The Mysterious Olgerd Vladislav (According to REH)
Feb 18, 2018 9:18:51 GMT -5
Post by kemp on Feb 18, 2018 9:18:51 GMT -5
At the end of the day he did call Olgerd a 'Zaporoskan'
Conan certainly did not refer to Olgerd as a Hyperborian or any Hyborian. Trying to go beyond this and extract a Hyborian origin fro Olgerd is a bit of a......stretch.
Did I miss all of Howard's references to tall, grey-eyed, Mitra-worshiping Hyrkanians in the other Conan yarns?
I dunno, Kemp. Seems to be a bit of a.......stretch.
Olgerd Vladislav, the kozak adventurer who wandered down from the northern steppes and made himself chief of a band of Zuagirs. -- A Witch Shall Be Born
Sure, if I said he was Hyrkanian, but that was why I said that he was Zaporoskan, not that I am fundamentally opposed to Char-Vell giving Olgerd that label, or you referring to him as a Hyperborean. He certainly exists between the Hyborian and Hyrkanian worlds so why not have some ethnic association with both of those peoples, but that does not necessarily make him either, and he is not referred to in that way.
REH had even said that the people of Hyperborea have blood from Aesir, Zamorians and also that of the tall and slender Hyrkanians.
The kozaki descended from different nations, but there is no reason to give any priority to one Hyborian nation over another.
The cossacks existed in a world between the western/European nations and that of the Turkic world, much like the kozaki between the aforementioned Hyborian and Hyrkanian worlds.
I don't see any difficulty in accepting that a people created by certain historical processes emerged in the northern steppes and Zaporoska to occupy that niche between the westerners and Hyrkanian types.
In fact referring to Olgerd with those eastern European sounding kozaki and the Zaporoska made perfect sense. To label him a Hyperborean or Brythunian would make no sense and REH did not to do so.
REH had even said that the people of Hyperborea have blood from Aesir, Zamorians and also that of the tall and slender Hyrkanians.
The kozaki descended from different nations, but there is no reason to give any priority to one Hyborian nation over another.
The cossacks existed in a world between the western/European nations and that of the Turkic world, much like the kozaki between the aforementioned Hyborian and Hyrkanian worlds.
I don't see any difficulty in accepting that a people created by certain historical processes emerged in the northern steppes and Zaporoska to occupy that niche between the westerners and Hyrkanian types.
In fact referring to Olgerd with those eastern European sounding kozaki and the Zaporoska made perfect sense. To label him a Hyperborean or Brythunian would make no sense and REH did not to do so.