''Conan the Freebooter'' is a 1968 collection of five

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

short stories by American writers

Robert E. Howard Robert Ervin Howard (January 22, 1906 – June 11, 1936) was an American writer who wrote pulp magazine, pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. He created the character Conan the Barbarian and is regarded as the father of the sword and sor ...

and

L. Sprague de Camp Lyon Sprague de Camp (; November 27, 1907 – November 6, 2000) was an American author of science fiction, Fantasy literature, fantasy and non-fiction literature. In a career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, both novels and works of ...

, featuring Howard's

sword and sorcery Sword and sorcery (S&S), or heroic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent adventures. Elements of Romance (love), romance, Magic (fantasy), magic, and the supernatural are also ...

hero

Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero created by American author Robert E. Howard (1906–1936) and who debuted in 1932 and went on to appear in a series of fantasy stories published in ''We ...

. Most of the stories originally appeared in the fantasy magazine ''

Weird Tales ''Weird Tales'' is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine founded by J. C. Henneberger and J. M. Lansinger in late 1922. The first issue, dated March 1923, appeared on newsstands February 18. The first editor, Edwin Baird, printe ...

'' in the 1930s. The book has been reprinted a number of times by various publishers, and has also been translated into German, Spanish, Portuguese,

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

, Italian, and Japanese. It was later gathered together with ''

Conan Conan may refer to: People * Saint Conan (died 684), bishop of the Isle of Man * Conan of Cornwall (c. 930 – c. 950), bishop of Cornwall * Conan I of Rennes (died 992), duke of Brythonic Brittany * Conan II, Duke of Brittany (died 1066), duke ...

'' and ''

Conan of Cimmeria ''Conan of Cimmeria'' is a collection of eight fantasy short stories written by Robert E. Howard, L. Sprague de Camp, and Lin Carter and featuring Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. Most of the stories were originally publishe ...

'' into the omnibus collection ''

The Conan Chronicles ''The Conan Chronicles'' is a 1989 omnibus collection of three fantasy collections by American writers Robert E. Howard, L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter, featuring Howard's seminal sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian, published by Sph ...

'' (1989).

Short stories

*"Introduction" (L. Sprague de Camp) *" Hawks over Shem" (Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp) *"

Black Colossus "Black Colossus" is one of the original short stories starring the fictional sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard and first published in ''Weird Tales'' magazine, June 1933.Shadows in the Moonlight Shadows in the Moonlight may refer to: * Shadows in the Moonlight (song), a 1979 song by Anne Murray * Shadows in the Moonlight (short story), a short story starring Conan the Cimmerian, written by Robert E. Howard {{dab ...

" (Robert E. Howard) *" The Road of the Eagles" (Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp) *"

A Witch Shall be Born "A Witch Shall Be Born" is one of the original sword and sorcery novellas by Robert E. Howard about Conan the Cimmerian. It was written in only a few days in spring of 1934 and first published in ''Weird Tales'' in December 1934. A book edition ...

" (Robert E. Howard)

Plot

In these stories from Conan's late twenties, the Cimmerian is a mercenary with the Free Company in the city-states of Shem and the lands to the north and east, a war leader of the steppe-raiding Kozaki, and finally a soldier in the service of the kingdom of Khauran. Chronologically, the five short stories collected as ''Conan the Freebooter'' fall between ''

'' and '' Conan the Wanderer''.

Sources

* 1968 short story collections Conan the Barbarian books Fantasy short story collections by L. Sprague de Camp Fantasy short story collections Lancer Books books {{1960s-fantasy-story-collection-stub