Jump to content
 







Main menu
   


Navigation  



Main page
Contents
Current events
Random article
About Wikipedia
Contact us
Donate
 




Contribute  



Help
Learn to edit
Community portal
Recent changes
Upload file
 








Search  

































Create account

Log in
 









Create account
 Log in
 




Pages for logged out editors learn more  



Contributions
Talk
 



















Contents

   



(Top)
 


1 Plot summary (Carter)  





2 Adaptations  





3 See also  





4 External links  














The Hand of Nergal






Български
Español
Polski
 

Edit links
 









Article
Talk
 

















Read
Edit
View history
 








Tools
   


Actions  



Read
Edit
View history
 




General  



What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Cite this page
Get shortened URL
Download QR code
Wikidata item
 




Print/export  



Download as PDF
Printable version
 
















Appearance
   

 






From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 


"The Hand of Nergal"
Short storybyRobert E. Howard/Lin Carter
Original titleThe Hand of Nergal
CountryUS
LanguageEnglish
Genre(s)Fantasy
Publication
Published inConan
Publication typePaperback
PublisherLancer Books
Publication date1967
SeriesConan the Cimmerian

"The Hand of Nergal" is one of the original short storiesbyAmerican author Robert E. Howard starring the sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian, an untitled fragment begun in the 1930s but not finished or published in Howard's lifetime. It was completed and titled by Lin Carter and in this form was published in the following collections:

It has since been published in its original form in:

Plot summary (Carter)[edit]

Conan is a mercenary, serving in the empire of Turan, and fighting in a pitched battle against the forces of a rebellious satrap named Munthassem Khan. As the two sides are locked in furious combat, Conan looks up and sees a swarm of winged monsters with hellish green eyes, resembling enormous bats, descend from the sky before appearing on the battlefield. Unknown to Conan, Munthassem Khan had summoned these supernatural creatures using a magical artifact known as the Hand of Nergal. The Turanians are frightened and begin retreating from the battlefield. Soon, Conan is left to face one of the shadow bats alone. As he begins to fall victim to an unearthly cold emanating from the monster, his hand reaches for a mysterious golden talisman in his pouch that he had discovered earlier. As he touches it, a surge of warmth flows through him, banishing the shadow bat; overcome with exhaustion, Conan loses consciousness.

An hour later, Conan awakens from his exhaustion, finding himself alone on the battlefield amid the dead bodies and wreckage of war. Soon, Conan discovers two survivors, the horse belonging to his former general, now dead, and a young Brythunian girl named Hildico. Hildico had been sent by her master, a wise sorcerer named Atalis, in the nearby city of Yaralet, ruled by Munthassem Khan. Convincing him to come with her to visit the sorcerer, Conan convenes with Atalis who explains that his help is needed to end both Munthassem Khan's tyrannical reign of terror over the citizens of Yaralet and his rebellion against King Yildiz of Turania.

According to the tale told by Atalis, Munthassem Khan was once a kind and merciful ruler until he came into possession of the Hand of Nergal, an object of evil power in the form of an ivory sceptre with a clawed demon hand at one end grasping a crystal. Inscribed on the sceptre is a series of strange glyphs and runes. It fell to earth from the stars in ancient times and, as it changed hands through the ages, it granted whoever claimed it the promise of ultimate power as well as the curse of eventual destruction. The only way to counter the Hand's malevolent force is with a talisman known as the Heart of Tammuz, a golden amber stone shaped like a heart and warm to the touch, the same talisman which Conan had found and used in overcoming the shadow bats.

Conan eventually confronts Munthassem Khan in his throne room, but finds himself losing to the power of the Hand until Hildico comes to his rescue, grabs the Heart of Tammuz, and hurls it at Munthassem Khan. Conan's amulet strikes Khan in the forehead and renders him unconscious. The forces inside both artifacts are then unleashed and wage a cosmic struggle against each other until both finally come together with a great shattering thunder as of two worlds colliding. In the aftermath, both the Heart and Hand have vanished. Soon, nothing is left of Munthassem Khan except for a pile of ashes. The curse is broken and Yaralet is free from Khan's tyranny.

Adaptations[edit]

See also[edit]

External links[edit]

Preceded by

"Wolves Beyond the Border"

Original Howard Canon
(publication order)
Succeeded by

"The Snout in the Dark"

Preceded by

"Rogues in the House"

Original Howard Canon
(Dale Rippke chronology)
Succeeded by

"Shadows in the Moonlight"

Preceded by

Conan the Unconquered

Complete Conan Saga
(William Galen Gray chronology)
Succeeded by

"The City of Skulls"


Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Hand_of_Nergal&oldid=1221523101"

Categories: 
1967 short stories
Conan the Barbarian stories by Robert E. Howard
Pulp stories
Fantasy short stories
Short stories by Lin Carter
Short stories published posthumously
Hidden categories: 
Articles with short description
Short description is different from Wikidata
 



This page was last edited on 30 April 2024, at 12:52 (UTC).

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.



Privacy policy

About Wikipedia

Disclaimers

Contact Wikipedia

Code of Conduct

Developers

Statistics

Cookie statement

Mobile view



Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki