I haven't read any of Mackenzie's adaptations of the Fenian material, but we could surmise that Howard likely took inspiration from the more folkloric Fenian stories rather than the manuscript stories. Considering Howard comes from a line of oral storytellers (who likely had Irish ancestry) the S&S genre owes a lot to that style of storytelling where yarns are self-contained and easily told over the course of an evening, but are no less epic than, well, epics which are largely stories that would've been consumed by more elite members of society.
The ire he has with "Orangemen" can only come from one who is deeply steeped in family tales.
It reminded me of an anecdote my wife, who comes from a line of Cosgroves, told me regarding how her Austrian grandmother would wear Orange on St. Patrick's Day (more important here in the States) just to annoy her husband. I wish I had more to share on that, but her family didn't tell as many stories as my own Bavarian one.
This was an interesting piece on Conan's possible origins. Something I hadn't considered before...so thanks!
I haven't read any of Mackenzie's adaptations of the Fenian material, but we could surmise that Howard likely took inspiration from the more folkloric Fenian stories rather than the manuscript stories. Considering Howard comes from a line of oral storytellers (who likely had Irish ancestry) the S&S genre owes a lot to that style of storytelling where yarns are self-contained and easily told over the course of an evening, but are no less epic than, well, epics which are largely stories that would've been consumed by more elite members of society.
I think your observations regarding the oral storytellers in his family rings very true with me, especially in light of his letters regarding Donn Byrne: https://howardhistory.com/the-robert-e-howard-bookshelf/#b042
The ire he has with "Orangemen" can only come from one who is deeply steeped in family tales.
It reminded me of an anecdote my wife, who comes from a line of Cosgroves, told me regarding how her Austrian grandmother would wear Orange on St. Patrick's Day (more important here in the States) just to annoy her husband. I wish I had more to share on that, but her family didn't tell as many stories as my own Bavarian one.
That was fantasticly helpful!
Well, this explains why "Conan" is also the very Irish name of a tall, pale comedian and a mythic barbarian.