Gods of the Hyborian Age: A Complete Guide to Religion in Conan’s World

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The Hyborian Age is teeming with gods.

Unlike the sanitised fantasy settings that came after, Robert E. Howard’s world presents religion as something dangerous, primal, and undeniably real. Gods don’t merely exist as distant concepts – they intervene, they demand sacrifice, and they shape the fates of nations.

What I find most fascinating about Howard’s approach to religion is how it reflects his understanding of human history.

The Hyborian Age exists as a bridge between the fall of Atlantis and recorded history, and its religions serve as prototypes for faiths we’d later recognise. Mitra becomes Christianity, Set becomes the snake cults of Egypt, Ymir becomes Odin. It’s a clever framework that lets Howard explore theological ideas through the lens of sword-and-sorcery adventure.

How Religion Works in Howard’s World

Howard wasn’t interested in creating a neat pantheon where gods hold council and bicker like the Olympians. Instead, he presents a world of competing faiths, each centred on a different deity or group of deities, each reflecting the culture that worships them.

The key distinction is between gods who answer and gods who don’t. Crom gives his people courage at birth – then ignores them forever after. Mitra occasionally speaks to his followers in desperate hours. Set demands constant sacrifice and grants terrible power in return. This creates genuine theological variety rather than a simple “pick your patron deity” approach.

What makes Hyborian religion genuinely unsettling is Howard’s refusal to confirm which gods are “real” in any absolute sense. Conan encounters plenty of supernatural beings – demons, sorcerers, alien entities – but the gods themselves remain mysterious. Are they truly divine, or simply powerful beings worshipped as gods? Howard never definitively answers, and I think that ambiguity is intentional.

The Major Gods of the Hyborian Age

Crom – The Grim God of Cimmeria

Crom sits atop his mountain, sending doom and death down to his people. He grants courage at birth and nothing more. Prayer is pointless; Crom despises weaklings who ask for help. The Cimmerians invoke his name in oaths and curses, but they never worship him in the conventional sense.

I’ve written extensively about Crom and what he represents, but in brief: he’s Howard’s answer to the question of what a truly barbarian god would look like. No temples, no priests, no comfort – just the grim knowledge that you face the world alone.

Mitra – The Lord of Light

Mitra represents civilisation, truth, and mercy. His worship dominates the Hyborian kingdoms – Aquilonia, Nemedia, Ophir, Brythunia, Corinthia, and Zingara all kneel to the god of light. Unlike the bloody faiths of the East and South, Mitra demands no sacrifice. His temples are deliberately plain, his rites simple and dignified.

What sets Mitra apart is his willingness to intervene. In “Black Colossus,” Mitra directly speaks to Princess Yasmela, guiding her to choose Conan as her champion. This divine endorsement marks a turning point in Conan’s career – from mercenary captain to general commanding tens of thousands.

Read my complete guide: Who is Mitra? The God of Light Explained

Set – The Old Serpent

In dark Stygia, the serpent god Set demands blood. His worship involves human sacrifice, and giant snakes are kept in his temples – when hungry, they’re released into the streets to take what prey they wish. To kill a snake in Stygia is a mortal sin.

Set represents everything Mitra opposes: darkness, deceit, and the cold-blooded cruelty of the serpent. His priests are among the most powerful sorcerers in Howard’s world, with Thoth-Amon serving as their most infamous example. The eternal conflict between Set and Mitra forms the theological backbone of the Hyborian Age.

Read my complete guide: Who is Set? The Serpent God Explained

I’d also recommend checking out The Scourge of the Serpent, great mini series! Check out the Scourge of the Serpent reading order if you haven’t already.

Ymir – Lord of Storm and War

The Nordheimr – both the blonde Aesir and the red-haired Vanir – worship Ymir, the frost giant. Unlike Crom, Ymir is an active deity. His daughter Atali haunts battlefields, luring dying warriors to their doom at the hands of her frost giant brothers. Slain warriors go to Valhalla, Ymir’s great hall, to feast and fight forever.

Ymir represents the closest thing to Norse mythology in Howard’s world, which makes sense given the Nordheimr are clearly proto-Vikings. “The Frost-Giant’s Daughter” gives us our most direct look at Ymir’s influence, when Atali cries out to her father and the god himself intervenes to save her from Conan.

Read my complete guide: Who is Ymir? The Frost Giant God Explained

Bel – God of Thieves

Every thief in the Hyborian world knows Bel’s name. This Shemite deity serves as patron to all who earn their living through stealth and cunning. His temples connect to thieves’ guilds via underground tunnels, and his priests teach that if you’re skilled enough to take something, you deserve it.

Arenjun, the City of Thieves in Zamora, practically runs on Bel’s philosophy. In “The Tower of the Elephant,” characters swear by “Bel, god of all thieves” while planning their crimes. It’s a wonderfully practical faith for a wonderfully practical profession.

Read my complete guide: Who is Bel? The God of Thieves Explained

Ishtar – The Earth Mother

The Shemites worship Ishtar as their primary goddess – a deity of fertility, passion, and the earth itself. Her worship couldn’t be more different from austere Mitra. Ishtar’s temples are lavish and exotic, filled with ivory idols, and her rites involve blood sacrifice (of animals, not humans) and, famously, temple prostitution.

Ishtar represents the sensual, earthy religions of the East that the Hyborian kingdoms find both fascinating and scandalous. Several kingdoms – Koth, Khoraja, Khauran – abandoned Mitra for Ishtar’s more passionate rites.

Read my complete guide: Who is Ishtar? The Earth Mother Explained

Lesser Gods and Regional Deities

The Hyborian Age contains dozens of other gods, each with their own cults and territories:

Asura – A mysterious god worshipped in secret across the Hyborian kingdoms. His followers seek truth beyond illusion. In “The Hour of the Dragon,” Conan protects Asuran worshippers from Mitran persecution – an interesting commentary on religious intolerance.

Ibis – The heron god of Stygia, representing a gentler alternative to Set. Ibis worship was once strong in Stygia before being suppressed by the Set cult.

Derketo – A goddess of passion worshipped in the Black Kingdoms and parts of Shem. Often conflated with or related to Ishtar.

Zath – The spider god of Zamora, worshipped with particularly dark rites in the city of Yezud. His cult is considered abominable even by Hyborian standards.

Jhebbal Sag – The lord of beasts, worshipped by the Picts. This ancient god represents the primal connection between humans and animals in the time before civilisation.

Yog – The Lord of Empty Abodes, worshipped by cannibal tribes. His followers must consume human flesh as part of their devotion.

Gods in Conan Exiles

If you want to experience Hyborian religion firsthand, Conan Exiles lets you choose your deity at character creation.

The game features Mitra, Set, Ymir, Yog, Derketo, Zath, and Jhebbal Sag as playable religions, each with unique altars, items, and eventually the ability to summon your god’s avatar.

What I particularly like about Conan Exiles’ approach is how it captures the transactional nature of Hyborian religion. You harvest specific resources with religious tools, offer them at altars, and gain power in return. It’s not about faith – it’s about demonstrating your devotion through action.

Crom is also an option, but selecting him grants nothing. No altar, no items, no avatar. It’s the game’s way of honouring Howard’s vision: Crom gives you nothing but the will to survive.

The Thurian Age: Gods Before the Hyborian Era

Howard’s Kull stories take place in the Thurian Age, an era that predates even the fall of Atlantis. The gods here are different, though some connections exist:

Valka – The chief god of the Atlanteans, often invoked by Kull. His nature remains mysterious.

The Great Serpent – A pre-human entity worshipped by the Serpent Men, possibly an early form of Set.

I love the Kull stories nearly as much the Conan works, so I’d definitely recommend picking them up if you haven’t already! They can all be found in the Kull Del Rey issue.

Religion and Conan

Conan himself presents an interesting case study in Hyborian religion. He swears by Crom constantly – “Crom and his devils!” is practically his catchphrase – but he never prays to his god because he knows it’s pointless.

He respects other religions without necessarily believing in them, and he protects religious minorities when civilised people persecute them.

In many ways, Conan represents Howard’s ideal: a man who acknowledges the gods exist but refuses to bow before them, who draws strength from within rather than from divine favour. It’s a philosophy that fits perfectly with the self-reliant barbarian ethos.

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