The Cimmerian had lost many of its leading voices on the road to its final year. Rob Roehm & Mark Finn went on to pastures new, Steve Tompkins departed to the Worlds Beyond Death, and Leo Grin was fading ever quicker from the realm of Howardom. Deuce Richardson and the bloggers had a formidable legacy to live up to, and they were determined to carry on the tradition of those giants in Howard scholarship.

The Cimmerian blog’s final year boasted new faces and new ideas, but was ever conscious of its mission.

The above graphic, captured in the afternoon of the 31st of May (before the final number for May page views — 101,355 — was determined) and calculated by WordPress, shows how The Cimmerian blog had grown in its final year. An alternate, but comparable analysis can be found at Alexa. Barring a slump in February caused by lack of news, new posts, and the simple fact of February usually having two days less than other months, The Cimmerian had been growing steadily since September 2009. However, let’s start in the end of August.

Leo was still with us, as evidenced by his occasional, but salient, news reports. Deuce reported on the passing of Donald M. Grant, Steve Trout had some things to say on 10,000 BC, Brian mused on escapism in Howard, I embarked on a three part exploration of Khitai, and Barbara was chugging along with Word of the Week, closing out August. The rest of Autumn saw plenty of topics discussed.

Howard was frequently the centre of attention, be it in reviews of audio books, challenging old myths and applauding good journalism, news of academia taking notice, foreign scholarship, anthologies, Hyborian scholarship such as the riddle of Conan’s helmet, or taking ham-fisted pasticheurs to task. Tolkien, too, was a fixture of the blog: historical discoveries relevant to his mythos, news reports, Middle-earth’s barbarians, to infamous arguments, fan films, and a rebuttal to an infamous argument. In addition to Tolkien & Howard, the likes of Clark Ashton Smith, Leigh Brackett, C.S. Lewis, Milton Davies, and Charles R. Saunders were brought into focus, as too were western and historical authors Elmer Kelton, Harold Lamb, Bernard Cornwell, and John J. Miller. Cinema was also remarked upon: District 9, the cinematic mess daring to call itself “Conan,” and certainly the then-upcoming Solomon Kane.

The new wave of Cimmerian bloggers followed in the footsteps of the first, by participating in celebrations of authors, events and milestones. Deuce, Brian, Steve, myself and others marked the anniversary of Karl Edward Wagner’s death. The historical significance of the 25th of October was observed: Deuce remembered Agincourt and the Battle off Samar, I saluted the Thin Red Line, Brian threw up the horns for the Irons, and Barbara made a magnificent three part tribute to the Charge of the Light Brigade. Hallowe’en featured contributions from Brian, Barbara, Deuce, and a certain Glenn Schuyler Hoffman. Poul Anderson was recalled by Deuce and yours truly. Though Leo was becoming more and more scarce, he posted a touching rememberance of Howard scholar Ben P. Indick.

Winter at The Cimmeran was livened up by two big pieces of news: the start of what would be months-long family turmoil for the Frazettas, and the great kerfuffle which arose in the wake of a particularly controversial article, as Howard fans united in a Shieldwall to defend the reputation of Robert E. Howard. Still, there was cheer for Christmas too: I paid homage to Steve Tompkins by offering my own little tribute to his Yuletide tales, and overview the best of 2009. Two new bloggers appeared for the end of 2009: adventurer archaeologist Jeffrey Shanks saddled up in November, while francophone bibliophile Miguel Martins jaunted over in December.

The New Year was a new start for many: I started a new series on Almuric, and Brian began his epic quest on The Silmarillion. Another mighty heart was stilled as Dan “Painbrush” Goudey was honoured. Solomon Kane made its debut in Europe, and the only two Cimmerian contributors in the vicinity (long live the Auld Alliance!) delivered their verdicts. “Conan” movie news was thick and fast. January was a packed month for observances: Tolkien’s birthday was celebrated, as was Clark Ashton Smith‘s nativity. Barbara wove a delightful yarn, while Jeffrey switched from Collecting REH to Tolkien.  And, of course, Howard’s birthday was remembered by Barbara, me, Leo, Brian, Deuce and Steve.

“The Cimmerian Bunch”
Top Row: William Patrick Maynard, Barbara Barrett, Keith Taylor
Middle Row: Jeffrey Shanks, Brian Murphy, Jim Cornelius
Bottom Row: Al Harron, Deuce Richardson, Miguel Martins

The last spring for The Cimmerian blog continued last year’s work. REH topics like Howard’s kindles, Almuric, the Darrell C. Richardson sale, Atlanteans and Cro-Magnons, reviews of new Del Reys, real life Conans, the “funnies,” and ever-reliable Barbara with Word of the Week were plentiful. Tolkien was represented with Brian’s continuing Silmarillion blogs throughout the spring. Milton Davis, Fritz Leiber, Manly Wade Wellman, Robert Weinberg, George R. R. Martin, new Sword-and-Sorcery anthologies, and perennial Cimmerian favourite Charles R. Saunders were mentioned. Cinematic Sword-and-Sorcery was featured, including Spartacus: Blood & Sand, and news of REH “adaptations” Solomon Kane and The Film Calling Itself “Conan.” Even heavy metal was talked about. The last goodbye before June was when Steve Trout departed in February with his final Cimmerian post .

Spring also saw the debut of yet another new blogger, William Patrick Maynard, who concentrated mostly on the “Horror” part of The Cimmerian’s tagline, though he also discussed Howard. From the dusts of Oregon came Jim Cornelius, bringing more strength to “Historical Adventure” aspect, tying it into Howard. The final member of The Cimmerian Nine was historical fictioneer Keith Taylor, providing context to Howard’s historical adventures. If January had many days to observe, March was just as full: Valentine’s Day; the anniversaries of Algernon Blackwood’s and Edgar Rice Burrough’s birth, and those of H.P. Lovecraft’s and Leigh Brackett’s deaths; Steve Tompkins was remembered by Miguel, Keith, Deuce, Jim, Bill, Brian, myself, and others.

With the largest complement of bloggers ever on The Cimmerian, the last three months have been overflowing with a variety of posts. April had articles on Howard’s Donn Othna, the final Wandering Star Conan, collecting, Kull, the new Blood and Thunder, and Howard’s Vikings, among others. Tolkien was discussed, though not to nearly the same degree as in other months. Posts on other authors such as C.L. Moore, H. Rider Haggard, Harlan Ellison, Charles R. Saunders, Stephen King, and more appeared. For cinema, there was criticism of Clash of the Titans, Tarzan, “Conan” film and casting news, other “Howardian” “Adaptations,” as well as more worthy swashbuckling films and literary adaptations.

As seen in the above table, May would be the biggest month in The Cimmerian blog’s history, with page views almost double that for April’s record-breaking month. As ever, Howard was the focus: articles on his racial attitudes compared to contemporaries, Brian’s thoughts on Collected Letters, upcoming academic publications, the next Del Rey, existentialism in Kull, news on Howard Days 2010 were in evidence, and Keith embarked on the first of his epic “Uther” series. Other fantasy posts included a post on Charles R. Saunders, a final post on Michael Moorcock’s literary/cinematic criticism (I’m sure if we ever met we’d get along just fine), and Brian’s discussion of genre subdivision. Bill’s series on The Insidious Fu-Manchu continued, and his look at R.J. Myer’s Frankenstein books supplemented the horror quotient. The history division was filled by posts on Harold Lamb and others, historical sword woman Julie D’Aubigny, the reign of Baron von Ungern-Sternberg, and “Fighting” Jack Churchill. Cinema discussion included George A. Romero’s Survival of the Dead & Robin Hood, and as ever, scrutiny of the upcoming “Conan” film continued unabated, with Miguel’s “Conan the Momoan” being the single most hit-tacious Cimmerian post ever. The biggest news of the month was the passing of Frank Frazetta. Tributes from across the internet poured in, and Deuce, Brian, Jeff, Charles R. Saunders, and myself paid tribute. Another legend was lost in Ronnie James Dio.

Since June is not yet over, it cannot be covered with much thoroughness, but even with the blog’s ending in the second weekend, there were posts of note. Deuce made the announcement in the end of May, followed by expansion from Leo. I reviewed the situation, while Brian reviewed Blood & Thunder, a link to the blog’s older days. Farewells from the bloggers started with Barbara and Jeff, no doubt to be followed by others in the coming days. Then, as my own sort of tribute, I began a five part overview of the history of The Cimmerian blog, of which this post is the final part.

When the sun sets on the 11th of June, The Cimmerian blog will stalk into the Land of Mists.