The Devil in Iron

"The Devil in Iron" is one of the original stories by Robert E. Howard about Conan the Cimmerian, first published in Weird Tales in August 1934. Howard earned $115 for the publication of this story.[1]

"The Devil in Iron"
Cover for Weird Tales, August 1934. Art by Margaret Brundage
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 Corporation
Publication date	August 1934
Preceded by	"Queen of the Black Coast"
Followed by	"The People of the Black Circle"

The plot concerns the resurrection of a mythical demon due to the theft of a sacred dagger, and an unrelated trap that lures Conan to the island fortress roamed by the demon. Due to its plot loopholes and borrowed elements from "Iron Shadows in the Moon", some Howard scholars claim this story is the weakest of the early Conan tales.[2]

Plot summary

In "The Devil in Iron", an ancient demon, Khosatral Khel, is awakened on the remote island of Xapur due to the actions of a greedy fisherman. Upon reawakening, Khel resurrects his vast fortress which once dominated the island, including its cyclopean walls, gigantic pythons, and undead citizens.

Meanwhile, Conan— a leader of the Vilayet kozaks— is tricked by an evil governor from Turan, Jehungir Agha, into pursuing Princess Octavia to the island of Xapur. Jehungir Agha plans for Conan to fall into a prepared trap on the island. The unforeseen resurrection of Khel and his ancient fortress, however, interrupts Agha's original plan.

When Conan arrives on Xapur, he must battle against not only the mercenaries employed by Jehungir Agha, but a giant serpent and the iron-fleshed monstrosity who is Khosatral Khel.

Publication history

The Devil in Iron was first published in the August 1934 issue of Weird Tales. The story was republished in the collections Conan the Barbarian (Gnome Press, 1954) and Conan the Wanderer (Lancer Books, 1968). It has more recently been published 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).

Adaptation

The story was adapted by Roy Thomas, John Buscema and Alfredo Alcala in Savage Sword of Conan #15.

Notes

REHupa Fiction Timeline, retrieved 30 August 2012
Patrice Louinet. Hyborian Genesis: Part 1, page 452, The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian; 2003, Del Rey.

External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

The Devil in Iron

The Devil in Iron title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
Conan the Barbarian at AmratheLion.com
Conan.com: The official website
The Devil in Iron public domain audiobook at LibriVox

Preceded by "Queen of the Black Coast"	Original Howard Canon (publication order)	Succeeded by "The People of the Black Circle"
Preceded by "A Witch Shall be Born"	Original Howard Canon (Dale Rippke chronology)	Succeeded by "The People of the Black Circle"
Preceded by Conan and the Amazon	Complete Conan Saga (William Galen Gray chronology)	Succeeded by "The Flame Knife"

Conan the Barbarian

Stories, books

Books	Conan (books)
Original works by Robert E. Howard	"Beyond the Black River" "Black Colossus" "The Black Stranger" "Cimmeria" "The Devil in Iron" "Drums of Tombalku" "The Frost-Giant's Daughter" "The God in the Bowl" "The Hall of the Dead" "The Hand of Nergal" The Hour of the Dragon "Jewels of Gwahlur" "The People of the Black Circle" "The Phoenix on the Sword" "The Pool of the Black One" "Queen of the Black Coast" "Red Nails" "Rogues in the House" "The Scarlet Citadel" "Shadows in the Moonlight" "Shadows in Zamboula" "The Slithering Shadow" "The Snout in the Dark" "The Tower of the Elephant" "The Vale of Lost Women" "A Witch Shall be Born" "Wolves Beyond the Border"
Non-Howard works (some based on non- Conan Howard works)	"Black Sphinx of Nebthu" "Black Tears" The Blood-Stained God "The Castle of Terror" "The City of Skulls" Conan and the Amazon Conan and the Death Lord of Thanza Conan and the Emerald Lotus Conan and the Gods of the Mountain Conan and the Grim Grey God Conan and the Manhunters Conan and the Mists of Doom Conan and the Shaman's Curse Conan and the Sorcerer Conan and the Spider God Conan and the Treasure of Python Conan at the Demon's Gate Conan, Lord of the Black River Conan of the Isles Conan of the Red Brotherhood Conan of Venarium Conan, Scourge of the Bloody Coast Conan the Barbarian (1982) Conan the Barbarian (2011) Conan the Bold Conan the Buccaneer Conan the Champion Conan the Defender Conan the Defiant Conan the Destroyer Conan the Fearless Conan the Formidable Conan the Free Lance Conan the Gladiator Conan the Great Conan the Guardian Conan the Hero Conan the Hunter Conan the Indomitable Conan the Invincible Conan the Liberator Conan the Magnificent Conan the Marauder Conan the Mercenary Conan the Outcast Conan the Raider Conan the Rebel Conan the Relentless Conan the Renegade Conan the Rogue Conan the Savage Conan the Triumphant Conan the Unconquered Conan the Valiant Conan the Valorous Conan the Victorious Conan the Warlord "The Curse of the Monolith" "Death-Song of Conan the Cimmerian" The Flame Knife "The Gem in the Tower" "Hawks over Shem" "The Ivory Goddess" "The Lair of the Ice Worm" "Legions of the Dead" "Moon of Blood" "The People of the Summit" "Red Moon of Zembabwei" The Return of Conan The Road of Kings "The Road of the Eagles" "Shadows in the Dark" "Shadows in the Skull" "The Star of Khorala" The Sword of Skelos "The Thing in the Crypt" "The Witch of the Mists"
Collections	Black Colossus The Bloody Crown of Conan The Coming of Conan The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian The Complete Chronicles of Conan Conan The Conan Chronicles (Howard, et al) The Conan Chronicles (Jordan) The Conan Chronicles, 1 The Conan Chronicles 2 The Conan Chronicles, 2 The Conan Chronicles II Conan of Aquilonia Conan of Cimmeria Conan the Adventurer Conan the Avenger Conan the Barbarian (1954) Conan the Barbarian (2011) Conan the Freebooter Conan the Swordsman Conan the Usurper Conan the Wanderer Conan the Warrior The Conquering Sword of Conan The Devil in Iron The Essential Conan The Further Chronicles of Conan Jewels of Gwahlur King Conan The People of the Black Circle The Pool of the Black One Queen of the Black Coast Red Nails Rogues in the House Sagas of Conan The Sword of Conan Tales of Conan The Tower of the Elephant The Treasure of Tranicos
Scholarship	The Blade of Conan The Conan Grimoire The Conan Reader The Conan Swordbook The Spell of Conan

Authors

Creator	Robert E. Howard
Later authors	Poul Anderson Leonard Carpenter Lin Carter L. Sprague de Camp Roland J. Green John C. Hocking Robert Jordan Sean A. Moore Björn Nyberg Andrew J. Offutt Steve Perry John Maddox Roberts Michael A. Stackpole Roy Thomas Harry Turtledove Karl Edward Wagner

Other media

Film	Conan the Barbarian (1982) Conan the Destroyer (1984) Red Sonja (1985) Kull the Conqueror (1997) Conan the Barbarian (2011)
Television	Conan the Adventurer (1992) Conan and the Young Warriors (1994) Conan the Adventurer (1997)
Comics	Conan (comics) Conan (Marvel Comics) Conan (Dark Horse Comics) Conan the Barbarian The Savage Sword of Conan
Games	Conan Unchained! Conan Against Darkness! Conan: Hall of Volta Conan Role-Playing Game GURPS Conan Conan: The Mysteries of Time Conan (2004) Conan: The Roleplaying Game Conan Collectible Card Game Conan (2007) Age of Conan (Rise of the Godslayer) Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of Conan Exiles Hyborian War

Setting

Characters	Bêlit Conan the Barbarian Kulan Gath Queen Taramis Red Sonja Serpent Men Thoth-Amon Thulsa Doom Valeria Vammatar Xaltotun Zenobia
Deities	Crom Mitra Set
World	Hyborian Age Aquilonia Cimmeria Acheron Empire
Chronology	The Hyborian Age Conan chronologies

Kull	Thurian Age
Red Sonja	"The Shadow of the Vulture"
References	Cerebus the Aardvark Cohen the Barbarian Conan the Librarian

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