Robert E. Howard: Difference between revisions

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'''Robert E. Howard''' (January 22, 1906 - June 11, 1936) was a writer and poet from Texas, USA. He wrote short stories and poems spanning several genres, including [[Heroic Fantasy]], [[Western]], [[Cosmic Horror]] and historical fiction. He was the [[Trope Maker]] for the genre [[Sword and Sorcery]] -- which, in fact, received its name from a discussion of what the genre that a Howard story was should be called. Along with [[JRR Tolkien (Creator)|JRR Tolkien]], he is one of the most influential writers in modern fantasy. His life was the subject of the 1996 film ''[[The Whole Wide World]]''.
'''Robert E. Howard''' (January 22, 1906 - June 11, 1936) was a writer and poet from Texas, USA. He wrote short stories and poems spanning several genres, including [[Heroic Fantasy]], [[Western]], [[Cosmic Horror]] and historical fiction. He was the [[Trope Maker]] for the genre [[Sword and Sorcery]] -- which, in fact, received its name from a discussion of what the genre that a Howard story was should be called. Along with [[JRR Tolkien (Creator)|JRR Tolkien]], he is one of the most influential writers in modern fantasy. His life was the subject of the 1996 film ''[[The Whole Wide World]]''.


Howard was a friend and correspondent of [[HP Lovecraft (Creator)|HP Lovecraft]] and one of the contributors to the original [[Cthulhu Mythos]].
Howard was a friend and correspondent of [[H.P. Lovecraft (Creator)|HP Lovecraft]] and one of the contributors to the original [[Cthulhu Mythos]].


His most well-known creation is [[Conan the Barbarian]], a character that has greatly overshadowed his creator.
His most well-known creation is [[Conan the Barbarian]], a character that has greatly overshadowed his creator.
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* [[Action Girl]]: Dark Agnes, Red Sonya of Rogatino
* [[Action Girl]]: Dark Agnes, Red Sonya of Rogatino
* [[Anti Hero]]: Pretty much every main chracter in anything he wrote.
* [[Anti-Hero]]: Pretty much every main chracter in anything he wrote.
* [[Author Existence Failure]]: Many of Howard's incomplete drafts were picked up by other writers such as [[L Sprague De Camp (Creator)|L Sprague De Camp]] and turned into complete stories. See also [[Macekre]] below.
* [[Author Existence Failure]]: Many of Howard's incomplete drafts were picked up by other writers such as [[L Sprague De Camp (Creator)|L Sprague De Camp]] and turned into complete stories. See also [[Macekre]] below.
* [[Barbarian Hero]]: Essentially created the modern version of this trope.
* [[Barbarian Hero]]: Essentially created the modern version of this trope.
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*** Other non-racist moments show up from time to time. In Howard's historical short story ''The Road of Azrael'' (not public domain, but recently reprinted in ''Lord of Samarcand and Other Tales of the Old Orient''), the viewpoint character is an Arab. Several of his horror/supernatural works feature sympathetic characters of color: The viewpoint character in ''The Thunder-Rider'' is Native American, while In ''The Spirit of Tom Molyneaux'' (aka ''Apparition in the Prize Ring'') the hero (but not the viewpoint character) is an African-American, whom Howard actually describes as possessing "great nobility." In ''The Noseless Horror'', Ganra Singh (a Sikh) saves the day at the end. Meanwhile, ''The Horror from the Mound'' features a Mexican who's got a damn sight more common sense than the story's white viewpoint character. Finally, ''The Dead Slaver's Tale'' and ''The Dead Remember'' feature black victims getting ghostly revenge on the whites who murdered them.
*** Other non-racist moments show up from time to time. In Howard's historical short story ''The Road of Azrael'' (not public domain, but recently reprinted in ''Lord of Samarcand and Other Tales of the Old Orient''), the viewpoint character is an Arab. Several of his horror/supernatural works feature sympathetic characters of color: The viewpoint character in ''The Thunder-Rider'' is Native American, while In ''The Spirit of Tom Molyneaux'' (aka ''Apparition in the Prize Ring'') the hero (but not the viewpoint character) is an African-American, whom Howard actually describes as possessing "great nobility." In ''The Noseless Horror'', Ganra Singh (a Sikh) saves the day at the end. Meanwhile, ''The Horror from the Mound'' features a Mexican who's got a damn sight more common sense than the story's white viewpoint character. Finally, ''The Dead Slaver's Tale'' and ''The Dead Remember'' feature black victims getting ghostly revenge on the whites who murdered them.
*** Also in his defense, he wrote some stories that showed plenty of racism existing between conflicting clans and tribes that were either [[Fantastic Racism|purely imaginative]], or ''all'' ultimately Indo-European, at least in name. Picts? Northern Britain. Atlanteans? Supposed "Aryan" progenitors. In other words, Howard's fiction contains racism, itself, as an common accepted fact.
*** Also in his defense, he wrote some stories that showed plenty of racism existing between conflicting clans and tribes that were either [[Fantastic Racism|purely imaginative]], or ''all'' ultimately Indo-European, at least in name. Picts? Northern Britain. Atlanteans? Supposed "Aryan" progenitors. In other words, Howard's fiction contains racism, itself, as an common accepted fact.
* [[In Harms Way]]
* [[In Harm's Way]]
* [[Loin Cloth]]
* [[Loin Cloth]]
* [[Loners Are Freaks]]: [[Solomon Kane]], poster child for this trope, has a few interactions on rare occasions with the [[Witch Doctor]] N'Longa, but that's about it. Most of the other characters in the Kane stories are just there to die violently (often at the hands of Kane himself).
* [[Loners Are Freaks]]: [[Solomon Kane]], poster child for this trope, has a few interactions on rare occasions with the [[Witch Doctor]] N'Longa, but that's about it. Most of the other characters in the Kane stories are just there to die violently (often at the hands of Kane himself).
** [[Conan]] is a loner a lot of the time too.
** [[Conan]] is a loner a lot of the time too.
* [[Macekre]]: In addition to some of his stories being completed upon his death, many of his less-popular stories were rewritten, often to create [[Dolled Up Installment|dolled-up installments]] in his more popular franchises ([http://www.barbariankeep.com/fake.html source]), and many of his actual stories were [[Bowdlerization|bowdlerized]] in paperback printings ([http://www.barbariankeep.com/edited.html source], and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_E._Howard#L._Sprague_de_Camp_and_the_Howard_Boom see also]). In addition [[L Sprague De Camp (Creator)|L Sprague De Camp]] and Lin Carter wrote several published fanfics ''[[Running the Asylum|which they declared canon]].'' The fanbase [[Fanon Discontinuity|refused to go along with this]], however, and all these bad decisions have long since been reversed.
* [[Macekre]]: In addition to some of his stories being completed upon his death, many of his less-popular stories were rewritten, often to create [[Dolled-Up Installment|dolled-up installments]] in his more popular franchises ([http://www.barbariankeep.com/fake.html source]), and many of his actual stories were [[Bowdlerization|bowdlerized]] in paperback printings ([http://www.barbariankeep.com/edited.html source], and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_E._Howard#L._Sprague_de_Camp_and_the_Howard_Boom see also]). In addition [[L Sprague De Camp (Creator)|L Sprague De Camp]] and Lin Carter wrote several published fanfics ''[[Running the Asylum|which they declared canon]].'' The fanbase [[Fanon Discontinuity|refused to go along with this]], however, and all these bad decisions have long since been reversed.
* [[Mighty Whitey]]
* [[Mighty Whitey]]
* [[Mountain Man]]: Breckenridge Elkins
* [[Mountain Man]]: Breckenridge Elkins
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