<p>The Phoenix on the Sword is one of the initial short stories about Conan the Cimmerian created by American author Robert E. Howard. Excerpt: "His garments were of rich fabric, but simply made. He wore no ring or ornaments, and his square-cut black mane was confined merely by a cloth-of- silver band about his head. Now he laid down the golden stylus with which he had been laboriously scrawling on waxed papyrus, rested his chin on his fist, and ...