In order to put Howards work in context I’ve placed him on this list of most masculine tales, a list he does belong on. The selections of his that I have included are not his best works, and do not belong with these other works in terms of quality or importance, only in terms of the level of masculinity in the tale.

Nine of the stories break into two clear types, the tribal tale, indicated below with a [T], and the tale of individual visionary transcendence indicated by a [V]. For the #1 selection I cannot decide whether the tale favors tribalism or transcendence, and do hope that a reader qualified in matters of the Old Testament might elaborate. Is #1 the perfect joining of these two divergent strands in human literature? Is that why I have felt so compelled to place it above the rest? Or, is there a reason to chose one interpretation over the other that I have failed to consider?

10. Moby Dick, Herman Melville [V]

9. Meditations, Marcus Aurelius [V]

8. The Moon of Skulls, Robert E. Howard [V]

7. The Hour of the Dragon, Robert E. Howard [T]

6. Storm of Steel, Ernst Junger [V]

5. Beowulf, Anonymous [T]

4. Almuric, Robert E. Howard [T]

3. The Iliad, Homer [T]

2. Gilgamesh, anonymous [V]

1. Samson and the Philistines, Judges 13-16 [?]