The Scarlet Citadel

"The Scarlet Citadel"
Author	Robert E. Howard
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Conan the Cimmerian
Genre(s)	Fantasy
Published in	Weird Tales
Publication type	Pulp magazine
Publisher	Rural Publishing Corp.
Publication date	January 1933
Preceded by	"The Phoenix on the Sword"
Followed by	"The Tower of the Elephant"

"The Scarlet Citadel" is one of the original short stories starring the fictional sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard and first published in the January, 1933 issue of Weird Tales magazine. It is set in the pseudo-historical Hyborian Age and concerns a middle-aged Conan battling rival kingdoms, being captured through treachery and escaping from an eldritch dungeon via unexpected aid. The story includes Tsotha-lanti, an evil wizard whose sorcerous arts help to ensnare King Conan.

The story was republished in the collections King Conan (Gnome Press, 1953) and Conan the Usurper (Lancer Books, 1967). It has more recently been published in the collections The Conan Chronicles Volume 2: The Hour of the Dragon (Gollancz, 2001) and Conan of Cimmeria: Volume One (1932-1933) (Del Rey, 2003).

The story is very similar to The Hour of the Dragon, which shares the points of Conan's capture and later escape from a dungeon, even though it tones down the supernatural element.

Plot summary

"The Scarlet Citadel" was the second Conan story to be published in Weird Tales magazine and involves an older, wiser Conan as king of Aquilonia. King Conan receives a call for help from Amalrus, the ruler of neighbouring Ophir, who claims that Strabonus, the Emperor of Koth, is threatening his kingdom.

When Conan marches into Ophir, with an army of five thousand Aquilonian knights, his planned campaign is revealed to be a trap as the two monarchs are working together to destroy him with the assistance of a Kothian wizard named Tsotha-lanti. The Aquilonian knights are cut to pieces while Conan, having been captured, is imprisoned within a Korshemish dungeon. This dungeon is used by Tsotha-lanti for nefarious experiments, and Conan discovers many of the bizarre horrors during his escape.

Eventually, Conan frees Pelias, a former rival wizard of Tsotha-lanti, who helps him escape the dungeon and regain his position as king of Aquilonia. This notably makes Pelias a rare case of a sorcerer who is Conan's ally rather than his enemy (the only other being the witch Zelata in The Hour of the Dragon). The story climaxes with a gigantic battle, where Tsotha-lanti meets a grisly fate at the hands of Pelias.

Reception

Robert Weinberg described "The Scarlet Citadel" as "Howard at his best", and praised the character of Pelias.[1]

Adaptation

The story was adapted by Roy Thomas and Frank Brunner in Savage Sword of Conan #30 in 1978, then by Tim Truman and Tomas Giorello in 2011 in King Conan: The Scarlet Citadel.

References

Robert Weinberg, The Weird Tales Story. FAX Collector’s Editions. ISBN 0913960160 (p. 36).

External links

Preceded by "The Phoenix on the Sword"	Original Howard Canon (publication order)	Succeeded by "The Tower of the Elephant"
Preceded by "The Phoenix on the Sword"	Original Howard Canon (Dale Rippke chronology)	Succeeded by The Hour of the Dragon
Preceded by "The Phoenix on the Sword"	Complete Conan Saga (William Galen Gray chronology)	Succeeded by The Hour of the Dragon

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[1] Robert Weinberg, The Weird Tales Story. FAX Collector’s Editions. ISBN 0913960160 (p. 36).