Among other things he wrote of an age which he swore he had discovered--a sort of historical blind spot.
He called it the Hyborian Age. We have guessed what came before, and we know what came after, but that age itself has been a blank space--no legends, no chronicles, just a few scattered names that came to be applied in other senses.
"It's our lack of knowledge about this age that upsets our calculations and makes us put down Atlantis as a myth. This is what Von Junzt says: That when Atlantis, Lemuria and other nations of that age were destroyed by a violent cataclysm--except for scattered remnants here and there--the continent now known as Africa was untouched, though connected with the other continent. A tribe of savages fled to the arctic circle to escape the volcanoes, and eventually evolved into a race known as Hyborians. These reached a high stage of civilization and dominated the western part of the world, all except this particular part. A pre-Cataclysmic race lived here, known as Stygians. It was from them that the Grecian legend of Stygia arose; the Nile was the Styx of the fables. The Hyborians were never able to invade Stygia, and last they themselves were destroyed by waves of barbarians from the north--our own ancestors. In Stygia the ruling classes were pure-blooded, but the lower classes were mixed--Stygian, Semitic and Hyborian blood.
"In the southward drift of the barbarians, a tribe of red-haired Nordics fought their way south and overthrew the ancient Stygian regime. They destroyed or drove out the pure-blooded Stygians, and set themselves up as a ruling caste, eventually being absorbed by their subjects; from these adventurers and the mixed up mongrel lower classes came the Egyptians. It was the Stygians who built the pyramids and the Sphinx. And if I'm not mistaken, one of them lies in this pile of masonry."
Brill laughed incredulously.
Appendix
NOTES ON THE ORIGINAL HOWARD TEXTS
The texts for this edition of The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard were prepared by Rusty Burke and Rob Roehm, with the assistance of Paul Herman. The stories have been checked either against Howard's original manuscripts and typescripts, copies of which were provided by the Robert E. Howard Foundation and Glenn Lord; Lord's transcriptions of Howard's originals; or the first published appearance if a manuscript, typescript, or transcription was unavailable. Every effort has been made to present the work of Robert E. Howard as faithfully as possible.
Deviations from the original sources are detailed in these textual notes. In the following notes, page, line, and word numbers are given as follows: 11.20.2, indicating page 11, twentieth line, second word. Story titles, chapter numbers and titles, and breaks before and after chapter headings, titles, and illustrations are not counted; in poems, only text lines are counted. The page/line number will be followed by the reading in the original source, or a statement indicating the type of change made.
We have standardized chapter numbering and titling: Howard's own practices varied, as did those of the publications in which these stories appeared. We have not noted those changes here.
In the Forest of Villefere
Text taken from Weird Tales, August 1925. No changes have been made for this edition.
A Song of the Werewolf Folk
Text taken from Glenn Lord's transcription of Howard's original typescript. No changes have been made for this edition.
Wolfshead
Text taken from Weird Tales, April 1926. 6.1.2: your; 7.15.8: semicolon after "age" 9.33.4: comma after "myself" 12.35.4: single quote after "von Schiller?" 14.29.6-14: no quotation marks; 15.40.16: no comma after "floor" 22.28.7-8: "as" not in original, "if" repeated Up, John Kane!
Text taken from Glenn Lord's transcription of Howard's original typescript. No changes have been made for this edition.
Remembrance
Text taken from Weird Tales, April 1928. No changes have been made for this edition.
The Dream Snake
Text taken from Weird Tales, February 1928. 32.14.8: the Sea Curse
Text taken from Weird Tales, May 1928. 39.40.14: "of" not in original The Moor Ghost
Text taken from Weird Tales, September 1929. No changes have been made for this edition.
Moon Mockery
Text taken from Weird Tales, April 1929. No changes have been made for this edition.
The Little People
Text taken from a copy of Howard's original typescript, provided by Glenn Lord. The story was originally untitled. The typescript is unusual in having holographic additions and corrections, in addition to Howard's more frequent practice of typing such insertions. Because Howard's handwriting can be exceptionally difficult, some of the readings are conjectural, as is the placement of some inserted material.
At least one page is missing from the typescript. [A facsimile of the original typescript is included in Bran Mak Morn: The Last King (Del Rey, 2005).] 43.3.3: she,; 43.8.6: This; 43.9.6: answered,; 43.10.6-9:
"as an exponent" is hand-written above the original "to expound", "of" not in manuscript; 43.12.3: fetched.; 43.12.8: "finallity" hand-written above original "positiveness" 43.12.10: seventeen,; 43.15.7: fact.; 43.15.9: said,; 43.16.11: exclaimed,; 43.18.9: nettled,; 43.19.7: were; 43.21.2: "brotherly"
hand-written above "frown" 44.5.3-8: "A race of small, dark people." hand-written above "Traces of their type may be" with no indication of intended insertion point; 44.5.9: Traces; 44.7.7: "Lapps"
hand-written next to typed "Laps" 44.11.10: "by" not in manuscript; 44.21.6: ago.; 44.21.11: interest,; 44.23.7: havent; 44.25.3: original had "dolmens", crossed out in pencil, "menhirs" written above; 44.27.1: Maybe.; 44.27.11: "villager" hand-written above original "fellow" 44.28.1-2: "the warning"
handwritten in margin after "said", no dash; 44.28.14: Youre; 44.29.1: no comma after "sophisticated"
44.29.8: wouldnt; 44.31.11-12: "and combat" hand-written after "interest." 44.32.5: exclaimed,; 44.33.7: didnt; 44.36.3: wont; 44.36.4: either.; 44.36.6: vetoed,; 44.37.12-14: original had "true", crossed out in pencil, "up to date" hand-written above; 44.38.2-3: original had "New Age", crossed out in pencil, "Younger Generation" hand-written above; 44.39.2: havent; 44.39.10: night.; 44.39.12: answered,; 45.1.4: wouldnt; 45.2.5: you.; 45.2.6-9: "to be out unprotected."" handwritten following
"you."" 45.4.1: No quotation mark before "I" 45.4.3: youre; 45.4.5: foolish.; 45.5.14: no comma after
"I" 45.9.7: framing,; 45.14.1: wouldnt; 45.17.7: willfull; 45.19.2: cant; 45.19.5: around.; 45.19.7: flamed,; 45.19.12: original had "restrain", "bully" hand-written above; 45.21.3: necessary.; 45.21.5: sighed,; 45.25.3: didnt; 45.25.8: anyhow.; 45.28.1: original had "bully", crossed out and "cajole"
hand-written above; 45.31.1: no period after "corridor" 45.34.8: gristly; 45.35.6-10: "and the air was warm" is typed in above "yet the whole landscape" without indication of the intended insertion point; 45.36.1: LOOKED; 45.36.6-11: original had "Across the I rise," "fen" and "saw" are hand-written above; 45.37.9: original had "ruined Cromlech", "ed" of "ruined" crossed out, "s" inserted after "ruin", and "Cromlech" crossed out; 46.2.3-6: original had "She disliked compulsory obeidience extremely.",
"Compulsory obeidence was repugnant" hand-written above; 46.4.12: "I" hand-written above "lay"
46.5.2-3: "brooding and" typed in above "staring at the" with no indication of intended insertion point; 46.9.8: original had "lurking", crossed out and "impending" hand-written above; 46.10.9: conciousness; 46.11.12: "through" is typed above "into the window" 46.13.7: arrouse; 46.15.3-4: originally "strange thoughts", "strange" is crossed out in pencil, "partly formed" typed above "thoughts", then "formed" is crossed out and a word that may be "remembered" is written above, but the reading is conjectural; 46.15.11: awke; 46.25.7: original had "cromlech", crossed out and "ruins" hand-written above; 46.25.13: no comma after "moon" 46.26.5: comma rather than dash after "length" 46.28.10: original had