som•ber

(sŏm′bər)

adj.

1.

a. Dark; gloomy: a somber room.

b. Dull or dark in color: somber hues.

2.

a. Melancholy; dismal: a somber mood.

b. Serious; grave: a somber spokesperson.

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[French sombre, from Old French, from *sombrer, to cast a shadow, from Late Latin subumbrāre, from Latin sub umbrā, in shadow : sub, under; see sub- + umbrā, ablative of umbra, shadow.]

Most often used in the Conan stories such as, “…his eyes burned with a somber fire” from Queen of the Black Coast.

Kane tales are often sprinkled with this scowling adjective, such as this passage in The moon of Skulls, “No breeze stirred the somber depths below…”

Somber, occasional rendered as sombre by Howard, is certainly his most used atmospheric term in relation to our current usage. Gloom, is perhaps his most used atmospheric term, but that word is still in usage, if infrequent. Howard did use this term in at least one letter, to describe a crusading Scotsman.