[CONAN] Unimaginable Cimmeria

[Supplement Four]

I'm wondering about the things we don't normally associate with Cimmeria actually being in Conan's homeland. It's easy to picture a vast, mountainous, grey land, unforgiving, deadly, sparsely populated by hardended warriors wearing leather studded with iron, sporting captured weapons of steel, living in wattle and daub huts and primitive villages.

But, is all of Cimmeria like that?

It can't be.

The Rule of Life dictates variety and things we don't expect.

How common is chain mail? It is easy to obtain in any Cimmerian village? Do most Cimmerian warriors wear it?

What about stone-cutting? Are there giant rocks in Cimmeria--even mountain faces or cave entrances--that feature the work of master stone masons?

How about forts? Do Cimmerians build them? Outposts? And, if they do, are these places made entirely of wood, like the Aquilonian outposts in the Westermarch? Or, are they stone built, like that the Cimmerians have seen across the mountains in Hyperborea and Brythunia?

Is all of Cimmerian land claimed by this clan or that? Or, are there large stretches of no-man's-land wilderness?

Do all Cimmerians belong in a clan? What about the clanless?

I would think that there are no roads in Cimmeria beyond a dirt trail, but what about finding the occasional independent tavern, where a brewer set up shop to trade with those who venture on the road?

What is trade like in Cimmeria? How wide-spread is it? Are the clans self sufficient? Or, do they have a rudimentary trade situation with their neighbors, when they are not raiding them?

How often would you find a non-Cimmerian living among Cimmerians? A Khitian sorcerer, looking for a lost Atlantean artifact. A Brythunian trader exporting Cimmerian made leather goods back home?

Sure, the clans raid amongst themselves and over the borders of Cimmeria, but are there Cimmerian equivalents to bandit clans, like the Zuagir or the Khozaki?

And, how much difference can you expect the Cimmerian clans to be? Are they all pretty much like Conan? Or do we encounter Cimmerians that are backward, feral, almost like Picts? Or, even more advanced Cimmerians, living in near-cities at the mouth of a gold mine?

What are your thoughts about Cimmeria--not the stereotype, but the place, if it were real?

 

[Mach5RR]

And, how much difference can you expect the Cimmerian clans to be? Are they all pretty much like Conan? Or do we encounter Cimmerians that are backward, feral, almost like Picts? Or, even more advanced Cimmerians, living in near-cities at the mouth of a gold mine?

What are your thoughts about Cimmeria--not the stereotype, but the place, if it were real?

“What manner of men are these northern folk?” asked Prospero.

“Tall and fair and blue-eyed. Their god is Ymir, the frost-giant, and each tribe has its own king. They are wayward and fierce. They fight all day and drink ale and roar their wild songs all night.”

“Then I think you are like them,” laughed Prospero. “You laugh greatly, drink deep and bellow good songs; though I never saw another Cimmerian who drank aught but water, or who ever laughed, or ever sang save to chant dismal dirges.”

“Perhaps it’s the land they live in,” answered the king. “A gloomier land never was – all of hills, darkly wooded, under skies nearly always gray, with winds moaning drearily down the valleys.”

“Little wonder men grow moody there,” quoth Prospero with a shrug of his shoulders, thinking of the smiling sun-washed plains and blue lazy rivers of Poitain, Aquilonia’s southernmost province.

“They have no hope here or hereafter,” answered Conan. “Their gods are Crom and his dark race, who rule over a sunless place of everlasting mist, which is the world of the dead. Mitra! The ways of the Æsir were more to my liking.”

Excerpt From: Robert E. Howard. “The Phoenix on the Sword.”

My takeway from this is that your typical Cimmerian is utterly unlike Conan. They are content to be left on their grey hills. They drink naught but water, never seeking a better life, but will repel with utter ferocity those who come within their territory.

I would say that they do come somewhat outside their hills, as Prospero has had dealings with them, but would still remain aloof around non-Cimmerians. The Cimmerians around the borders would be different than the centrally located ones, as they are the ones who deal/repel the different countries on each side (Picts, Hyborians, and Vanir).

I think it had to do with the way Howard wrote them. To him, a state of barbarism was a more pure state than civilization. The Cimmerians survive because they reject the softness that civilization brings (until they eventually become civilized, and then fall to other barbarian hordes)

 

[Supplement Four]

Here's an example of what I'm talking about--

I speculate that there is much travel done in Cimmeria via the rivers, by raft or boat. It makes sense do to the difficult terrain of the country that waterborne travel would be faster and easier than by foot.

But, normally, we don't picture Cimmerians squatting on a river raft, guiding it down a watery path, using along pole to avoid the rocks.

It is something that seems plausible about the place but also something that doesn't immediately come to mind when thinking of Cimmeria and its people.

 

[Mach5RR]

Here's an example of what I'm talking about--

I speculate that there is much travel done in Cimmeria via the rivers, by raft or boat. It makes sense do to the difficult terrain of the country that waterborne travel would be faster and easier than by foot.

But, normally, we don't picture Cimmerians squatting on a river raft, guiding it down a watery path, using along pole to avoid the rocks.

It is something that seems plausible about the place but also something that doesn't immediately come to mind when thinking of Cimmeria and its people.

I am going to disagree with you for a couple of reasons, that kind of tie in together. The main reason is that river travel is normally done over flat land ... which Cimmeria is not. I have always based Cimmeria off of the highlands in Scotland. And while the highlands have rivers, they also have waterfalls. Lots of waterfalls as water chooses the fastest route down, not the one most convenient for watercraft.
Now, while this might lead to some exciting water travel down river, it makes it virtually impossible to take the boat back up the river. Meaning the raft/boat has to be ported back to its origin. It also means that whatever resources can fit on the boat are going to define what helps carry it back. This means a limited number of people and guards. And since Cimmeria is not a united kingdom, but a collection of clans, whoever is doing this travel could find themselves in unfriendly territory.

 

[Supplement Four]

Interesting thoughts, there, Mach5RR. That's exactly the kind of discussion I was trying to promote.