The Heroine in two Conan Stories

Olivia in "Shadows in the Moonlight" and Zenobia in "The Hour of the Dragon"

I’ve already written about Zenobia.

Recently, I read “Shadows in the Moonlight”, also called “Iron Shadows in the Moon”, published in the vol. 23, #4, April 1934 of Weird Tales, and the only one of Robert E. Howard’s Conan stories that we know J.R.R. Tolkien could have read. It was gifted to him by Roger Zelazny and found in Tolkien’s estate with Zelazny’s inscription.

I’ve noticed some common themes with the heroines. Yes, I know, it’s just a sample of two, but it’s a start.

SPOILERS FOR BOTH “SHADOWS IN THE MOONLIGHT” AND “THE HOUR OF THE DRAON”

Hugh Doak Copp, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Shadows in the Moonlight

She Subverts the Damsel in Distress Trope

At least, according to Wikipedia’s definition: “The damsel in distress is a narrative device in which one or more men must rescue a woman who has been kidnapped or placed in other peril. Kinship, love, lust or a combination of those motivate the male protagonist to initiate the narrative,” and the two Howard works I’ve read. Yes, it surprised me, too.

Yes, both Olivia and Zenobia are in distress, but no, that does not motivate Conan to save them. In other words, rescuing them is not what motivates Conan’s actions.

I’ve read some summaries of other stories where Conan does choose the life of a woman over wealth, but at this point, I’ve been so misled that I’d have to read the stories myself to get them in context. I would guess that he is simply choosing someone’s life over wealth, which seems in character (assuming that the person whose life he’s saving isn’t an enemy or a combatant.) It would be just as much in character, as I see it, to make that choice for a man as well. He doesn’t just save women.

She Saves Conan

In fact, in order for Conan to achieve his goals, she must first save him. And yeah, that surprised me too. In both cases, it is Conan who can’t achieve his goal until he is rescued by the woman he will, towards the end of each story, also end up rescuing.

At least based on this book and this story, kinda makes me wonder why Conan isn’t a feminist icon. Nah, not really.

It may look like Conan saves Olivia at the beginning of Shadows, but not only does he not set out to save her, he doesn’t even know she’s there until after he’s killed Shah Amurath, the man who owns her. Amurath also happens to be the man who tortured and killed all the other members of the mercenary band Conan was a member of, and who still has people looking for Conan to kill him. And Olivia inadvertently gave Conan the chance to kill him. She stole a horse and tried to escape from him, which led him to ride after her alone.

She begs Conan to take her with him, and he agrees. So not leaving her there is a kind of rescue, I guess. But it doesn’t change his plans at all.

She is Not Helpless

Well, obviously. Even when the heroine can’t escape a particular situation, she can still rescue Conan.

Zenobia hasn’t figured out a way to get out of Tarascus’s seraglio, but she can drug the guards, steal the keys, and oh, by the way, somehow manage to get her hands on an 15” war dagger and a war horse.

Olivia’s attempted escape set Conan up to kill the man who was the enemy of both of them. And then later, she climbs down a steep hill at night and sneaks through the enemy camp of drunk pirates to the cut Conan free from the pillar.

This reminds me of what Nisus and Euryalus do in Book IX of the Aeneid, killing the drunken enemies in the field outside the Trojan camp. And since Howard had access to Plutarch, it’s likely he had access to Virgil as well.

She Shows Her Emotions

I didn’t see much of a difference in Virgil between the emotional expressiveness of his heroes and heroines, martial or otherwise. They all weep and fear. But Howard is definitely Anglo Western. At least in these two stories, his heroines are not stoic but Conan is. He never weeps or shows any fear, while Zenobia and Olivia both cry, shake, and are terrified, although both are able to act.

She’s Sexy But Not a Sex Object

Yes, she’s beautiful. It reminds me of how often Virgil describes a woman or goddess in the Aeneid as “the most beautiful.” It almost gets to the point where it sounds like “okay, here’s another Helen, next.” I think it must be some kind of conventional phrase used in epics. Virgil even use “the most beautiful” for heroic men. Howard does something similar in the way he describes the beauty of women (although, believe it or not, way toned down from Virgil, in my opinion) and the strength of Conan.

Then there’s the clothes, or near lack thereof. Which is pretty much in line with ancient Roman and Greek depictions of heroes and heroines. This could actually reflect the classical influences on Howard. I’m wondering how much different the artwork would be if it were deliberately based on classical Roman or Greek heroic art. Or is it?

Yes, yes, I know. The male gaze. But there is a difference between specifically aiming for a particular reaction, and not trying to avoid it.

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So what do you all think, who really know the lore?