A Witch Shall be Born

. The original short story was written by Robert E. Howard and first appeared in a 1934 issue of "Weird Tales" magazine.]

"A Witch Shall be Born" is one of the original stories by Robert E. Howard about Conan the Cimmerian, first published in "Weird Tales" in 1934. The story was republished in the collections "Conan the Barbarian" (Gnome Press, 1954) and "Conan the Freebooter" (Lancer Books, 1968). It was first published by itself in book form by Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. in 1974 [cite book | last=Chalker | first=Jack L. | authorlink=Jack L. Chalker | coauthors=Mark Owings | title=The Science-Fantasy Publishers: A Bibliographic History, 1923-1998 | location=Westminster, MD and Baltimore | publisher=Mirage Press, Ltd.| pages=322 | date=1998] . It has more recently been published in the collections "The Conan Chronicles Volume 1: The People of the Black Circle" (Gollancz, 2000) and "" (Del Rey, 2005).Infobox Book
name = A Witch Shall be Born
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = Dust-jacket of the first stand-alone book publication of the novella
author = Robert E. Howard
illustrator = Alicia Austin
cover_artist = Alicia Austin
country = United States
language = English
series = Donald M. Grant Conan
subject =
genre = Fantasy novella
publisher = Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc.
release_date = 1975
english_release_date =
media_type = Print (Hardback)
pages = 106 pp
isbn = NA
preceded_by = The People of the Black Circle
followed_by = The Tower of the Elephant

Plot overview

cquote2|"By the side of the caravan road a heavy cross had been planted, and on this grim tree a man hung, nailed there by iron spikes through his hands and feet. Naked but for a loin-cloth, the man was almost a giant in stature, and his muscles stood out in thick corded ridges on limbs and body, which the sun had long ago burned brown..."
Robert E. Howard|"A Witch Shall Be Born"

Queen Taramis of Khauran awakens one day to find an identical twin sister, Salome, staring her in the face. As a child, Salome was deemed a witch due to a crescent scar upon her body. Believing this birthmark to be a sign of evil, she was cast out into the desert to perish. However, a magician from Khitai sheltered her and, as she matured, instructed Salome in the arts of sorcery.

Salome — along with a Shemite mercenary named Constantius — rape Queen Taramis and confine her to the palace dungeon. Salome then assumes Taramis' identity as queen of Khauran and appoints Constantius as her royal consort. The palace guard is disbanded and replaced by Constantius' Shemitish mercenaries, an event which turns violent when the captain of the palace guard, Conan the Cimmerian, refuses to obey the order.

Conan is crucified for his defiance. He strains at the iron spikes driven through his hands to no avail. Olgerd Vladislav, the leader of a band of outlaws and thieves, rides by with a scouting party and spies Conan writhing on the cross. Vladislav does not help the Cimmerian; rather he cuts across the base of the cross, leaving it to fate and Conan's hardiness that he is not crushed by the heavy wood. After the spikes are removed from his hands, Conan removes the foot spikes himself. Vladislav refuses to give Conan any water, claiming the Cimmerian must wait until after a ten-mile trek to the outlaw camp to prove his worthiness to his band.

Meanwhile in Khauran, Salome's reign as "Taramis" has plunged the kingdom into darkness and ruin. The farmers suffer under slave-drivers while city dwellers endure excessive taxation and debauchery of their daughters in the royal court. A rebellion is brewing, and the time grows ripe for Conan's return. Conan replenishes his ranks by recruiting every caravan raider in the region, while keeping them content with the loot from merchants marching toward Khauran, then he wrests control of the motley horde from Vladislav but does not kill him in recognition of him having saved his life. Ready to march on the city Conan fakes the construction of towers and siege engines (all that is really built is just mockups), thus causing the mercenary prince Constantius to ride out of the city for an open-field clash where the fate of Khauran, Taramis and Salome will be resolved once and for all.

Adaptation

The story was adpated by Roy Thomas and John Buscema in "Savage Sword of Conan" #5.

Notes

External links

* [http://conan.wikia.com/wiki/A_Witch_Shall_Be_Born Conan wiki • A Witch Shall Be Born] • Synopsis, characters, locations, and publishing history
* [http://www.amrathelion.com/ Conan the Barbarian at AmratheLion.com]
* [http://www.conan.com/ Conan.com: The Official Website]