Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion

This is our discussion of the short story...

The Tower of the Elephant by Robert E. Howard (1933)

From the anthology The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian by Robert E. Howard. See The Coming of Conan the Cimerian discussion hub for more info on the anthology and pointers to discussion of its other stories.

An audio recording of this story is available on PodCastle.

The adaptation of this by Roy Thomas and Barry Smith in the early Marvel Comics run is breathtaking.

Gary wrote: "The adaptation of this by Roy Thomas and Barry Smith in the early Marvel Comics run is breathtaking."

I remember that mostly for the detailed sparkling gems on the tower. (Possibly more the effort of the inker than Smith.)

This is one of the classic Conan stories. It divides into two sections.

In part 1, Conan is hanging in a tavern listening to tales of a fabulous gem in the local Tower of the Elephant. The teller asserts its thief-proof, and Conan disagrees.

The tavern-goers are rather rude to poor Conan, leading to Howard's comment, "Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split." Conan corrects them. This correction is lethal in nature.

Impulsively, Conan decides to go rob the tower.

Part 2 is the tower caper. Conan runs into a fellow thief in the surrounding garden, and they team up. Taurus makes quite a contrast, as he has planned all the details of his burglary, compared to Conan doing it on a tavern dare.

I liked the general story, although it's familiar fantasy fare in the current day: break into dungeon guarded by traps & monsters, steal treasure.

(view spoiler)[The fact that the careful-planning Taurus ends up dead and Conan survives is, I assume, Howard's way of again suggesting intellect is no match for a barbarian's reflexes. (hide spoiler)]

I thought this is where the collection really picked up, and this might have been my favorite Conan story. We're introduced to Conan the Thief. The tavern scene really reminded me of Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar, which itself was inspired by Seville. The Tower holds various dangers, but meeting Yag-Kosha was where I thought Conan took a sharp turn towards Lovecraftian fiction. If I recall correctly, there was even a reference to "Nameless Old Ones." I've only read a couple of Lovecraft stories but it's easy to see the influences - Lovecraft and Howard carried on a long correspondence that clearly left it's mark on Howard.

Gary wrote: "The adaptation of this by Roy Thomas and Barry Smith in the early Marvel Comics run is breathtaking."

I will have to check that out.

Randy wrote: "I thought this is where the collection really picked up, and this might have been my favorite Conan story. We're introduced to Conan the Thief. The tavern scene really reminded me of Fritz Leiber's..."

At one time I had the first 100 or more issues of the Marvel regular comic and most of the B&W magazine run. Such great art. Barry Smith, John Buscema, Neal Adams, and Boris covers on some issues of the magazine.

This was the first good story in the collection, but it made me wonder something about this world. There seems to be a supply problem with evil sorcerers. They take hundreds of years to train/gather enough forbidden knowledge, but then Conan easily kills them at the end of each story. They must be rare, taking so long to produce, and if Conan keeps killing them at this rate they will run out, leaving him with a chronic shortage of evil sorcerers to kill. I'd suggest he should plant two evil sorcerers for every one he harvests, to ensure adequate supplies in the future.

Brendan wrote: "This was the first good story in the collection, but it made me wonder something about this world. There seems to be a supply problem with evil sorcerers. They take hundreds of years to train/gathe..."

I figure between Conan and Red Sonja they have depleted the whole era of wizards and monsters.

I love how this story blossoms from Robert Louis Stevenson pirate-thief-type-adventure to a kind of specific drug-sorcery ala "Jekyll & Hyde," peaking in a hallucinogenic-euphoria of a (Lovecraftian) meeting with cosmic-alien-deity. I don't recall if the story mentions the black lotus specifically (as in "Wolves Beyond the Border" iirc?) -- but in the film, Conan and Subatai thoroughly partake before entering the tower. Mythologically, this is at least an ode to Odin making mead to aid bravery, and likely has parallels in other lands' initiation myths.

Brendan wrote: "I'd suggest he should plant two evil sorcerers for every one he harvests, to ensure adequate supplies in the future." I agree! Although he does seem to do an awful lot of travelling so perhaps it's not so much of an issue.

This is the first story I actually liked and thought it was one of the best overall. It had the adventure element that I was expecting from these stories. The pacing I felt worked quite well and I really liked the tension and the drama.

I remember being intrigued with the idea of these characters being proud thieves, and I also remember being very surprised at Conan immediately embracing housebreaking as a profession. I guess it shows how easily poor Conan can be seduced by the civilised society he looks down on.

I wonder at your surprise. Conan's moral code has never been bothered by stealing, especially from foreigners who are rich. Half the stories have him cast as a thief of some sort, often as a pirate. Most have him casually butchering complete strangers for money. Housebreaking seems rather mild in comparison.

Looks I didn't comment on this story when we read it, so I'll agree with Jim. Thievery is considered pretty uncivilized, and it's a bit like stealing from the rich to...well ok, Conan didn't give to the poor, but taking something from someone is a way of showing how you have power over that person. I could see Conan liking that.

Now if he settled down with his own house and acquisitions, or he was hired to guard someone rich guy's precious stuff, that would be suspicious on Conan's part :)

I think the Tower of the Elephant is simply fantastic. One of my favorites, no doubt. I was instantly caught by the description of the Maul hood and its gloominess and danger. Later on, Howard takes us in the tavern and its hard to imagine a more risky business than having a pint in such companies. And then rises Conan, a wolf among mangy rats, as Howard puts it. A young and magnificent Conan, at its prime. There's a sharp contrast between such mundane places like the Maul and the tavern and then the tower itself. If you recall, Howard tells us that Conan strips himself of everything but a loincloth and then enters the religious part of the city, which may sound as a analogy to a spiritual quest. And even if Conan's intent ranges far from it, he ends up stealing nothing and instead meeting and more than that aiding deeply an elevated being, way beyond the mere human realm. Overall, a fascinating contrast between the mundane and the spiritual world in which Conan, one way or another, comes out surely transformed.