"The Ivory Goddess" is a short story by American writers L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter, featuring the fictional

sword and sorcery Sword and sorcery (S&S) is a subgenre of fantasy characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent adventures. Elements of romance, magic, and the supernatural are also often present. Unlike works of high fantasy, the tale ...

hero Conan the Barbarian created by

Robert E. Howard Robert Ervin Howard (January 22, 1906June 11, 1936) was an American writer. He wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. He is well known for his character Conan the Barbarian and is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subge ...

. According to Morgan Holmes, citing de Camp friend Loay Hall, Carter did none of the writing, and the story was written by de Camp in collaboration with his wife Catherine Crook de Camp.Holmes, Morgan. "The de Camp Controversy: Part 12"
4 October 2008. Accessed 9 June 2009 The story was first published by

Bantam Books Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by parent company Random House, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. ...

in the paperback anthology '' Conan the Swordsman'' in August 1978. Later paperback editions of the collection were issued by

Ace Books Ace Books is a publisher of science fiction (SF) and fantasy books founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn. It began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns, and soon branched out into other genres, publishing its first scienc ...

(1987 and 1991). The first hardcover edition was published by Tor Books in 2002. The book has also been translated into Italian. It was later gathered together with ''

Conan the Liberator ''Conan the Liberator'' is a fantasy novel by American writers L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Bantam Books in February 1979, and ...

'' and ''

Conan and the Spider God ''Conan and the Spider God'' is a fantasy novel by American writer L. Sprague de Camp featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Bantam Books in December 1980; later paperbac ...

'' into the omnibus collection '' Sagas of Conan'' (Tor Books, 2004). The story has been translated into Italian.

Plot summary

After the events of "

Jewels of Gwahlur "Jewels of Gwahlur" is one of the original short stories starring the fictional sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard. Set in the pseudo-historical Hyborian Age, it concerns several parties, ...

", Conan and his current companion Muriela, whom he rescued in Keshan, travel to Punt where he plan on passing her off as the natives' ivory goddess to con them out of their gold. The current occupant of the goddess role turns out to have her own scheme, however, and other forces are also in play. In the end, Muriela appears to carry off the masquerade successfully, but is she truly playing a role, or has she been possessed by the true goddess? Even Conan is uncertain, but as the new goddess is inclined to defend her property and has the upper hand, he decides discretion is the better part of valor, and must depart Punt with neither girl nor treasure. He bids farewell to Muriela and travels south.

Adaptation

The story was adapted by

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor, who was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibl ...

John Buscema John Buscema (; ; born Giovanni Natale Buscema, December 11, 1927 – January 10, 2002)Social Se ...

and

Danny Bulanadi Danny is a masculine given name. It is related to the male name Daniel. It may refer to: People * Danny Altmann, British immunologist *Danny Antonucci, Canadian animator, director, producer, and writer *Danny Baker (born 1957), English journal ...

in ''

Savage Sword of Conan ''The Savage Sword of Conan'' was a black-and-white magazine-format comic book series published beginning in 1974 by Curtis Magazines, an imprint of American company Marvel Comics, and then later by Marvel itself. ''Savage Sword of Conan'' starred ...

'' #60, January 1981.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ivory Goddess, The 1978 short stories Conan the Barbarian stories by L. Sprague de Camp Short stories by Lin Carter Pulp stories Fantasy short stories