Tower Of The Elephant

March 1933

Tower of the Elephant is certainly one of my favourite Conan tales by Robert E. Howard. It starts out as the usual Conan romp and then Howard trumps all expectations and twist the tale beyond recognition. Tower is a sad tale, and even Conan leaves with a bad taste in his mouth.

The scene is Arenjun, the city of thieves of Zamora, where Conan is drinking away in one of its many taverns. He hears about a precious stone called the Heart of the Elephant. A jewell many have tried to steal, without success. Conan finally arrive at the Tower of the Elephant where the jewell lies. He makes friends with Taurus, fellow thief, and they decide to join their efforts to capture the stone. Taurus is eventually killed and Conan meets with Yag-Kosha, an alien being who has been captured, blinded and put in chain by the evil sorcerer Yara.

Yara has been abusing Yag-Kosha in exchange for his knowledge. But when the alien creature meets with Conan, revenge is in order.

Certainly one of Howard's better tales.

1946

Publication History

Weird Tales (March 1933)
Skull-Face and Others (Arkham House, 1946)
The Coming of Conan (Gnome Press, 1953)
Conan (Lancer Books, 1967)
The Tower of the Elephant (Donald M. Grant)
The Conan Chronicles (Sphere Books, 1989)
The Conan Chronicles 1 (Gollancz, 2000)
Conan of Cimmeria, Vol. 1 (1932-1933)                 
(Del Rey, 2003)