"The Lair of the Ice Worm" is a

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

by American writers

L. Sprague de Camp Lyon Sprague de Camp (; November 27, 1907 – November 6, 2000) was an American writer of science fiction, fantasy and non-fiction. In a career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, including novels and works of non-fiction, including biog ...

and

Lin Carter Linwood Vrooman Carter (June 9, 1930 – February 7, 1988) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor, poet and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft (for an H. P. L ...

, featuring the fictional sword and sorcery hero

Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films (including '' Conan the Barbarian'' and '' Conan the Destroyer'') ...

created by Robert E. Howard. It was first published by

Lancer Books Lancer Books was a publisher of paperback books founded by Irwin Stein and Walter Zacharius that operated from 1961 through 1973. While it published stories of a number of genres, it was noted most for its science fiction and fantasy, particularl ...

in the paperback collection ''

Conan of Cimmeria ''Conan of Cimmeria'' is a collection of eight fantasy short stories written by Robert E. Howard, L. Sprague de Camp, and Lin Carter and featuring Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. Most of the stories were originally publis ...

'' (1969), which was reprinted several times, first by Lancer and later by Ace Books through 1993. It has also been published by

Sphere Books Sphere Books is the name of two British paperback publishers. History The original Sphere Books was launched in 1966 by Thomson Corporation. Sphere was sold to Pearson PLC in 1985 and became part of Penguin. The name was retired in 1990. In 19 ...

in the omnibus paperback collection ''

The Conan Chronicles ''The Conan Chronicles'' is a 1989 omnibus collection of three fantasy collections by American writers Robert E. Howard, L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter, featuring Howard's seminal sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian, published by S ...

'' (1989).

Plot summary

Tiring of the icy lands of the Aesir, Conan is traveling through the frozen wastelands north of his home country, and finds himself protecting a girl named Ilga, who is attacked by a tribe of savage subhumans. With night approaching fast, and Conan's horse killed in his battle against the savages, they take refuge in an ice cave, despite Ilga's seemingly irrational fears of something she merely calls "Yakhmar", failing to elaborate. After building a small fire, they make love and then rest. But in the middle of the night, as Conan sleeps on, two eerie orbs of cold flame appear at the cave's mouth, and a hypnotic piping lures Ilga out of the cave. When Conan awakens the next morning, he finds the girl missing. Following her trail outside, he encounters strange tracks and finally finds the remains of his horse and of Ilga, with the flesh sucked clean from their bones and the bones themselves surprisingly sheathed in ice. It is then that Conan recalls tribal tales of a creature named Remora, a vampiric worm creature whose body radiates cold and for which Ilga's "Yakhmar" must be another name. Feeling responsible for Ilga's death, he vows to avenge her by slaying the creature. After collecting the coals of his campfire in his helmet and sticking his battle axe into it, he follows the worm's trail to a glacier cave. As the creature attempts to mesmerize him with its piping, Conan fans the coals in his helmet into

white heat ''White Heat'' is a 1949 American film noir directed by Raoul Walsh and starring James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O'Brien, Margaret Wycherly and Steve Cochran. Written by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts (writer), Ben Roberts, ''White Heat'' is base ...

and then sends firstly his heated axe, and secondly the helmet with the glowing coals, into the monster's maw. Conan then runs out of the caves, barely making his escape as the Remora's death throes cause the glacier to explode in an avalanche. The story ends with Conan making his way on foot to the southern lands.

Adaptations

"The Lair of the Ice Worm" has been adapted for the comic series '' Savage Sword of Conan'' #34, and the

GURPS The ''Generic Universal RolePlaying System'', or ''GURPS'', is a tabletop role-playing game system designed to allow for play in any game setting. It was created by Steve Jackson Games and first published in 1986 at a time when most such systems ...

adventure module ''Conan the Wyrmslayer''.Steve Jackson Games: ''GURPS: Conan the Wyrmslayer''
(retrieved April 7, 2017).

Notes

External links

Conan the Barbarian at AmratheLion.com

Conan.com: The Official Website
1969 short stories Conan the Barbarian stories by L. Sprague de Camp Pulp stories Fantasy short stories {{1960s-fantasy-story-stub