Conan the Barbarian is a classic I rewatch often and I have some thoughts I'd like to propose. I believe your answer to the riddle of steel is what Thulsa Doom believed the answer to be, but it is incorrect. The real answer is to be able to resist the cult, or the prevailing ideas of the masses and to think for yourself. Willpower or perhaps mental fortitude.
The movie is full of metaphors. Conan's father (Crom) begins the story with steel. Thulsa's muscular henchmen (Giants) kill him/Crom and take the steel. Conan tells us Crom is dead when he admits that he has never prayed to Crom, and if Crom cannot help him, then the hell with him. In this moment Conan becomes Crom due to his willpower, but he still does not realize he answered the riddle of steel.
Conan (Crom) defeats the henchmen (Giants) in an epic battle breaking his father's sword in the process (the riddle of steel is left on the battlefield).
Conan then confronts Thulsa Doom who tries to convince Conan that he is Crom (I am your father now (Crom). When I am gone you will never have been). Conan appears to be buying it and goes into a trance... but no, he knows what Thulsa is preaching is false even though the masses cannot see it and snaps out of it by sheer willpower or mental fortitude (the riddle of steel is answered). Now he knows the riddle of steel and strikes down Thulsa Doom (the cult) with his father's (who was the original Crom) broken sword (the riddle of steel that was stolen).
So the Cult steals the mental fortitude from individuals. Since only mental fortitude can defeat the cult it takes great fortitude to keep or regain it. And obviously having huge muscles helps everything else.
Anyway, right or wrong, that's how I always thought about the movie.
While the movie is not the most faithful rendition of the Robert E. Howard pulp fiction character (in the books Conan was not enslaved as a boy), is is a typical Oliver Stone screenplay--which is to say metaphors and subtexts abound.
As is true of every good riddle, the answer to the riddle of steel is given straight away, in the Nietzsche quote at the very beginning: "That which does not kill us makes us stronger."
Consider for a moment what steel is: it is not merely "forged iron", but is an alloy composed of varying proportions of iron and carbon, which makes it far stronger and less brittle than other modes of iron metallurgy. Steel itself is made by heating iron and carbon together, burning away many of the raw iron ore impurities (more are literally pounded out on the forge), so that the carbon and iron blend to give the steel its tensile strength and malleability.
When steel is further forged into a sword, an ingot or bar of steel is heated and forged into the sword's basic shape. In the technology of Conan this would have been done by pounding the bar into shape on the blacksmith's anvil.
At the end, when the blade is fully shaped, it is heated for a final time and then "quenched" to give the blade hardness and additional strength.
Fire. Ice. Pressure. Beatings. Extreme conditions combine to take the raw material of iron and carbon and forge steel.
Conan was enslaved. Chained. When he survived into manhood, he was made a gladiator, forced to fight to survive in the arena. Released, he was cast out alone onto the steppe, with nothing but his wits to help him survive.
First he finds a sword, which cuts off the chain from his ankle and allows him to kill the wolves chasing him. Then he frees Subotai, and gains a friend. Together they hunt, and prosper. As they visit the cities of Conan's world, he looks always for the banner of Thulsa Doom, for he remembers who sold him into slavery.
Then he invades the Temple of Set and sees there Thulsa Doom's banner. When he's asked to rescue the king's daughter, he knows he's going to go, because that will bring him face to face with Thulsa Doom.
But he gets caught, beaten, crucified, nearly dies only to be rescued by his friends. Together they steal back the princess, then defeat Thulsa Doom's warriors. Then Conan steals back to Thulsa Doom's fortress for a final confrontation. Face to face on equal footing at last, Thulsa Doom thinks he has the power of mind over Conan, that he is the idea that animates Conan.
Only he was wrong. Conan was motivated by revenge, but he had lived and was going to live a life beyond revenge. He had been forged, like steel, into something stronger, more adaptable, and more durable than ordinary men.
The riddle of steel is answered by understanding the Nietzsche quote. That which does not kill us does make us stronger. Every adversity we survive, every challenge we overcome, every test we surpass increases our potential, and makes future adversity and challenges less daunting.
When we have survived, we know we can survive. When we have conquered, we know we can conquer.
Thulsa Doom was wrong about the riddle of steel. He saw no further than his own charismatic ability to seduce and essentially brainwash people. And he failed the final test, when he was confronted with the forged Conan.
The riddle of steel is that life forges men the way men forge weapons: with fire and ice and hammer and anvil.
Always liked this movie, a classic! Have read all the Conan books by Robert E. Howard when they came out in paperback form in the late 60s.. Good insights today. Linking this @https://nothingnewunderthesun2016.com/ today!!
I never saw the movie or read the Conan books, but my take from Mises was what every capitalist knows, man is ruled by ideas, not by goons and guns as every fascist in the world's governments thinks. But even fascists feel the importance of ideas as they always try to control the ideas of society by taking over the education systems of the young. The cult of the State begins early in life..
Conan the Barbarian is a classic I rewatch often and I have some thoughts I'd like to propose. I believe your answer to the riddle of steel is what Thulsa Doom believed the answer to be, but it is incorrect. The real answer is to be able to resist the cult, or the prevailing ideas of the masses and to think for yourself. Willpower or perhaps mental fortitude.
The movie is full of metaphors. Conan's father (Crom) begins the story with steel. Thulsa's muscular henchmen (Giants) kill him/Crom and take the steel. Conan tells us Crom is dead when he admits that he has never prayed to Crom, and if Crom cannot help him, then the hell with him. In this moment Conan becomes Crom due to his willpower, but he still does not realize he answered the riddle of steel.
Conan (Crom) defeats the henchmen (Giants) in an epic battle breaking his father's sword in the process (the riddle of steel is left on the battlefield).
Conan then confronts Thulsa Doom who tries to convince Conan that he is Crom (I am your father now (Crom). When I am gone you will never have been). Conan appears to be buying it and goes into a trance... but no, he knows what Thulsa is preaching is false even though the masses cannot see it and snaps out of it by sheer willpower or mental fortitude (the riddle of steel is answered). Now he knows the riddle of steel and strikes down Thulsa Doom (the cult) with his father's (who was the original Crom) broken sword (the riddle of steel that was stolen).
So the Cult steals the mental fortitude from individuals. Since only mental fortitude can defeat the cult it takes great fortitude to keep or regain it. And obviously having huge muscles helps everything else.
Anyway, right or wrong, that's how I always thought about the movie.
Mises and Thulsa Doon. Great juxtaposition! I had friend who loved Conan and had an interest in Austrian economics.
While the movie is not the most faithful rendition of the Robert E. Howard pulp fiction character (in the books Conan was not enslaved as a boy), is is a typical Oliver Stone screenplay--which is to say metaphors and subtexts abound.
As is true of every good riddle, the answer to the riddle of steel is given straight away, in the Nietzsche quote at the very beginning: "That which does not kill us makes us stronger."
Consider for a moment what steel is: it is not merely "forged iron", but is an alloy composed of varying proportions of iron and carbon, which makes it far stronger and less brittle than other modes of iron metallurgy. Steel itself is made by heating iron and carbon together, burning away many of the raw iron ore impurities (more are literally pounded out on the forge), so that the carbon and iron blend to give the steel its tensile strength and malleability.
When steel is further forged into a sword, an ingot or bar of steel is heated and forged into the sword's basic shape. In the technology of Conan this would have been done by pounding the bar into shape on the blacksmith's anvil.
At the end, when the blade is fully shaped, it is heated for a final time and then "quenched" to give the blade hardness and additional strength.
Fire. Ice. Pressure. Beatings. Extreme conditions combine to take the raw material of iron and carbon and forge steel.
Conan was enslaved. Chained. When he survived into manhood, he was made a gladiator, forced to fight to survive in the arena. Released, he was cast out alone onto the steppe, with nothing but his wits to help him survive.
First he finds a sword, which cuts off the chain from his ankle and allows him to kill the wolves chasing him. Then he frees Subotai, and gains a friend. Together they hunt, and prosper. As they visit the cities of Conan's world, he looks always for the banner of Thulsa Doom, for he remembers who sold him into slavery.
Then he invades the Temple of Set and sees there Thulsa Doom's banner. When he's asked to rescue the king's daughter, he knows he's going to go, because that will bring him face to face with Thulsa Doom.
But he gets caught, beaten, crucified, nearly dies only to be rescued by his friends. Together they steal back the princess, then defeat Thulsa Doom's warriors. Then Conan steals back to Thulsa Doom's fortress for a final confrontation. Face to face on equal footing at last, Thulsa Doom thinks he has the power of mind over Conan, that he is the idea that animates Conan.
Only he was wrong. Conan was motivated by revenge, but he had lived and was going to live a life beyond revenge. He had been forged, like steel, into something stronger, more adaptable, and more durable than ordinary men.
The riddle of steel is answered by understanding the Nietzsche quote. That which does not kill us does make us stronger. Every adversity we survive, every challenge we overcome, every test we surpass increases our potential, and makes future adversity and challenges less daunting.
When we have survived, we know we can survive. When we have conquered, we know we can conquer.
Thulsa Doom was wrong about the riddle of steel. He saw no further than his own charismatic ability to seduce and essentially brainwash people. And he failed the final test, when he was confronted with the forged Conan.
The riddle of steel is that life forges men the way men forge weapons: with fire and ice and hammer and anvil.
Always liked this movie, a classic! Have read all the Conan books by Robert E. Howard when they came out in paperback form in the late 60s.. Good insights today. Linking this @https://nothingnewunderthesun2016.com/ today!!
I never saw the movie or read the Conan books, but my take from Mises was what every capitalist knows, man is ruled by ideas, not by goons and guns as every fascist in the world's governments thinks. But even fascists feel the importance of ideas as they always try to control the ideas of society by taking over the education systems of the young. The cult of the State begins early in life..
Human Action is immense!