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Post by kent on Jul 5, 2012 19:45:14 GMT -6
In the superb 2002 Del Rey volume of Conan Tales The Coming of Conan The Cimmerian there are two sketch maps in an end-section entitled 'The Hyborian Age'. Google throws several pleasing prettifications of this sketch, for example: www.conan.com/hyboria.jpgId like to know if anyone has sourced high quality scans of Howard's own maps or come across faithful and tasteful elaborations? It's good to have a map to refer to reading the stories. I may have a go myself when I become familiar with the terrain. Perhaps a Howard fan could let us know how much the author relied on an explicit map for Conan's world. |
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Post by kent on Jul 6, 2012 10:02:04 GMT -6
Looking at the map linked to above I have to say I am struck by the apt choice of font for the nation names. Does anyone recognise this font?
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Post by DungeonDevil on Jul 6, 2012 14:42:25 GMT -6
That's the map from the MGP d20 Conan RPG (Atlantean Edition), which is now OOP. The font is available as "Ronan" (at the time I bought the font package it was around 25 USD). There is a smaller clone freeware called "Crom".
According to author Vincent Darlage, who wrote many of the RPGs books, some of the details and city-locations in this map are inaccurate. NB: The artist (can't recall his name right now) was found to be guilty of plagarism of other artwork (in the Shadizar boxed set), and is not in high standing in the commercial art world, IIRC.
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Post by Malcadon on Jul 6, 2012 19:19:01 GMT -6
The GM Screen for the d20 Conan RPG comes with a poster of that map. It looks really on my wall.
With at least two major and faithful gazetteers under his belt, such a clam is hard to dismiss.
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Post by thegreyelf on Jul 6, 2012 19:52:38 GMT -6
hyboria.xoth.net/maps/chrysagon_hyboria.jpgThat's my favorite one. I had a poster made of it, which I framed and hung in my house, though I modified it to read "The Hyborian Age," as "Hyboria" is one of my pet peeves--it's not "Hyboria," it's Earth, during the Hyborian Age. iirc, Vincent Darlage didn't say the cities and such were wrong on the MC map, only admitted that "Mu" shouldn't be there, but that it was decreed the artist had to put it in there. And I BELIEVE (though I could be wrong) that it was a different artist who plagiarized the Shadizar map (it was taken actually from one of WotC's map-a-week archives; I have the pre-recall version of it). Jason Vey, President Elf Lair Games www.elflair.com/Sent from my Transformer Prime tf201 Using Proboards for Android
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Post by kent on Jul 7, 2012 11:33:27 GMT -6
The font is available as "Ronan" (at the time I bought the font package it was around 25 USD). There is a smaller clone freeware called "Crom" Good stuff. I BELIEVE (though I could be wrong) that it was a different artist who plagiarized the Shadizar map (it was taken actually from one of WotC's map-a-week archives; I have the pre-recall version of it I haven't seen this Shadizar map - what exactly was copied from it? |
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Post by Ghul on Jul 13, 2012 7:54:42 GMT -6
Kent, I believe the Ronan font was first established as the "Conan" font by Dark Horse Comics when they acquired the rights to publish Conan in comic book form. www.darkhorse.com/Comics/13-017-b/Conan-1-3rd-printingThe notes in the backs of those Del Rey books are fascinating, eh? |
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Post by kent on Jul 13, 2012 16:17:38 GMT -6
I must get hold of those even if it just to take the art for NPCs and scenarios. The notes in the backs of those Del Rey books are fascinating, eh? That set of volumes is the classiest presentation of any fantasy paperbacks that I have seen and reading them with the notes has done much to bump my respect for Howard up to the Leiber rank. The film The Whole Wide World helped too. |
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Post by Ghul on Jul 15, 2012 12:28:18 GMT -6
I must get hold of those even if it just to take the art for NPCs and scenarios. The notes in the backs of those Del Rey books are fascinating, eh? That set of volumes is the classiest presentation of any fantasy paperbacks that I have seen and reading them with the notes has done much to bump my respect for Howard up to the Leiber rank. The film The Whole Wide World helped too. was a fascinating film, no doubt. I have to admit, regarding the Del Rey treatments of all REH's works, I have read and re-read those notes an embarrassing amount of times. Del Rey's Bran Mak Morn, in particular, stands out to me, because the end essays pertaining to Howard's conception of the Picts was absolutely fascinating. It actually gave me a new appreciation for Beyond the Black River and Wolves Beyond the Border. |
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Post by kent on Jul 15, 2012 12:54:00 GMT -6
Del Rey's Bran Mak Morn, in particular, stands out to me, because the end essays pertaining to Howard's conception of the Picts was absolutely fascinating. It actually gave me a new appreciation for Beyond the Black River and Wolves Beyond the Border. I have hesitated in getting the Bran Mak Morn and King Kull volumes so that is interesting to know. I bought the Best of Howard volume 1 for the Grey God Passes - his interest in things Irish further increases my curiosity - and what I assumed might be a sufficient few Kull, and Bran Mak Morn stories. I think I'll get the BMM volume too then. As someone who played and loves Rugby, I think Howard captures the exuberance of brutality better than any fantasy writer except ER Eddison. I back up this claim with reference to the scrap between Lord Juss and The Manitcore. The lightness of touch with which Howard assimilates and blends real world exotic cultures is also impressive and he is likely to long endure for his originality being a pre-Tolkien writer. |
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Post by MilkManX on Jul 25, 2012 11:57:51 GMT -6
I have all of the REH Del Rey's except the Sword Woman book only because I have not picked it up yet.
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Post by kent on Jul 30, 2012 7:55:56 GMT -6
So I printed out this map on A3 and mounted it on foamboard. www.conan.com/hyboria.jpgBut then I began to wonder about its faithfulness to Howard's hastily scribbled maps so in the end I took a craft knife to the map and cut out anything that wasn't on this map upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5c/Maphyboria.jpgThe essential difference for me is that the colour map decides the continent is far far smaller than I imagine it to be. I don't see any reason for the coast to curl around The Black Kingdoms. I imagine instead it extends far to the south. |
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Post by jasonzavoda on Jul 30, 2012 8:44:01 GMT -6
I have all of the REH Del Rey's except the Sword Woman book only because I have not picked it up yet. I think I have everything but the Best of #1 & 2. The more I read from these Del Rey versions the more disgusted I become with DeCamp and Carter's treatment. Though after reading Carter's book on Lovecraft and his unconcealed contempt for HPL I have a great wariness of anything Carter was involved with. Anyway, I found the maps and the new artwork in these volumes to be very enjoyable. |
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Post by Porphyre on Aug 8, 2015 0:25:33 GMT -6
The essential difference for me is that the colour map decides the continent is far far smaller than I imagine it to be. I don't see any reason for the coast to curl around The Black Kingdoms. I imagine instead it extends far to the south. Maybe to conform to the actual South Africa coast? I haven't tried to confront it to a real-world map to see if they coincode , but the overall shape seems to fit. |
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Post by foxroe on Dec 22, 2017 20:02:05 GMT -6
Well it wouldn't be Conan without a little Stygian necromancy...
Is there an "official", or otherwise faithful, purchasable poster version of the Hyborian age map anywhere? My recherche d'internet isn't turning up anything useful.
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