ROBERT E. HOWARD

Boxer turned pulp fiction writer.

Official site.

CONAN

The most famous fictional barbarian, famously played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in two films. You probably know the character, but not the creator.

Yet the original character was quite different - for one thing his ethnicity or race is closer to Irish or Scottish than Austrian. He also wears clothes and armor when it's practical. Far from the stereotypical dumb brute his archetype has become, Conan is actually cunning and literate.

Howard wrote several short stories and a novel starring Conan. His material has been reprinted in various editions and various forms too many to list here. This was due to editors who, especially in the 1960s-1970s, modified his prose quite a bit. Numerous pastiches featuring Conan have been produced.

Several Conan stories are actually in the public domain, as they were written in the 1930s.

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