A Witch Shall Be Born

In Short

This classic work of sword-and-sorcery fantasy follows the Cimmerian barbarian Conan as he navigates a palace coup in the city of Khauran. After being betrayed by the mercenary Constantius and left to perish in the desert, Conan rallies nomadic tribes to reclaim the city and restore the rightful queen, Taramis. Renowned for its unrelenting pace and vivid, visceral action, the narrative has endured as a cornerstone of the genre because it captures the primal tension between the decadence of civilization and the raw, uncompromising survival instincts of the barbarian.

The Story

The story begins with a supernatural intrusion: Queen Taramis of Khauran is awakened by her long-lost, evil twin sister, Salome. A witch who has been raised in the dark arts of the East, Salome reveals that she has plotted to usurp the throne. She has conspired with Constantius, a ruthless mercenary leader known as the "Falcon," to seize the capital. Salome enters the palace, subdues the guards, and orchestrates a coup, plunging the city into terror while the true queen is held captive.

Conan, serving as captain of the queen's guard, falls into their trap. He is captured, brutally beaten, and nailed to a cross in the desert to be picked apart by vultures. Against all odds, he survives through sheer, superhuman endurance until he is rescued by a passing band of Zuagir nomads. Rather than seeking refuge, Conan assumes a position of power within the tribe. He bides his time, sharpening his hatred and forging his desert allies into a force capable of challenging the professional soldiers of the city.

Meanwhile, life in Khauran under Constantius and the masquerading Salome becomes a nightmare of systematic cruelty and oppression. A scholar within the city documents the decline, noting that the queen’s behavior has become demonic. In the palace dungeons, Salome torments her sister with the severed heads of loyalists, enjoying the psychological carnage.

Conan eventually executes a brilliant tactical feint. He leads Constantius to believe he is besieging the city with crude, fabricated war machines. When Constantius marches his forces out to crush the perceived threat, he is met by a hidden, disciplined wedge of cavalry. Conan’s forces shatter the mercenaries. As the battle turns, the people of Khauran rise up, realizing they have been deceived. In the ensuing chaos at the city’s temple, the witch Salome is killed by a stray blow, and the true queen is rescued by the soldier Valerius.

The narrative concludes with a final, chilling act of symmetry. Conan finds the wounded, fleeing Constantius and nails him to the very cross where he had previously left the Cimmerian to die. Leaving his enemy to the mercy of the circling desert scavengers, Conan rides away, uninterested in the politics of the city he has saved, returning to his life as a wanderer of the plains.

How It Unfolds

The betrayal of the queen Salome confronts her twin sister in the dark of night, revealing her identity and her intent to seize the throne of Khauran. Through a combination of sorcery and political maneuvering, she and her mercenary ally, Constantius, quickly dismantle the queen's authority.

The crucifixion of the hero Conan is captured and subjected to a slow, agonizing death upon a cross in the desert, intended to serve as both an execution and a warning. His survival—a testament to his savage, almost inhuman resilience—marks the turning point of the entire struggle.

The rising of the nomads Rescued by desert tribesmen, Conan uses his combat prowess and tactical intellect to dominate the tribal leadership. He transforms the loosely organized nomads into a disciplined military force, preparing them for an inevitable confrontation with the usurper.

The trap is sprung Conan lures Constantius out of the safety of the city walls with the promise of an easy victory against fake, flimsy siege engines. The mercenaries are caught off-guard by a hidden charge of cavalry and the sudden, furious insurrection of the city's populace.

The final justice With the usurpers defeated and the true queen restored, the narrative closes on the desert plains. Conan encounters the captured Constantius and imposes a final, grim punishment, mirroring his own earlier suffering before disappearing back into the wilds.

The People

• Conan: A Cimmerian warrior whose immense physical strength and relentless will to live drive the narrative. He is defined by his ability to endure extreme pain and his refusal to be broken by betrayal.
• Taramis: The rightful queen of Khauran, whose life is defined by her forced confinement and the suffering inflicted upon her by her twin. Her survival is the catalyst for the city’s eventual liberation.
• Salome: The witch-twin, a figure of malevolent beauty and sorcerous ambition. She views the world as a stage for her cruelty, eventually falling victim to her own hubris.
• Constantius: A ruthless mercenary captain. His arrogance and belief in his own superiority over "barbarians" lead to his downfall, as he underestimates the tenacity of his enemy.
• Valerius: A loyal soldier of the guard. His commitment to finding the real queen and his active role in the city's uprising provide a human anchor to the struggle against Salome’s tyranny.

In Its Own Voice

When Conan faces his executioner on the cross, he retains a ferocious, defiant spirit:

Blood started afresh from the pierced palms as the victim's mallet-like fists clenched convulsively on the spike-heads.

Even when confronted with the supernatural, the narrative maintains a grim, grounded perspective on the cruelty of the antagonists:

She stood perfectly still for a few moments, erect and staring into space.

The conclusion highlights the stark divide between the civilized world and the barbarian’s restless nature:

But not all men seek rest and peace; some are born with the spirit of the storm in their blood, restless harbingers of violence and bloodshed, knowing no other path.

What It's Really About

At its heart, the book explores the inherent fragility of civilization when faced with the primal forces of cruelty and survival. It posits that "civilized" men, while comfortable in their stone cities and iron-clad ranks, are often morally and physically softer than the "barbarian" who lives in direct contact with nature's hardships. The struggle for the throne of Khauran acts as a crucible, testing the capacity for endurance against the capacity for betrayal. It asks whether power is something to be held, or something to be survived, ultimately suggesting that those who live by the sword and the cruelty of the desert possess a grim, elemental justice that civilization cannot replicate or fully comprehend.

Why Read It Today

Readers will appreciate this book for its lean, propulsive storytelling. There is no wasted space; every scene serves to ratchet up the tension or escalate the violence. If you enjoy narratives that favor action and atmospheric dread over lengthy exposition, you will find the reading experience incredibly immersive. It feels like a fever dream of ancient history, filled with crumbling temples, desert scavengers, and high-stakes palace intrigue.

However, modern readers should be aware that the prose reflects the pulpy, sensationalist style of the 1930s. The attitudes toward the "barbarian" versus the "civilized" world are starkly binary and occasionally blunt, and the casual brutality depicted—particularly toward the characters trapped in dungeons—is quite graphic for its time. The dialogue often leans into the theatrical, and the world-building is intentionally hazy, favoring mood over meticulous detail. Yet, for those interested in the roots of modern fantasy, this book offers a masterclass in how to build a mythic, larger-than-life protagonist. Conan remains a compelling figure not because he is a hero in the traditional sense, but because he is an unstoppable force of nature, and watching him navigate the treachery of Khauran is as gripping today as it was when first published.