THE BLOOD-STAINED GOD

Okay, I'm excited. We're finally leaving behind Conan's mercenary period for Turan, which I feel was, on the whole, just a little bit less fun than this thieving period. We've also reached another story with its genesis in Robert E. Howard, though the finished product is very different than how Howard started it. 

"The Blood-Stained God" (sometimes The Blood-Stained God in italics because it's referred to as a novella, though it's really no longer than most of Howard's short stories, so I'm not sure why this one counts as a novella. Also, sometimes it's spelled without the hyphen in the word "Blood-Stained," so sometimes it's The Bloodstained God. Sorry to be such a fucking English teacher about the title.) was published in 1955 in the short story collection Tales of Conan. But it began life not as a Conan story at all.

​In the 1930s, Howard had another pulp character in print: an Indiana Jones-style treasure hunter named Kirby O'Donnell. He only published two Kibry O'Donnell stories, those being Swords of Shahrazar in 1934 and The Treasure of Tartary in 1935. The Curse of the Crimson God was rejected by at least four different magazines in 1936, and while the original saw publication in the 70s, L. Sprague de Camp Conanized it and turned the draft from Howard's notes into "The Blood-Stained God" for 1955's Tales of Conan.

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I'm not sure how much credit to give to Howard and how much to give to de Camp, but what we're left with is a pretty excellent Conan story. Conan has left the Turanian army and is back in Zamora. He is in the city of Arenjun, which de Camp has once again said is the City of Thieves. In previous posts, I noted how de Camp kind of just decided that the Zamorian City of Thieves is Arenjun. However, in my read on this story, I think Conan may actually be in Arenjun, not in the thief-city. I say this for two reasons: the city's description in the beginning is unlike any description we've previously gotten of the City of Thieves, and more importantly, Conan is in proximity to the Kezankian Mountains on the eastern border of Zamora. If Dale Rippke is to be believed, the City of Thieves is all the way on the other side of the country. 

In summary: de Camp conflates the two cities. In the past stories, Conan has been to the City of Thieves. This time, he's in Arenjun.

"Hidden in the [Kezankian] mountains near here is an ancient temple, which the hill folk fear to enter."

We follow Conan with Sassan, of Iranistan, to the temple of the blood-stained god, with a couple of ambushes along the way. They're trying to outrun a troop of guards led by an uncompromising leader named Keraspa, forcing Conan to team up with the distrustful Zyras to race to the temple. Teaming Conan up with allies we know he can't trust is always a formula for a good time. It raises the stakes and promises some action later in the story. 

"​​Dawn broke as they came out of a narrow gorge into a steep-walled valley... There seemed no way down into the mist-veiled depths of the valley far below. The men wasted few glances in this direction, for the sight ahead drove hunger and fatigue from their minds. There on the ledge stood the temple, gleaming in the rising sun. It was carved out of the sheer rock of the cliff, its great portico facing them."

I know Indiana Jones is inspired by pulp heroes of the 1930s, but I'm still a little caught off-guard when I read something that reminds me so clearly of those films. Like the Temple of Doom scene in "The City of Skulls," this description of a canyon-borne hidden temple cut from the rock of the wall seems straight out of Last Crusade. It sounds so much like the Holy Grail's temple (which, yes, I know was shot at the real Al-Khazneh in Jordan) that I wonder if someone involved in making those films had read Conan. Both are pretty dope. 

I really enjoyed this one. Thematically, it would sit nicely with the thief stories, but it doesn't fit there chronologically.

​Conan is headed north and west after this story. According to de Camp and Carter, he returns to Cimmeria for a time, but I believe this all happens off-screen. Several chronologies put "The Frost-Giant's Daughter" next, but I still feel like that story needs to be earlier on (I mean, I have it listed first) in our chronology. It seems a little odd and random to me that Conan just up and decides to return to the Aesir to hang out with them, so I'm not sold on changing the order. "The Lair of the Ice Worm" is up next.

​★★★★☆