The Scarlet Citadel
| "The Scarlet Citadel" | |
|---|---|
Jayem Wilcox's illustration of a scene from the story in Weird Tales magazine
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| Author | Robert E. Howard |
| Country | US |
| Language | English |
| Series | Conan the Cimmerian |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy |
| Published in | US |
| Publication type | Pulp magazine |
| Publisher | Weird Tales |
| Publication date | 1933 |
"The Scarlet Citadel" is one of the original short stories starring the fictional sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard and first published in the January, 1933 issue of Weird Tales magazine. It is set in the pseudo-historical Hyborian Age and concerns a middle-aged Conan battling rival kingdoms, being captured through treachery and escaping from an eldritch dungeon via unexpected aid. The story includes Tsotha-lanti who is an evil wizard whose sorcerous arts help ensnare King Conan.
The story was republished in the collections King Conan (Gnome Press, 1953) and Conan the Usurper (Lancer Books, 1967). It has more recently been published in the collections The Conan Chronicles Volume 2: The Hour of the Dragon (Gollancz, 2001) and Conan of Cimmeria: Volume One (1932-1933) (Del Rey, 2003).
Plot summary
"The Scarlet Citadel" was the second Conan story to be printed by Weird Tales magazine and involves an older, wiser Conan as king of Aquilonia. King Conan receives a call for help from Amalrus, the ruler of neighbouring Ophir, who claims that Strabonus, the king of Koth, is threatening his border.
When Conan marches to the aid of Amalrus with five thousand Aquilonian knights, the planned campaign is revealed to be a trap as Amalrus and Strabonus are working together to destroy Conan with the assistance of a Kothian wizard named Tsotha-lanti. The Aquilonian knights are cut to pieces and, having been taken prisoner, Conan is imprisoned in a Korshemish dungeon. This dungeon is used by the imperial wizard Tsotha-lanti for nefarious experiments and the story is largely a dark tour of that dungeon as Conan tries to escape.
In the dungeon, Conan frees Pelias, a former rival of Tsotha-lanti, who helps Conan to escape imprisonment and regain the throne of Aquilonia. This notably makes Pelias a rare occasion of a sorcerer who allies with Conan, almost every other sorcerer Conan encounters throughout the original Howard books is his enemy. The only other exception of a spellcaster friendly towards Conan, is the witch Zelata in The Hour of the Dragon. The story climaxes in a gigantic battle with Tsotha-lanti meeting a grisly fate at the talons of Pelias.
Notes
The story is very similar to The Hour of the Dragon, which shares the points of Conan's capture and later escape from a dungeon even if it tones down the supernatural element.
Adaptation
The story was adapted by Roy Thomas and Frank Brunner in Savage Sword of Conan #30 in 1978, then by Tim Truman and Tomas Giorello in 2011 in King Conan: The Scarlet Citadel.
External links
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Wikisource has original text related to this article: |
| Preceded by | Original Howard Canon (publication order) |
Succeeded by "The Tower of the Elephant" |
| Preceded by | Original Howard Canon (Dale Rippke chronology) |
Succeeded by The Hour of the Dragon |
| Preceded by | Complete Conan Saga (William Galen Gray chronology) |
Succeeded by The Hour of the Dragon |
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