Conan - Definition and Overview

Conan, Celtic male name, which means "wise", Bearers of the name include:

Literary persons

• Conan the Barbarian, a fictional Cimmerian mercenary and the hero of numerous short stories and a novel by the American fantasy author Robert E. Howard. Conan later became king of Aquilonia.
• Conan the Librarian, parody of the above, from the Weird Al Yankovic film UHF

Historical persons

• Conan I (Le Torte), 927-992, duke of Brittany and of Rennes.
• Conan II (Le Petit), 1128-1171, duke of Brittany.
• Conan III (Le Gros) 1096-1148, duke of Brittany.
• Conan IV, + 1171, duke of Brittany.
• Arthur Conan Doyle, 1859 - 1930, British author of fantasy and detective novels
• Conan O'Brien, 1963 -, American comedian and talk show host
• Conan Neutron, 1977 -, musician, writer and activist

Mythical persons

• Conan, King of the piratical Fomoraig of the Irish myth.
• Conan Maol, warrior of the Fianna in the Irish myth. Rescued from Tir na Tairngire by Finn mac Cumhal.
• Conan Mac Lia, Lord of Luachar; ally of the mythical war leader Finn mac Cumhal.
• Conan Mac Moirna, sorcerous warrior of the Fianna in the tale of Diarmait und Gráinne. He is involved in a blood-feud with the war-leader Finn mac Cumhal, but Fionn is reconciled with him after Conan kills the dragon sprung from the head Cian.
• A war leader that makes an alliance with Cadwallader in the prophecies of Merlin (Historia Regum Britanniae vii, 3). Together they slaughter the foreigners until the rivers run with blood. One of Conan's descendants will be a "huge boar" that fights in Gaul and is feared by the Africans and the Arabs. Maybe identical with Conan Meriadoc.

Semi-historical persons

• Conan Meriadoc (middle Welsh Kynan Meriadoc, modern Breton Konan Meriadek), * ca. 305, + ca. 395 AD, legendary first Duke of Brittany.
• Aurelius Conanus, nephew and successor to Constantine as king of the Britons for three years at the end of the 6th century AD according to Geoffrey of Monmouth.

Anime Character

• Jimmy Kudo (Shin'ichi Kudo) a.k.a. Conan Edogawa, a character from Case Closed (Detective Conan in Japan). A detective stuck in the body of a child.

Placenames

• Conan, short for Kaerconan, town fortified by Aurelianus, king of the Britons after his victory over the Saxon forces of Hengist (Historia Regum Britanniae viii, 7). The captive Saxon leader Hengist is hacked to pieces by Eldol outside the town walls. Now called Cunungeburc according to Geoffrey of Monmouth, maybe present day Conisborough.
• Conan is a commune of the Loir-et-Cher département in France.