History
This pendant was worn by Rion of the Laughing Visage, a warrior of the Cimmerian Snowhawk Tribe and friend of Conan.
He wore it during the Battle of Venarium, an outpost of Aquilonia in Cimmeria that the Cimmerians attacked and destroyed. After Rion's death at the hand of Metrius, the commander of the Aquilonian garrison, Conan took and wore the pendant as a way to remember him,[2] considering that Rion was like a big brother to him.[1]
Conan wore it in his subsequent adventures.[1][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] (though was seen once without it in-between periods he wore it)[11]
Leaving Pah-Dishah and the wars between Hyrkanians and Turanians behind him, Conan went to revel in a village south of Makkalet, near the Zaporoska River, where he seemingly gave the pendant to Ivga, presumably for drinks and services. The village was attacked by Turanian soldiers and Ivga was killed, while Conan flew.[12] The pendant was seemingly lost at that point.
Notes[]
- Much like Conan's Helmet, this pendant was an iconic part of the gear of Conan in his early years (both in- and out-of-universe). It was consistently depicted both on covers and in story from Conan the Barbarian #1 (October, 1970) to 23 (February, 1973), with a few exceptions:
- In Conan the Barbarian #6 (June, 1971), 17 (August, 1972), and #23, it was not depicted on the cover.
- In Conan the Barbarian #12 (December, 1971): it was not depicted in the story, without an in-universe explanation for it.
- It didn't appeared on the cover of Conan the Barbarian #22 (January, 1973), which story was (due to delays) a reprint of "The Frost Giant's Daughter".
- It also appeared in "The Frost Giant's Daughter", in Savage Tales #1 (May, 1971), as well as on the cover and table of contents art of Savage Tales #2 (October, 1973).
- It was later reintroduced in Conan the Adventurer (mostly set during Conan's youth), being depicted both on covers and in story, from Conan the Adventurer #1 (June, 1994) to 5 (October, 1994), on cover only in Conan the Adventurer #6 (November, 1994), and on cover and story from Conan the Adventurer #9 (February, 1995) to 14 (July, 1995), the final issue of the volume), with exception of Conan the Adventurer #12 (May, 1995) where it was depicted only in the story. Conan the Adventurer #1 was echoed in "Aftermath--And a Beginning" (King-Size Conan #1; December 23, 2020).
- Another pendant, likewise constituted of multiple discs though with a lighter design, appeared on the table of content art of Savage Tales #3 (February, 1974), and in "Red Nails" (Savage Tales #2 and #3). A similar pendant appears in Conan the Adventurer #8 (January, 1995) It is unclear if those pendants are supposed to be the same as Rion's.
- Rion's pendant, along with Conan's Helmet, were trademarks of the early Marvel Conan design. Afterwards, they've been regularly used to distinguish young Conan from his older self, and Conan is often depicted wearing them in recountings/flashbacks.
See Also
- 33 appearance(s) of Rion's Pendant
- 1 minor appearance(s) of Rion's Pendant
- 1 image(s) of Rion's Pendant
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 King-Size Conan #1 ; Aftermath--And a Beginning
- ↑ Conan the Adventurer #1
- ↑ Conan the Barbarian #1–12
- ↑ Conan the Barbarian #13–15
- ↑ Conan the Barbarian #17–21
- ↑ Conan the Adventurer #2–5
- ↑ Conan the Adventurer #9–14
- ↑ Savage Tales #1 ; The Frost Giant's Daughter
- ↑ Conan the Barbarian #69
- ↑ Conan the Barbarian #92
- ↑ Conan the Adventurer #6–8
- ↑ Conan the Barbarian #23