'Almuric',"Esau Cairn was, in short, a freak - a man whose physical body and mental bent leaned back to the primordial. Because of his pe..."
Im not disagreeing Howard wrote him that strong, powerful. I have hard time remembering him because the novel, his story was flawed. Usually Howard heroes are so vivid, i never forget your qoute about Cairn that i have forgotten.
Off topic yes. On topic he is as strong as hell.
Speaking about Kane, he is an avenger, he is almost always written as a force of nature, like an ancient strong tree. Also he is a swordsman, with guns and he fights often monsters much stronger than him. He doesnt need his strength as much as Conan, Cairn because he has many ways to kill. He is better killer of evil than needing his pure strenght.
Esau Cairn reminds me of a kind of mean, primitive Hugo Danner from Gladiator. If you haven't read it, it was published in 1930 & features what might be the first modern comic book super hero. Kind of an early Superman or Doc Savage. My review links to another, better one.https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Mohammed wrote: "Esau Cairn is a strong but he was a bit weak as REH character. He didnt stand out on his own. He didnt have his own strenght, his own mentality,color,style to him. He felt like a lesser John Cart..."It's interesting that you the novel Almuric felt "unfinished" to you as the theory is that it was. Some scholars feel that it was Otis Adelbert Kline, Howard's agent who finished the story due to Howard's death. Kline was also the person who urged REH to write the story as well. Kline himself wrote Barsoom type stories.
Robert E. Howard Readers
Books mentioned in this topic
Gladiator (other topics)Almuric (other topics)
Almuric (other topics)
Authors mentioned in this topic
Robert E. Howard (other topics)Roger Zelazny (other topics)
As near as I can tell, Conan is REH's most powerful hero. Again, I came to this conclusion based strictly upon Howard's words. I may be wrong in this assumption; nevertheless, one cannot ignore the Cimmerian's amazing feats of strength and endurance. Here are some examples:
When Conan comes to handgrips with Baal-pteor in "Shadows in Zamboula," Howard writes: "...but strength beyond common conception was warring there - strength that might have uprooted trees and crushed the skulls of bullocks."
There are two examples of Conan's unbelievable strength and endurance in "A Witch Shall Be Born." First, the whole 'Tree of Death' chapter exemplifies the Cimmerian's iron constitution and his raw, primal ability to endure suffering. Second, there's the scene where Conan breaks Olgerd's arm just by squeezing it:
"Conan's arm shot across the table and his fingers locked on Olgerd's forearm. There was a snap of breaking bones..." (Certainly this is a description of superhuman strength if I ever read one)
As well, In "Beyond the Black River," in order to warn the outlying settlements, we find the Cimmerian running miles and miles through Pict-infested wilderness. Furthermore, in "The Scarlet Citadel", when Conan is chained in the dungeons, a great serpent comes up to investigate him and...
"A drop of venom fell on his naked thigh, and the feel of it was like a white-hot dagger driven in his flesh. Red jets of agony shot through Conan's brain, yet he held himself immovable; not by the twitching of a muscle or the flicker of any eyelash did he betray the pain of the hurt that left a scar he bore to the day of his death."
In any event, there are more examples of Conan's stupendous pain tolerance (see "The Slithering Shadow") and physical brawn, but the few mentioned above are enough to illustrate my point. Conan's strength is superhuman; he is Howard's strongest hero. If I had to pick a runner-up, it would be Esau Cairn from "Almuric", or Niord in "The Valley of the Worm."
By a different token, the protagonists in Howard's historical fiction novels are strong, rangy, and muscular, but I wouldn't call their strength "superhuman." Rather, I would compare the strength of characters like Kirby O'Donnell and Francis Xavier Gordon to modern NFL players. Perhaps Howard did this on purpose in order to make these characters seem more realistic.
Anyway, I'm interested in seeing what other group members think. Who is REH's strongest character? The answer can't be a biased opinion; it has to be backed up by Howard's descriptive prose. Keep in mind, when I speak of REH's strongest character, I'm excluding the burlesque westerns and most boxing stories because Howard humorously exaggerates the strength of Breckenridge Elkins, Pike Bearfield, Steve Costigan, and other such characters.