The Devil in Iron
{{short description|Conan novelette by Robert E. Howard}}
{{For|the collection of the same title that contains this story|The Devil in Iron (collection)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox short story
| name = The Devil in Iron
| image = 200px
| caption = Cover for Weird Tales, August 1934.
Art by Margaret Brundage
| author = Robert E. Howard
| country = United States
| language = English
| series = Conan the Cimmerian
| genre = Fantasy
| published_in = Weird Tales
| publication_type = Pulp magazine
| publisher = Rural Publishing Corporation
| pub_date = August 1934
| preceded_by = Queen of the Black Coast
| followed_by = The People of the Black Circle
}}
"The Devil in Iron" is one of the original stories by American writer Robert E. Howard about sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian, first published in Weird Tales in August 1934. Howard earned $115 for the publication of this story.[http://www.rehupa.com/?page_id=170#1934 REHupa Fiction Timeline], retrieved 30 August 2012
The plot concerns the resurrection of a mythical demon, the theft of a sacred dagger, and an unrelated trap that lures Conan to the island fortress roamed by the demon. The story's plot loopholes and borrowed elements from "Iron Shadows in the Moon" lead some Howard scholars to call this story the weakest of the early Conan tales.Patrice Louinet. Hyborian Genesis: Part 1, page 452, The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian; 2003, Del Rey.
Plot summary
The actions of a greedy fisherman awaken an ancient demon, Khosatral Khel, on the remote island of Xapur. Khel resurrects his fortress which once dominated the island, including its cyclopean walls, gigantic pythons, and undead citizens.
Meanwhile, an evil governor from Turan, Jehungir Agha, tricks Conan 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 interrupts Agha's original plan.
When Conan arrives on Xapur, he battles not only the mercenaries employed by Jehungir Agha, but also a giant serpent and the iron-fleshed Khosatral Khel.
Publication history
Weird Tales first published "The Devil in Iron'" in the August 1934 issue. The story was republished in the collections Conan the Barbarian (Gnome Press, 1954), Conan the Wanderer (Lancer Books, 1968), and The Devil in Iron (Grant, 1976). 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
Roy Thomas, John Buscema and Alfredo Alcala adapted this story in Savage Sword of Conan #15. The Dark Horse Comics series Conan the Slayer adapted the story in issues #8-11.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{wikisource}}
- {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/robert-e-howard/short-fiction|Display Name=An omnibus of Howard's public domain works, including {{PAGENAMEBASE}}|noitalics=true}}
- [http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0600801h.html The Devil in Iron at Project Gutenberg Australia]
- {{ISFDB title|id=68517}}
- [http://www.amrathelion.com/ Conan the Barbarian at AmratheLion.com]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20061210191019/http://www.conan.com/ Conan.com: The official website]
- {{librivox book | title=The Devil in Iron | author=Robert E. HOWARD}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-bef|before="Queen of the Black Coast"}}
{{s-ttl|title=Original Howard Canon
(publication order)}}
{{s-aft|after="The People of the Black Circle"}}
{{s-bef|before="A Witch Shall be Born"}}
{{s-ttl|title=Original Howard Canon
(Dale Rippke chronology)}}
{{s-aft|after="The People of the Black Circle"}}
{{s-bef|before=Conan and the Amazon}}
{{s-ttl|title=Complete Conan Saga
(William Galen Gray chronology)}}
{{s-aft|after="The Flame Knife"}}
{{s-end}}
{{Conan}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devil in Iron, The}}
Category:Conan the Barbarian stories by Robert E. Howard
Category:Demons in written fiction
Category:Fantasy short stories
Category:Works originally published in Weird Tales
Category:Works set on fictional islands
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