page_title: A Witch Shall be Born
section_title: Style
hierarchical_section_title: A Witch Shall be Born / Style
caption_attribution_description: English: Cover of the pulp magazine Avon Fantasy Reader (May 15, 1949, no. 10) featuring "A Witch Shall be Born" by Robert E. Howard. This issue was registered with the US Copyright Office and given registration number AA136022.&#91;1&#93;
context_page_description: "A Witch Shall Be Born" is one of the original sword and sorcery novellas by Robert E. Howard about Conan the Cimmerian. It was written in only a few days in spring of 1934 and first published in Weird Tales in December 1934. A book edition was published in 1975 by Donald M. Grant, Publisher with illustrations by Alicia Austin.
  The story concerns a witch replacing her twin sister as queen of a city state, which brings her into conflict with Conan who had been the captain of the queen's guard. Themes of paranoia, and the duality of the twin sisters, are paramount in this story but it also includes elements of the conflict between barbarism and civilization that is common to the entire Conan series. The novella as a whole is considered an average example of the series, but one scene stands out. Conan's crucifixion early on in the story during the second chapter is considered one of the most memorable scenes in the entire series. A variation of this scene was included in the 1982 film Conan the Barbarian with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
context_section_description: A theme of paranoia runs through the story.  Howard uses a theme common to his works in having evil hide behind innocent features. Similarly, Vladislav is unaware of Conan's plans until it's too late. Of all the characters, only Conan is aware of all the facts. The twin sisters, Taramis and Salome, are an instance of Howard's interest in siblings and the theme of duality, which appeared in several other works.
  Howard may have been experimenting with style in this novella, leaving behind any standard pulp formula. Conan dominates the story, but he is only actually present in two chapters. The narrative instead builds the plot by following others, such as Valerius, Salome, and a wandering savant named Astreas.
  Louinet suggests that Conan becomes figuratively immortal and superhuman following his crucifixion: "How can anybody kill a character—literarily or literally—who can survive such a scene as that one?"
  The supernatural elements of the story are minor and may only have been included to justify publication in Weird Tales.
  The demon Thaug is similar to that in Howard's unfinished novel Almuric, which he had abandoned only a few months before starting this story.  The quick reveal and defeat of the demon may indicate that Howard was embarrassed by its inclusion.
  The ongoing theme of Barbarism vs. Civilization, which pervades the entire Conan series, is present in this story in two crucifixions. Conan is able to endure and survive his crucifixion, as well as the subsequent journey without water, thanks to his barbarian stamina. When Constantius is finally crucified, Conan states "You are more fit to inflict torture than endure it. ... You civilized men are soft; your lives are not nailed to your spines as ours."
caption: Cover of Avon Fantasy Reader #10 (1949). The first reprinting of the story. Unknown artist.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "GEDSC DIGITAL CAMERA", "Image Make": "GEDSC IMAGING CORP.", "Image Model": "A835", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "GIMP 2.4.2", "Image DateTime": "2010:08:12 01:16:09", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "256", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "35056", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "9555", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/10", "EXIF FNumber": "9/2", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:08:06 23:47:56", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:08:06 23:47:56", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "27/10", "EXIF ApertureValue": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "4", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Average", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "16", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2448", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3264", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "34932", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None"}