J.R.R. Tolkien & Howard's Conan

What did J.R.R. Tolkien think of Robert E. Howard's iconic barbarian, Conan?

By R. Nelson Bailey

L. Sprague de Camp’s Literary Swordsmen & Sorcerers (1976).

L. Sprague de Camp’s Literary Swordsmen & Sorcerers (1976) is a nonfiction book that offers a brief history of the fantasy genre’s origins, along with biographies of some of its more well-known authors, such as Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Lord Dunsany, and J.R.R. Tolkien. One of the more interesting anecdotes de Camp relates in the book concerns his visit to Tolkien’s home in 1967.

De Camp had given Tolkien a copy of the Swords and Sorcery anthology of fantasy stories—featuring works by Poul Anderson, Fritz Leiber, Clark Ashton Smith, and others—that he had edited. Tolkien said he “found it interesting but did not much like the stories.” As they sat in Tolkien’s garage, “smoking pipes and drinking beer,” Tolkien mentioned that he “rather liked” Robert E. Howard’s Conan stories.

Who knew Tolkien liked Conan?

Tolkien (left) and Conan (right).