Conan the Swordsman

by L. Sprague De Camp

  Pra-Eun — In WM, RZ, a Kambujan wizard. In Cambodian mythology, the king of the angels.

  Promero — In GB, a Nemedian clerk.

  Prospero — In PS, CC, CA, &c, a Poitanian supporter of Conan. The magician in Shakespeare's The Tempest; ultimately possibly from Prosper Aquitanicus, a Roman theologian of +V.

  Ptahuacan — In CI, the capital of Antillia. A synthetic Egypto-Mayan name.

  Pteion — In CA, a demon-haunted Stygian ruined city.

  Pteor — In JG, the god of the Pelishtim. From Baal-Pteor, for which see Baal-Pteor.

  Publico See Kallian, Publius. From the Roman names Publicius, Publicola.

  Publio — In CC, an Argossean merchant. Italian for Publius (q.v.).

  Publius — In TT to CI, the chancellor of Aquilonia under Conan. A Roman praenomen or personal name.

  Punt — In RN, JG, IG, &c, a Negro kingdom. A place with which the ancient Egyptians traded, probably Somaliland.

  Purasati — In FK, a Vendhyan girl in Yanaidar. A Hindi feminine name.

  Python — In FK, CB, CC, the capital of the fallen empire of Acheron. In Greek mythology, a great snake slain by Apollo at Delphi; hence, in modem zoology, a genus of constrictor snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia, including the largest existing snakes; also a Greek personal name.

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  Qirlata — In CA, a Zuagir tribe.

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  Radegund — In BN, Conan's elder daughter. From Radegund or Radegunda, daughter of King Berthar of Thuringia in -f VI.

  Rakhamon — In CA, a Stygian sorcerer of former times. From the Egyptian gods Ra and Amon.

  Rakhsha — In PC, a kind of oriental wizard. From râkshasa, a class of demons in Hindu mythology.

  Raman — In CA, a county in Aquilonia. From the Indian bull Rama in Kipling's Jungle Books.

  Ramiro — In CB, the founder of King Ferdrugo's Zingaran dynasty. A Spanish given name.

  Rammon — A wizard or priest alluded to in PS. From Rimmon or Ramman, a Semitic storm god.

  Rann — In LD, Njal's daughter. A Norse sea goddess.

  Rhamdan — In CA, a port on the Vilayet Sea. From Ramadân, the Muslim Lent.

  Rhazes — In KD, a Kothian astrologer. The Latinized form of the name of ar-Razi, an Arabic physician of +IX.

  Rigello — In SK, a powerful nobleman, cousin to the king. Suggested by Lake Regillus in Italy, site of a battle in the Second Punic War.

  Rima — In SK, a slave girl.

  Rimush — In RZ, SH, a Shemitish astrologer. A king of Assyria, c. -2000.

  Rinaldo — In PS, SC, a mad Aquilonian poet. An Italian proper name, cognate with Ronald; one of the heroes of Ariosto's Orlando Furioso. In his King Kull story, "By This Axe I Rule!", which Howard rewrote as PS, he called the corresponding character "Ridondo."

  Rolf — In CA, an As at the court of King Yezdigerd. A common Scandinavian name (Old Norse, Hrolf, cognate with English Ralph), e.g., Hrolf Ganger, the Norse conqueror of Normandy.

  Roxana — In RE, the Zamorian mistress of Prince Teyaspa. The Greek form of the name of several Persian women of Achaemenid times, e.g., one of the wives of Alexander the Great (Old Persian, Rushanek).

  Rufia — In HS, the mistress of Mazdak. From the Roman cognomens Rufus, Rufinus.

  Ruo-Gen — In CA, a Khitan kingdom. A pseudo-Chinese name.

  Rustum — In BG, a Kezankian tribesman. From Rustam, the legendary Iranian hero.

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  Sabatea — A sinister Shemitish city in HS, CC. From the ancient Arabian kingdoms of Sabaea (Sheba) and Nabataea, or the Arabian city of Sabata (modern Sawa), or a combination of these.

  Sabina (=Zenobia) — In first draft of CC, discarded. The feminine form of Sabinus, a Roman cognomen, which comes from Sabini, a people of central Italy who received Roman citizenship in -III.

  Sabral — In CB, a taverner in Kordava. From the Portuguese surname Cabral.

  Sagayetha — In MB, a Pictish shaman. A pseudo-Iroquois name.

  Sagoyaga — In RZ, a chief of the Picts. A pseudo-Iroquois name.

  Saidu — In DT, a Ghanata brigand. After King Mallam Saidu of Nupe, Nigeria, reg. 1926-34.

  Sakumbe — In DT, one of the joint kings of Tombalku. Possibly from Sakpe, Nigeria.

  Salome — In WB, the wicked twin sister of Taramis (q.v.). In Matthew 14, the daughter of Herodias.

  Samara — In PE, a Turanian outpost. From Samarra,a city in Iraq, once briefly the capital of the Caliphate.

  Sancha — In PO, a Zingaran girl, the daughter of the duke of Kordava. A Spanish and Provencal proper name.

  Sareeta (=Livia) — In first draft of VW; discarded. Possibly from the feminine given name Serena.

  Sarpedon (=Tuscelan) — In first draft of BR; discarded. A Lycian prince in the Iliad, slain at Troy by Patroklos.

  Sassan — In BG, an Iranistani treasure-hunter. Sasan or Sassan was the legendary founder of the Sassanid dynasty (+III to +VII) in Iran.

  Satha — In SC, a giant snake. From Sathanas, a Greek form of Satan.

  Sathus (=Set) — In first draft of CC; discarded. From the same source as Satha (q.v.). Scavonus See Emilius. Possibly from Savona, Italy, or from such Roman names as Scaevinus, Scaevola.

  Schohira — In BB, MB, a province of the Wester-marck. From Schoharie Creek or County, New York.

  Schondara — In BB, the principal town of Schohira. Possibly a combination of Sconodoa and Thendara, New York.

  Sebro (=Gebellez) — In first draft of TT; discarded.

  Secunderam — In PC, CA, a city between Turan and Vendhya, under Turanian rule. From Secunderabad (Sikandarabad, "Alexander's place"), India, named for Sikander Lodi of Jaunpur (f. 1500), whose name in turn may come from that of Alexander the Great, + the common -am ending found in many southern Indian cities, e.g., Vizagapatam.

  Sergius — In SM, a Kothic pirate captain. A Roman gentile name.

  Servio — In CC, a Messantian innkeeper. Italian for Servius (q.v.).

  Servius — In CC, a Servius Galannus is an Aquilonian noble. A Roman gentile name.

  Set — In GB, QC, BC, &c, the Stygian serpent-god. In ancient Egypt, the jackal-headed god of war or, later, a god of evil, called Seth or Typhon by the Greeks.

  Shadizar — In TC, HD, PO, &c, the capital of Zamora. Possibly from Shanidar, Iraq. Cf. Shalizah.

  Shaf Karaz — In PS, a chief of the Khozgari tribesmen of Hyrkania.

  Shah See Amurath, Kerim. Persian for "king."

  Shahpur — In DI, CA, a Turanian city. The name of several cities in Iran and India, meaning "king's town."

  Shalizah — In SC, a pass in Ghulistan. Possibly from the Shalamar Gardens, Lahore, India.

  Shamar — In SC, a southern Aquilonian city. Probably from the Jabal Shammar, a range in Arabia.

  Shamballah — In CS, SH, the capital of Meru. A Siberian city in Tibetan legend.

  Shamla — In BC, a pass in Khoraja. From any of various Asian places like Shamil, Iran; Simla, India; or Shamlegh, a village on the Indo-Tibetan border mentioned in Kipling's Kim.

  Shamu — In SC, a plain in Ophir. Probably from Shamo, a Chinese name for the Gobi Desert.

  Shan — See Chunder Shan. Probably a combination of "khan" and "shah" (q.v.), although it is also the Chinese word for "mountain."

  Shan-e-Sorkh — In BT, the Red Waste in the Zuagir Desert. Modern Farsi (Persian) for "red sand."

  Shangara — In PS, the abode of the People of the Summit.

  Shanya — In PS, the daughter of a chief of the Khozgari.

  Shapur — In CA, a Turanian soldier. A common Persian name (Greek, Sapor) borne by several Sas-sanid kings.

  Shaulun — In CA, a village in Khitai near Paikang.

  Shem — In TE, QC, BC, &c, a land south of the Hyborian nations, divided into city-states and bordering Stygia. In the Bible, Noah's eldest son, the ancestor of the Hebrews, Arabs, and Assyrians; hence the modern "Semite" and "Semitic" (via Greek Sêm), used properly to designate the family of languages spoken by these pe
oples.

  Shevatas — In BC, a Zamorian thief. Possibly from Thevatata, a figure in Indian mythology, or Thevatat, a sorcerer-king of Atlantis in Theosophical pseudo-history, which is also derived from Indian myth.

  Shirakma — In CA, a wine-growing region of Vendhya. A pseudo-Hindi name.

  Shirki — In CC, a river in western Aquilonia. Possible sources are Sirki, the original Assyrian name for a town at the confluence of the Euphrates and Khabur rivers, later called Phaliga, Circesium, and Buseira or Bessireh; and shikari, an Indo-Iranian word for "hunter."

  Shondakor — In CS, one of the seven sacred cities of Meru. From the title of Leigh Brackett's story "The Last Days of Shandakor," in Startling Stories for April 1952.

  Shu — In CM, SH, the king of Kusan. One of the Three Kingdoms of China in +11.

  Shubba — In SD, a servant of Tuthmes. Possibly from jubbah, the long, loose Arabian gown.

  Shu-Chen — In CA, a Khitan kingdom.

  Shukeli — In SC, a eunuch. Possibly from Shukriya, a Sudanese tribe.

  Shumir — In QC, BC, KD, a Shemitish city-state. From Shumer or Sumer, the land of the Sumerians, the pre-Semitic inhabitants of ancient southern Iraq.

  Shupras — In BC, the Agha Shupras is a Khorajan councdor. Possibly from Shuqra, Arabia. (Cf. Agha.)

  Shushan — In BC, a Shemitish river: in DI, a Shemit- ish city. One of the names of ancient Shusha, Sousa, Shush, or Sus, Iran; the capital of ancient Elam, Ely-mais, Hûja, Uvja, Goution, or Sousiana (modern Khuzistan).

  Sigtona — In LW, WM, a stronghold in southwestern Hyperborea. A town of early medieval Sweden.

  Sigurd — In CB, CI, a Van sailor. From Sigurđ or Siegfried, the great North European mythical dragon-slaying hero.

  Simura — In HS, a city gate of Asgalun. From Si-murgh, in Persian myth a gigantic bird, mentioned in the Shah Nameh as dwelling on Mt. Qaf.

  Siojina-Kisua — In CB, the former name for the Nameless Isle. From Swahili si-Una kisiwa, "no-name island."

  Siptah — In GT, a Stygian magician, living in a tower on a nameless island. An Egyptian king of the Nineteenth Dynasty, c. -1200.

  Skandaga, Scandaga — In BB, Kwarada (q.v.) is called the Witch of Skandaga; Howard in "Notes on Various Peoples" describes it (under the alternative spelling) as the largest town of Conawaga. From the Sacandaga River or Vlaie (Swamp), New York.

  Skelos — In BC, DI, PC, &c., an ancient author of magical books. Probably from "skeleton," which means "dried up" in Greek. The Greek word skelos means "leg."

  Skuthus — In first draft of CC, a necromancer; discarded.

  Socandaga (=Ligurean) — In first draft of BB; discarded. From the same source as Skandaga (q.v.).

  Sogdia — In RE, a region in Hyrkania. From Sog-diana, the northernmost province of the Achaemenid Empire; later- part of the Seleucid and Bactrian Empires, now the Uzbek Socialist Soviet Republic.

  Soractus — In BR, an Aqudonian woodsman. Probably from Mt. Soracte, Italy.

  Sraosha — In CB, a deity of the Mitran pantheon. In Zoroastrianism, the personification of the divine word.

  Strabo — In CI, an Argossean bully. From Strabon (Latin, Strabo), a common Greek name, borne by the noted geographer Strabon of Amasia, -I and +1.

  Strabonus — In SD, SC, the king of Koth. From the same source as Strabo (q.v.).

  Strom, Strombanni — In BB, Hakon Strom's son is an Aquilonian ranger, while his brother Dirk Strom's son is commander of Fort Kwanyara. In the original manuscript of TT, Strom was an Argossean pirate captain; but, since ad his other Argossean names are Italianate, I changed it to "Strombanni." In BB, Howard had characters named Strom, Storm, and Gorm; believing that this would confuse readers, I changed "Storm" to "Otho." A rare English and Scandinavian surname.

  Stygus (=Styx, q.v.) — In first draft of BC, the Kothian name for the same river; discarded.

  Styx. Stygia — In TE, OC, WB, &c, respectively a river and a kingdom south of Shem, from whose people the Egyptians are descended. In Greek mythology, the Styx was the largest of the four rivers of Hades. The name was also applied to a real river in Arcadia and means "horror" or "hateful thing." "Stygia" comes from the English adjective "stygian," which in turn comes from the Latin stygius (Greek, stygios) meaning "Stygian," "infernal," "hellish."

  Subas — In DT, the original tribe of Sakumbe, on the Black Coast.

  Sukhmet — In RN, a southern frontier city in Stygia. From Sekhmet (Sekhet or Skhemit), a lion-headed Egyptian goddess.

  Sultanapur — In DI, CA, a Turanian city. From Sul-tanpur ("sultan's town"), India.

  Sumeru Tso — In CS, the inland sea of Meru. From Sumer (cf. Shumir) + Tso, Tibetan for "lake."

  Sumuabi — In HS, a king of Akkharia. From Sumu-abu, founder of the First Dynasty of Babylon, -3M.

  Sura — In MB, an Aqudonian physician. A common Roman cognomen.

  Swamp Snake (=Zogar Sag) — In first draft of BR; discarded.

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  Tachic — In RN, a man of Xuchod. Possibly from Tactic, Guatemala.

  Talakma Mts. — In CS, CA, a range in Hyrkania north of the Himelias, corresponding to the modern Tien Shan. From the Takla Makan, a desert in Sin-kiang.

  Tamar — In SC, in Howard's original manuscript, the capital of Aqudonia, elsewhere called Tarantia (q.v.). Probably from the city of Tamar ("palm tree") mentioned in I Kings 9:18; this in turn is probably an error for Tadmor (Palmyra), Syria. In current editions, I changed this name to Tarantia for consistency.

  Tameris (=Bêlit) — In first draft of QC; discarded From the same source as Taramis (q.v.).

  Tammuz — In HN, the Heart of Tammuz is a powerful amulet. Another name for Adonis (q.v.).

  Tananda — In SD, the sister of the king of Kush.

  Tanasul — In CC, WM, a place in western Aquilonia.

  Tanzong Tengri — In CS, the chief wizard of Meru. A pseudo-Tibetan name.

  Taramis — In WB, the queen of Khauran. From the Russian feminine name Tamira; or Tamara, a medieval queen of Georgia; ultimately from Tomyris, a Scythian queen in battle with whom Cyrus the Great is said by Herodotus to have been lolled.

  Tarantia — In MB, TT, CC, &c., the capital of Aquilonia. Probably from Taranto (ancient Tarentum, Taras), Italy. (Cf. Tamar.)

  Tarascus — In CC, CA, the brother of the king of Nemedia. Possibly from Tarascon, France, or from the Tarascan Indians of Mexico.

  Tarim — In DI, PC, a Turanian divinity. A river in Sinkiang.

  Tartur — In CA, a Wigur shaman. From Tartar, a medieval European corruption of the Persian Tatar, originally meaning a member of one of the tribes of Siberian Mongoloid nomads, of Turkic or Tungusic stock, but later applied to all Central Asian Mongoloid nomadic peoples, who periodically invaded the civilized lands to the east, west, and south.

  Tashudang — In CS, a Meruvian. A pseudo-Tibetan name.

  Tauran — In BR, TT, a northwestern province of Aquilonia. Probably from the Taurini, an ancient Ligurian people for whom Turin (Italian Torino, ancient Augusta Taurinorum) is named.

  Taurus — In TE, a Nemedian thief; in BC, SD, chancellor of Khoraja; in BN, Conan's younger son. Latin for "bull"; the Greek cognate tauros was also used as a personal name.

  Techotl — In RN, a man of Xuchotl. From Techotlala, an Aztec chief of +XIV.

  Tecuhltli — In RN, one of the feuding clans of Xuchod. From tecuhtli, Aztec (=Nahuad) for "grandfather" or "councilor."

  Terson — In SK, a barony in Ophir.

  Teyanoga — In BB, a Pictish shaman. A pseudo-Iroquois name.

  Teyaspa — In RE, a Turanian prince. From the Persian name Tiyasp and other names ending in -asp or -aspa.

  Tezcoti — In RN, a chamber in Xuchod. Possibly from Tezcoco or Texcoco, Mexico.

  Thabit — In CA, a Zuagir. An Arabic name, e.g., of Thabit ibn-Qurra, a +IX Arab scientist.

  Thak — In RN, a man-ape. Possibly from the Hindi thag, "thug." Cf. Zembabwei.

  Than — In HN, a nobleman of Yaralet.

 
Thanara — In CA, a woman spy for King Yezdigerd. From the Saxon word thane or thegn, "chief," "nobleman."

  Thandara — In BB, the southernmost province of the Westermarck. From Thendara, a place alluded to in Robert W. Chambers's novel The Little Red Foot, set in New York State in Revolutionary times; now the name of a town in Herkimer County, New York, formerly Fulton Chain.