"The Road of the Eagles" (also known as "Conan, Man of Destiny") is a 1955

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), 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 ...

novelette by American writer

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 ...

, based on a story by Robert E. Howard by the same name. Usually credited to Howard and de Camp, it features

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'') ...

Differences from Howard's original story

De Camp gave Ivan Sablianka's role to Conan, changed the setting from the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

in 1595 into Howard's

Hyborian Age The Hyborian Age is a fictional period of Earth's history within the artificial mythology created by Robert E. Howard, serving as the setting for the sword and sorcery tales of Conan the Barbarian. The word "Hyborian" is derived from the l ...

and extensively re-worked the plot and story-line so that a new "Howard" story could be added to the collection

Tales of Conan ''Tales of Conan'' is a 1955 collection of four fantasy short stories by American writers Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp, featuring Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. The tales as originally written by Howard were a ...

in 1955.

Publication history

"The Road of the Eagles" was first published in ''

Fantastic Universe ''Fantastic Universe'' was a U.S. science fiction magazine which began publishing in the 1950s. It ran for 69 issues, from June 1953 to March 1960, under two different publishers. It was part of the explosion of science fiction magazine publishin ...

'' in December 1955 under the title '' Conan, Man of Destiny''. In the same year it was also published as part of ''

'' but now under the original title "The Road of the Eagles". In 1968 it was republished, under the same title, in the collection ''

Conan the Freebooter ''Conan the Freebooter'' is a 1968 collection of five fantasy short stories by American writers Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp, featuring Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. Most of the stories originally appeared in the ...

''. The original story, now renamed "

The Way of the Swords ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

", can be found in ''

The Road of Azrael ''The Road of Azrael'' is a collection of historical short stories by Robert E. Howard. It was first published in 1979 by Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. is a fantasy and science fiction small press publish ...

'' published in 1979.

References

Sources

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External links

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1955 short stories Conan the Barbarian stories by L. Sprague de Camp Conan the Barbarian stories by Robert E. Howard Novelettes Fantasy short stories Works originally published in Fantastic Universe Short stories published posthumously {{1950s-fantasy-story-stub