Scrolls of Skelos

The Scrolls of Skelos are referred to in several non- Howard works by authors creating stories in the expanded Conan universe or in the Marvel Comics series or its successors.

In the works of Robert E. Howard himself, Skelos is the creator of a book, not scrolls, but is most definitely a loremaster and an author. Howard established that Skelos was an author (“Read, if you dare, what Skelos wrote” in “The Pool of the Black One”) who had access to prehistoric sources:

“…and there was a description of them in the Book of Skelos, which drew on prehistoric sources” in “The Devil in Iron”.

Skelos was a wizard and wrote incantations (“’You must be deep in the arts yourself, Orastes, to have been able to restore my life. How is it that a priest of Mitra knows of the Heart of Ahriman, and the incantations of Skelos?’” in The Hour of the Dragon). He was also some kind of charismatic leader, as he had votaries, or devoted followers, adherents, or advocates of someone (“Not for naught had he gained access into darksome cults, had harkened to the grisly whispers of the votaries of Skelos under midnight trees…” in “Black Colossus”).

The quote in the prior paragraph hints that the book probably contains incantations. In “The People of the Black Circle”, Yasmina learned how the king of Vendhya was killed via magic after reading from the Book of Skelos:

“The king of Vendhya was destroyed by magic,” she said at last. “I have devoted my life to the destruction of his murderers. As he died he gave me a clue, and I have followed it. I have read the Book of Skelos, and talked with nameless hermits in the caves below Jhelai. I learned how, and by whom, he was destroyed. His enemies were the Black Seers of Mount Yimsha.”

. The Book of Skelos also had geographical knowledge, as this quote from “The Pool of the Black One” points out: “Zaporavo had his reasons for wishing to go alone. He desired to learn if this island were indeed that mentioned in the mysterious Book of Skelos, whereon, nameless sages aver, strange monsters guard crypts filled with hieroglyph-carven gold.”