A reference guide to the world of Conan the Cimmerian. Using only the original works of Robert E. Howard.
I hope to index all places, peoples, objects and creatures unique to Conan's time in the Hyborian Age.
No information will be used from books or comics from other authors over the years. Though I will provide a list of them.
Robert E. Howard's Hyborian Age is also tied with the Thurian Age of Kull the Atlantean, and also other characters in other time periods in recorded history. Information from other yarns with Kull, Bran Mak Morn, Turlogh Dubh O'Brien, Solomon Kane, James Allison, Cormac Mac Art, and other miscelleaneous stories will be indexed eventually as well. Providing ultimately a handy concordance of Robert E. Howards' fantasy tales.
Now, I'm definitely glad to see another Conan reference out there that doesn't include the work of other authors. The Conan Wikia is great, with tons of good info, but it isn't exclusive to Howard: the Conan the Cimmerian wiki, on the other hand, seems to have the same goals as the Encyclopaedia Hyboriana. The fact that this wiki appears to have been created on the same day as my announcement... Well, I'm just going to treat it as a happy coincidence.
I've no intention of engaging in any sort of competition with the Conan the Cimmerian Wiki: both the Encyclopaedia and the Wiki share the same goals, and the energy is better spent in concordance than contention. So, best of luck to Drush9999!
I can't help but feel that this seems like more than a coincidence to me. Seriously, two works with the same goals are announced on the same day? I wonder if this guy had been building his pages behind the scenes, and then decided to "go live" after hearing your announcement. Weird.
ReplyDeleteJust to let the record straight, I don't want to tread on any toes, in fact Al's idea gave me the inspiration to put my existing notes online instead of gathering dust. I was also frustrated with the other wiki site conan.wikia.com as it wasn't comprehensive and missing a ton of entries.
ReplyDeleteI had this idea when I re-read the Conan stories earlier this year. I'd even indexed half the Conan stories for my own use.
Mine will be simple paragraphs or sentences for most entries, it's a work in progress and may take a while to even just do the Conan-only entries. Still to index Hour of the Dragon and the rest of the later Conan yarns. Once I get those entries sorted, I'll open it up for anyone to add to or edit. I think both the wiki site and Al's Encyclopaedia are different beasts and serve different functions.
I'll certainly be buying Al's book when it comes out :)
There is no way this is a coincidence this man has stolen exatly what has been said here, so if you have an idea dont post it is most likely Drush9999 will steal it
ReplyDeleteI'll leave it alone, if it causes too much controversy. Apologies
ReplyDeleteI can't help but feel that this seems like more than a coincidence to me. Seriously, two works with the same goals are announced on the same day? I wonder if this guy had been building his pages behind the scenes, and then decided to "go live" after hearing your announcement. Weird.
ReplyDeleteI dunno, there have been weirder coincidences. Look at the UK and US Dennis the Menaces: both created completely independently of each other, yet somehow they made their debut almost simultaneously.
Just to let the record straight, I don't want to tread on any toes, in fact Al's idea gave me the inspiration to put my existing notes online instead of gathering dust. I was also frustrated with the other wiki site conan.wikia.com as it wasn't comprehensive and missing a ton of entries.
I had this idea when I re-read the Conan stories earlier this year. I'd even indexed half the Conan stories for my own use.
Mine will be simple paragraphs or sentences for most entries, it's a work in progress and may take a while to even just do the Conan-only entries. Still to index Hour of the Dragon and the rest of the later Conan yarns. Once I get those entries sorted, I'll open it up for anyone to add to or edit. I think both the wiki site and Al's Encyclopaedia are different beasts and serve different functions.
Ah, so you're Drush, Dave! I definitely think there's enough room for more than one reference guide, and it's better for your notes to be out there than gathering dust. After all, the Encyclopedia of Arda doesn't seem to have hurt The Encyclopedia of Middle-earth or The Tolkien Bestiary.
The Conan Wiki is alright, but I agree it could do with some work. I had considered putting my research into it, but then the Encyclopaedia formed in my mind.
There is no way this is a coincidence this man has stolen exatly what has been said here, so if you have an idea dont post it is most likely Drush9999 will steal it
Now, now, no need for that: I'm just happy to see proof that there is, in fact, a market for a Hyborian Age reference guide, if someone's willing to make a Conan wiki.
I'll leave it alone, if it causes too much controversy. Apologies
Not on your life, Dave! In the end, we're both just working from Howard: I say the more, the merrier.
hi drush9999 just to say sorry about the misunderstanding. I am a faithful and loyal servant of Al and would fight to the death for his honour. If he gives you the green light then go for it and good luck!
ReplyDeleteCheers Al
ReplyDeleteThanks for your support
well i for one would be interested in this..
ReplyDeleteI'd worked on the Conan Wiki for a while, I was doing the Red Sonja comics.. But after a while I just sort of got bored with it.. It was becoming too much of a hassle to try and figure out how the CTB/SSoC/RS comics fit together.. especially when I don't own all of them.
It was actually adding to that site, that gave me the idea of reading all the various Hyborian Pastiches in the first place.. I decided to write the blog and then I'd go back and pare the info down into more manageable synopsis's and add them to the wiki.. but things pop up and I never got around to it.. The other major problem with the Wiki was that anyone could edit it.. and I seem to remember a couple of DeCampista incursions that had to be fended off.
Al, I wish you the best in your endeavor.
ReplyDeleteTo the anonymous who wrote that Drush had stolen "Al's" idea, please follow this link: http://scottoden.blogspot.com/2008/09/encyclopedia-of-hyborian-age.html
Scott Oden said that he would like to write an Encyclopedia of the Hyborian Age, based only on REH material... two and a half years ago! The late Steve Tompkins even mentioned it on The Cimmerian blog: http://www.thecimmerian.com/habemus-librum/
In April 2009, Al wrote the following post: "I agree, the world really needs an Encyclopaedia Hyboriana that deals purely with the Howard text, and Scott's just the man to do it." http://www.conan.com/invboard/index.php?showtopic=70&st=160
Al is a friend (and a fellow agent of the Shieldwall), who is perfectly suited for that mammothean task, but dear anonymous, he is definitely not the first who undertook it.
Miguel
hi drush9999 just to say sorry about the misunderstanding. I am a faithful and loyal servant of Al and would fight to the death for his honour. If he gives you the green light then go for it and good luck!
ReplyDeleteDon't worry about it, oh Anonymous one!
Cheers Al
Thanks for your support
No problem!
I'd worked on the Conan Wiki for a while, I was doing the Red Sonja comics.. But after a while I just sort of got bored with it.. It was becoming too much of a hassle to try and figure out how the CTB/SSoC/RS comics fit together.. especially when I don't own all of them.
That seemed to be a problem with the wiki: there's just so much conflicting Conan out there it's hard to get one's head straight. Even the Marvel wiki doesn't seem to have anything about the many comics save a perfunctory st for each issue.
The other major problem with the Wiki was that anyone could edit it.. and I seem to remember a couple of DeCampista incursions that had to be fended off.
Definitely a consideration.
Scott Oden said that he would like to write an Encyclopedia of the Hyborian Age, based only on REH material... two and a half years ago!
Excellent point, Miguel - I dare say Scott may not be the first to think of a Howard-only encyclopedia either. However, with his fiction work taking up all of his time, I can understand why he didn't go about it. I, on the other hand, don't have other books to write at the moment...
I envy the new Robert E Howard fan today, there was very little to go on in the 90's when i was a teenager on the man and the closest you could get were those ace books,which finding in bookstores (or libraries,mostly pastiches) in print was no easy task either.Then there was that cartoon(s) the terrible live action show and um er Kull the Conquerer.The last 10 years saw a new resurgence of conan with dark horse comics ,mcfarlane toys, rpgs, the original works of REH in print again and easy to get access to, countless wikis blogs and websites dedicated to REHand now these new wikis and the encyclopaedia ,more research available out there,movies , even the debates are becoming more analytical and intelligent in tone and defense.I've learned more about REH the past two years than Ive known the 16 or 17 years I've been reading him!!What a good time to get interested in REH and his works, and I'm convinced it's gonna get better.Good luck to both of you!-Mario
ReplyDeleteThanks very much Mario! Yes, it's a fantastic time to be a Howard fan: a company that's both protective of the license while still being encouraging and accomodating to the fans & scholars, tons of new books and sites, greater awareness of REH than ever through the internet.
ReplyDelete