The Vale of Lost Women

"The Vale of Lost Women" is a fantasy short story by American author Robert E. Howard, one of his original short stories about Conan the Cimmerian, however not published during his lifetime. The story was first published in The Magazine of Horror for Spring, 1967, and republished in the collection Conan of Cimmeria (Lancer Books, 1967). It has most recently been republished in the collections The Conan Chronicles Volume 1: The People of the Black Circle (Gollancz, 2000) and Conan of Cimmeria: Volume One (1932-1933) (Del Rey, 2003). It's set in the pseudo-historical Hyborian Age and details Conan rescuing a female Ophirean captive from the Bakalah tribe, on the (apparent) condition that he will receive sexual favors in return for his generosity.

This article is about a short story. For the protagonist and principal character, see Conan the Barbarian.
"The Vale of Lost Women"
AuthorRobert E. Howard
Original title"The Vale of Lost Women"
CountryUS
LanguageEnglish
SeriesConan the Cimmerian
Genre(s)Fantasy
Published inThe Magazine of Horror
Publication typePulp magazine
Publication date1967

Plot summary

The story begins with Livia, a soft and civilized woman, being held captive by the Bakalah tribe. They captured Livia and her brother when the two were traveling across a remote jungle, and eventually the natives kill Livia's brother in an act of excruciating torture. Conan appears as the leader of the Bamulas, a rival tribe. He negotiates a possible truce with the Bakalah, and plans for a joint attack on Jihiji. After realizing Conan is white and may feel some kinship towards her, Livia asks him for his assistance against the black tribesmen. When Conan rejects her proposal, Livia offers herself to him as a reward for rescuing her.

Keeping his side of the bargain, Conan and his warriors proceed with a surprise attack on the Bakalahs in the middle of their celebratory feast. Soon, he slays their brutal chief by slicing his head off. The resulting carnage pushes the proper and civilized girl to her breaking point. When Livia sees Conan, drenched in blood and walking toward her bamboo hut while carrying the chief's head, she believes he is coming to claim his reward. Frightened, she breaks their agreement by fleeing on horseback into the nearby jungle.

After escaping from the village, her horse stumbles and Livia is thrown onto the ground. Unharmed, she descends into a mysterious valley filled with beautiful orchids. The valley is also inhabited by a tribe of brown-skinned women with a lesbian culture. Believing she has found shelter from the blood-soaked "male brutality" of her Cimmerian savior, Livia feels safe around the eerie beauty of her surroundings. Mesmerized by the hallucinogenic scent of a native flower, Livia barely notices she's being led to an altar-like section of the glade, where she is to be sacrificed to a bat-like entity, a "devil from the Outer Dark".

Conan, having pursued Livia and heard her cries for help, rushes to her aid. After a brutal fight, Conan drives away the bat-like creature. Conan tells Livia that he regrets the "foul bargain" he made with her and has no intention of forcing her into having sex, which in his view would have been as damnable an action as raping her. Since he believes Livia is not brave enough to survive within the Black Kingdoms, Conan tells her he'll guide her to the Stygian borders where they will send her home to Ophir. Embarrassed by her grateful reaction, he tells Livia she's too soft to be "the proper woman for the war chief of the Bamulas".

Reception

James Van Hise, reviewing "The Vale of Lost Women", stated ""The Vale of Lost Women" is a minor effort", and added "it has more the air of a Conan pastiche than it does of Howard's more polished and well thought out tales." [1]

Adaptation

Marvel Comics' 1970s Conan the Barbarian comic spent a very long time detailing and adding to Conan's adventures on the Black Coast. Conan joins the Bamulas in #101, with the "Vale of Lost Women" finally adapted in #104.

References
  1. James Van Hise, Pulp Magazine Thrillers : Heroes & Horrors of the '30s & '40s. Yucca Valley, CA : J. Van Hise, 1998. (p. 143-6)
Preceded by
"The Hall of the Dead"		 Original Howard Canon
(publication order) 		Succeeded by
"Wolves Beyond the Border"
Preceded by
"Drums of Tombalku"		 Original Howard Canon
(Dale Rippke chronology) 		Succeeded by
"The Pool of the Black One"
Preceded by
Conan at the Demon's Gate		 Complete Conan Saga
(William Galen Gray chronology) 		Succeeded by
"The Castle of Terror"
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