"CONAN" - Man & Myth, By Ron McVan

"CONAN" - Man & Myth, By Ron McVan

"Art is the right hand of nature. The latter has only given
us being, the former has made us men."
..............................Schiller


Great myths are often born from the true, historical deeds of great men. In turn, these myths then become the heroic, idealistic examples which inspire individuals or a whole race to higher levels of achievement and ethnic cohesiveness. Further, the great heroes of legend are regarded as one who has performed extraordinaryly well in the face of a harsh, brutal or terrible destiny, as one possessed of superior soul, spirit, energy and will.

The importance of myth should never be underestimated, for without it, a race drifts aimlessly through history like a body without a soul. Myth forms the identity and framework of the folk consciousness of a people.

Not surprisingly, much of the myth of Northern Europe has been lost over the ages or deliberately eradicated through the suppressive controlling powers of church and state. The totalitarianism of church and state is what encouraged the French philosopher and playwright Denis Diderot to pen the statement, "Men will never be free till the last King is strangled with the entrails of the last priest." It has always been an essential step forward when old, heroic myths are revived or new ones evolve. Those who work to develop these myths do a great service to their people. One such individual of our time was Robert E. Howard, who despite the disadvantage of having lived only thirty years (1906-1936), nevertheless produced a considerable body of inspiring epic prose, poetry and heroic literature, such as "Conan the Cimmerian", which debuted in a syndicated magazine called "Wierd Tales" in December 1932. His character Conan was the spiritual succcessor to an earlier character, "Kull of Atlantis" which did not take off as he had hoped it would. The first Conan story titled "The Phoenix On The Sword" was actually a rewrite of a rejected Kull story, "By This Axe I Rule".


"Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because
they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split,
as a general thing."
...............................Robert E. Howard


Robert Howard, much like his mentor, Jack London before him, was a proud Aryan with a keen understanding and feel for his ancestral roots. A large body of what he wrote borrowed heavily from the historic authenticity of Celtic culture. The era of his fictional Conan as described in his own words: "......between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities, and the years of the rise of the Sons of Aryas......" Howard described his Conan character in this manner: "Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed sword in hand, a theif, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandlled feet." Today, many might find it interesting to know that such an heroic Aryan warrior named Conan did in fact exist.

In ancient Scotland the Celts had devised a means of script communication, known to those of the time as "Ogham", which means "grooved writing". It is an alphabet comprised of fifteen consonants and five vowels, together with a few other signs representing double letter sounds, such as "ng" and dipthongs. Many Ogham monumental stones, cromlechs, altars and subterranean stone chambers, were discovered in North America surprisingly (from Vermont to Oklahoma) and date back nearly 3,000 years to 800 BCE. The Celts were supurb seafarers and left indisputable evidence that they had already been in America at the very least 1,600 years before the Vikings who themselves had already arrived 500 years before Columbus. Recently it has been discovered that Ogham writings in stone have turned up as far west as Utah. In 1920 a Viking rune stone was even discovered 30 miles north of Spokane Washington which described a battle they had with the Indians at that time and the losses suffered.

During the Middle Ages old Irish monks had composed books about the ancient Ogham script. Not all of the manuscripts can be classified as works of art, but some of the more commonplace in execution contained information which was priceless. Most notable is a volume known as the "Book of Ballymote". It was through this book that a door was opened which was to shed a light of great interest and discovery upon the historical Conan.

Col. Charles Vallancey had been a scholar from the University of Edinburth in Scotland. The history of the Celts had been a lifelong interest to Vallancey and his fluent knowledge of Gallic language and the art of Ogham was to prove very helpful in his future endeavors.

Vallancey's deductions from a manuscript on the Battle of Gabhra was the key element to arouse his antiquarian curiosity. This was a battle which occured in the year 283 CE and was part of the epic Celtic legends, known as the Ossianic Cycle. This critical section translates as follows: "The ferocious warrior Conan was not at Gebhra in the mighty strife; For on Beltane (i.e. May 1st ) of the previous year at the assembly convened to worship the sun, the bold hero was slain treacherously by the Fenians of Fionn. On the dark mountain of Callan. His grave was made on the northwest slope; Sadly plaintive was his dirge. And his name in Ogham is on a dressed stone."

Vallancey was acquainted with the mountain called "Sliabh Calainn" in County Clare. He soon learned that on this mountain there was an ancient Celtic structure, known as a "cromlech" ( a tablelike, giant stone monument). He suspected that this might well be the grave of the historical warrior Conan. Col. Vallancey's first quest was to find out if the monument even carried an Ogham inscription.

The year was 1784 and Vallancey contacted his friend, Theophilus O' Flannagan, who lived near the mountain, to ask if he would undertake the search to investigate the stone monument. About eight miles westward of the town of Ennis, O' Flannagan found a large altar about twelve feet by four, extending from East to West. Unfortunately, he was to find no markings of any inscription on the stone. Locals of the town nearby informed him that there was indeed a monument-type stone on the other side of the mountain which resembled a tombstone, and that it did have strokes engraved on it, very unlike letters. The stone stood eight feet in height and four feet in breath with an inscription which deciphered, translated into English letters, read: FA N L I DAF I CA CO NAN COL GAC COS OBMDA

From this cryptic sequence Vallancey and O'Flannagan satisfied themselves that the tumulus had contained the body of a chieftain named "Conan Colgac", although the ancient Celtic script could not be completely translated. O'Flannagan was at first charged with having forged the inscription, but these charges were eventually proven to be baseless. Vallancey's pioneer work in deciphering Ogham was further refined and was to contribute to the decoding of 400 other such monuments in various parts of the British Isles.

It is not known if Robert Howard had knowledge of the historical Conan, but there is good evidence to believe that he did. Cormac Mac Art was another popular heroic figure of Howard's pen. Historically, Cormac Mac Art was King of Ireland during the years 227-266 CE, and his son, Cairbri Mac Art, who succeeded him as High King of Tara, fought in the Battle of Gabhra. Whether Robert Howard was aware of the historical Conan is of no consequence. What does matter is the vibrant, heroic impact which has since evolved from the Conan archetype, and has surely helped to revive and broaden the spectrum of the Euro-indigenous myths of our Folk.

Our ethnic Gods and heroes of legend are not so far removed from mankind. They experience many of the common realities, trials and tribulations that we ourselves experience. To emulate them is to lift ourselves and give higher purpose to our lives. By organically fusing the heroes qualities to our own is a means by which we might ingest the champion's spirit and force within ourselves and in that process makes us a part of his own living essence. In his youth Caesar was in awe of Alexander. In Alexander's youth he was in awe of Achilles and so it goes. Somewhere in that will to greatness we too find our own place, our destiny. An uninspired life is not worth the living. The Conan archetype not unlike the God Thor, exemplifies Aryan vitalism at its best. Conan is a symbol of strength, raw courage and iron will, the quintessential Aryan hero, that will surely continue to inspire generations of impressionable youth in these dismal anti-heroic times.


"Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood over
questions of reality and illusion. I know this: If life is an
illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the
illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay,
and I am content."
...........................Robert E. Howard


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