Conan vs. Frodo

And in one corner we have the two-hundred forty pound titan from Cimmeria who has trained for the bout by raiding ships and villages along the coast of Shem and Stygia with his piratical paramour Belit...


In the other corner we've got the seventy-five pound Frodo, who has trained for this bout by eating six meals a day, but has the advantage of a ring of invisibility...

I've heard lots of debate about who is the better author--Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan, or J.R.R. Tolkien the creator of the Middle-Earth Masterworks of Lord of the Rings. Since I take part in a Howard List-Server much of the consensus seems weighted toward Robert E. Howard.

In his Epic Pooh essay, Michael Moorcock, author of the Elric books (and the man who created the Anti-Conan by making his hero a weakling that depended upon magics to survive), expresses his absolute loathing for Tolkien (and C.S. Lewis, among others), claiming that he and other orthodox Christian writers "substituted faith for artistic riguor" and "promoted their orthodox Toryism". Now I'm not clear on what exactly orthodox Toryism is but Moorcock seems to equate it with conservative values. Personally, I tend to see conservative values as a positive, not a negative. In contrast Robert E. Howard's Conan tales tend to illustrate the credo of "might makes right" along with his usual theme of barbarism versus civilization.

There's also the criticism that Tolkien's writing style is less vibrant. Author Jessica Salmonson once criticized my defense of Tolkien by saying "Howard is great, Tolkien is a bore!" And I must admit that with his vibrant use of words Howard does have the edge over Tolkien in this arena.

However, while Howard's works hint at depths of history and a rich tapestry of ancient civilizations (a method which I admit to using quite often) Tolkien had those histories fully fleshed out and could draw upon them with great accuracy and fidelity. Tolkien's works may be a bit slow going at times, but if someone sticks through the first fifty pages of the Hobbit they will be well-rewarded.

Ultimately, however, I find that arguments over who is the better author mean very little to me. I have love enough in my heart for both Tolkien and Howard; great authors with different strengths, who both changed the face of fantasy fiction forever.