What is the Riddle of Steel?

What is the Riddle of Steel?

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ah the riddle of steel, you know it dont you boy
what is steel compared to the hand that wields it

I thought they didn't answer it in the film? And that was just his opinion.

THULSA DOOM doesn't have OPINIONS, he has FACTS.

Women will never understand what is best in life.

>I thought they didn't answer it in the film? And that was just his opinion.

It was answered at the end:

Flesh grows weak. Steel becomes brittle. But the will is indomitable.

Something about conviction.

fine the riddle of steel is its hardened iron with carbon and calcium

Well part of it is to hear the lamentations of the women so of course not

>plebbazikuk detected

kys

>to cuck your husband, to see your homeland burning before you and to lament about the pay gap

you don't have to agree to understand

I bet it involves irony.

There, on the rocks. That beautiful girl...

It's about blacksmithing.
Cast iron is brittle.
That's why his father's sword broke.
The Atlanteans probably used forged steel instead.
The secret of steel was lost when the Oceans drank Atlantis.

Im genuinely sad we'll never see an adaptation of Beyond the Black River

Steel can only ever be as powerful as the hand that wields it.

So is the new film ever actually happening? I pray for it to be the Fury Road of low fantasy but the lack of Milius/Basil probably makes it automatically shit.

somebody ask John Milius what it is before he dies, fucker's 73.

This user is correct. You can see this demonstrated in three scenes:

The first, when Conan cleaves his father's sword in two with the Atlantean blade, during the battle of the mounds. Conan's father had told him in the prologue, "But this, THIS you can trust!", however, it is shown that even his father's steel could be destroyed by stronger steel.

The second, where Conan kills Thulsa Doom. Doom had preached that it was Flesh that was strongest, that the hand that wields the Steel is the true power. But as Conan smites Doom and holds his head above for the crowd to see, Flesh is clearly weaker than Steel.

The third, after the cult disperses and he sits alone on the steps of the temple, contemplating his life now that both his father and Doom were wrong about the Riddle. The princess comes to him and bows, meaning he now has the power that Doom had, and can do with it as he pleases. Conan briefly considers it, but then takes a flaming firebowl and burns down the temple. He has chosen to give up the power for the good of others, and then instead of taking the princess for himself, carries her to her father. He has chosen to become a hero, and in doing so, realizes it was his choices, his Will that allowed him to survive his early years on the Wheel of Pain, the fighting pits, and all the combat he lived through. And it was his choices that brought him love from his friends, who saved him from a death that no amount of Flesh or Steel could have saved him from.

If it's anything like the other Conan they did a few years back it will be shit. Good what a disappointing film.

Just as steel is only as strong as the hand that wields it so too is the body only as strong as the will which fills it. The truth is that steel, like any tool, is useful when not relied upon but quickly becomes a weakness when used as a crutch. The riddle of steel is that steel has its uses but that it must never be relied upon to do what a man can do himself.

People underestimate the importance of Valeria's sacrifice. She give her life for his. To me the Secret of Steel is that love for your fellow man can conquer death. The good you put into the world will exist after you have gone while steel and flesh rot away.

i dont know man that sounds kinda gay

underated kek

this guy gets it

Steel=Materialism
Flesh=Spirituality
Will=discipline

Without will, the other two forces will always be overcome

what's heavier, a pound of steel or a pound of feathers?

Muscles.

You're a little off the bat, because Love doesn't just happen in a vacuum. It's the Will of a man that creates love among his friends, but it's a by-product of expressing your Will.

I'm not downplaying Valeria's sacrifice by any means, I'm just saying that Valeria didn't love Conan just because, she loved him because his Will was strong and good. So it's still his Will that allowed others to love him and save him from death.

Top fucking notch, friend.

I think of it more as being the omnipotent expression of freedom being manifested through our consciousness, but calling it discipline works too.

steel is heavier than feathers

...

Holy crap, the coen brothers were spot on with john goodman in the big lebowski

>only one that actually knows the answer

good job user

lol, I heard this movie promoted Naziism. Guess it's true.

>People underestimate the importance of Valeria's sacrifice. She give her life for his.

I don't think she understood the literal consequences of her choice until she got the snake arrow in the liver. She was winging it.

but they're both a kilogram

She knew a price must be paid. The only thing worth a human life is a human life.

Is the riddle of steel a singular answer or is it a conclusion each man must reach in his own way?

SeeThe riddle is, "Which is strongest? The steel, or the hand that wields it?"

If your answer isn't' will, then you're not really a man.

when is this ever mentioned in the film?

It's never stated, but heavily implied throughout the film. You have Conan's father saying you must trust Steel, and Doom says Steel is nothing compared to the Flesh that wields it. You can then draw the conclusion to what the riddle is.

Well, hopefully the steel or your hand would break it.

>threads that women wouldn't understand

> this you can trust
> breaks the next time Rexor uses it

Serves him right, you don't cast blades, you forge them.

Why does he wear such a short sword?

Because the show is going for an ancient sort of vibe and ancient swords were historically generally quite short, even those intended for two handed use. But apart from that it's just aesthetic.

youtube.com/watch?v=RlBcDnRzmM0

>barely any dialogue, just music
>scene is just "guy finds sword"

and yet it's 100% kino, how did they do it?

Great soundtrack. Most soundtracks are used merely to set mood but the best are the ones which set emotion and unspoken dialogue.

THIS U CAN TRUSS

Then why does it have parry hooks? They are useless for such a TINY sword.

Again, aesthetic. They were going for a sort of otherworldly yet vaguely familiar vibe and they succeed.

Why did this other world make a sword that doesn't make sense? He should need a shield with that small hilt, too.

Jesus fucking Christ dude. The film is a fucking masterpiece. Stop going autistic on the fucking sword they used. Go watch some film that's lame as shit but has a 100% period accurate sword in it while you stroke off.

I was just confused why you said some of the choices were historical and others weren't.

>"Crom! I have never prayed to you before. I have no tongue for it. No one, not even you, will remember if we were good men or bad. Why we fought, or why we died. All that matters is that today, two stood against many. That's what's important! Valor pleases you, Crom; so grant me this one request. Grant me revenge! And if you do not listen, then to hell with you!"
This is how you speak to gods!

But Thulsa's "Flesh" was clearly also "Will" - "man" would probably be a more accurate representation of what he was preaching - when he told a follower to jump from a height and lay mangled on the floor he obviously wasn't saying that FLESH itself was strong, if anything that just demonstrated the frailty of it - it was his ability to cause another to leap to their death that was being put on display, which if anything is his willpower overpowering his follower.

Thulsa's mantra was that steel was nothing compared to the hand that wields it, but that the hand that wields steel was nothing compared to the man that could wield men.

>Why did this other world make a sword that doesn't make sense?
Conan found the sword in the tomb of an Atlantean giant. It probably wasn't supposed to be a sword, since it would be too small for that. Think of how Sting from LOTR is a short sword for a hobbit, but was originally intended to be a knife.

The sword was probably supposed to be some kind of short sword or large dagger, and its proportions (especially the length of the hilt) are weird because it was made for a giant.

Oh that wasn't me. Maybe that user was wrong. Anyways the answer is that the prop decisions were made by film directors and not the London Museum or Medieval Arms or what not. Prob shouldn't have been such a dick to you. Don't get hung up and caught in the autist loop on things you probably know way more about than the guys making prop decisions for a film that came out in '82 or about then.

Cheers.

Conan does not pray to his God, for Crom values strength and despises beggars.

>instead of taking the princess for himself, carries her to her father
Er, Conan, about that...

It already is a short sword for a person, so that makes even less sense.

I think they just wanted to be able to fit the sword on screen, but wanted it to look like a huge greatsword, so they got this weird looking thing.

Comfiest thread in months.

Someone should do motivational images with this shit

...

I would like to go along with you, but the film shows that both Conan's father and Thulsa are wrong, so I don't think your interpretation makes sense.

Goddam this is a magnificent film.

>so that makes even less sense.
How? The Atlantean was huge, so a hilt that fits two Arnie hands would probably only fit one Atlantean hand. Beyond that, blade lengths for shorter weapons like daggers and various kinds of shorts swords are entirely variable, depending on the use. If you try to imagine someone at least twice the size of Arnold using it, it could easily fall within that large dagger/short sword realm and essentially be something sort of like a xiphos.

Also, the sword trainers that were hired for the movie all did iado and kendo. The sword might have intentionally been designed to be sort of like a katana in proportions (two-handed hilt with a comparatively short blade). It's also pretty easy to imagine that being a real-life explanation.

Also a shorter sword makes for easier and faster sword fighting.

No no, Thulsa proclaimed his flesh was superior inherently, as in he was perfect because of his own flesh. This means nothing he can do will lead him to failure. He is clearly wrong when Conan defeats him and rolls his head down the temple steps.

That's the difference between Thulsa and Conan. Thulsa had the talent and powers, but not the determination. Conan built himself out of nothing and won because he perservered.

Nope.

It is not huge. It's small, but the prop was so poorly made that it weighed probably around 10lbs. That's why he needed two hands and was built like a truck and STILL couldn't move it right.

>It is not huge. It's small,
Wait, what? I can't see how that has anything to do with what I was saying.

And the prop weighed so much because they hired a knifemaker instead of a swordmaker. He overbuilt it, and the added bits of decoration just added even more weight.

>t. retard

Which is why it's a shit sword that would get him killed. No matter what culture this sword was made for, it doesn't make sense.

I watch pic related every week to find the answer to this question.

>Which is why it's a shit sword
Or it's a movie prop that was made primarily to look cool. The swords in Excalibur were made out of aluminum, they wouldn't work in real life, either. Guns converted for using prop blanks can't fire real bullets. Lightsabers don't exist. People making movies don't care about how functional their prop is.

They're both wrong, and the post I was responding to outlined why Conans father was strong - it just then went off the rails and tried to portray Thulsa's "flesh" as being a purely physical thing despite that being blatantly wrong and the antithesis of plenty of what is seen in the film - Thulsa's followers are a suicide cult that thinks they'll rot to the earth - that's not the primacy of flesh but spirit and will.

It's also worth mentioning that Conan beheads Thulsa with his FATHER'S sword, NOT his own, arguably providing a counter to the steel itself being weaker than Thulsa, who is unarmed and his attempt to dominate Conan with his willpower at the end fails.

You could take that as meaning either flesh or steel is strong without the other, or you could take it as something else.

I'm not trying to pretend I have the answer to the riddle of steel, just objecting to the user's post trying to pretend Thulsa is anything other than an embodiment of will.

If that's your answer, then Crom will laugh at you and throw you from his halls.

I'm not this user or the snake-worshiper, but I also just realized that since Doom worshiped Flesh, he became decadent with wealth and pleasures, corrupting him and his followers to the point that they became sex-mad cannibals, as evidence by the orgy scene.

Nah, you're wrong.

The riddle of steel doesn't have a single answer. It's about giving people direction in their life.

During the film three different people answer the riddle with three different answers, and none of them are wrong. At the same time none of them are right though as you cannot tell someone else the answer to it. The answer isn't even the important part, what is important is how you got the answer.

The riddle of steel is suppose to be a driving force in peoples life, by always striving to answer it people are moving forwards in their life and ideally living a good meaningful life.

Contemplate this on the Tree of Woe...

they will actually. women are naturally drawn to tyrants and usurpers. they are natural traitors.

>Primarily to look cool
I think it looks kind of comical, since it looks like a letter opener. And I don't see how me pointing out that it doesn't make sense, is being challenged by you saying it's a shitty prop?

...

>those stupid fucking african meme swords
dropped

>I think it looks kind of comical
Because you're being an autist. You're the one saying it was a shitty prop, I've given you a lore explanation and two real life explanations that you've been ignoring because you want to complain about how a movie prop works and look smart to strangers on the internet.

Everyone knows the sword doesn't match a historical design. That was probably done on purpose, and there are good enough explanations as to why. That's all anyone needs to think about it, it's a fantasy sword.

It's fine that it doesn't match a historical design, but he uses it like a long sword and the blade design is prohibitive. The hilt design requires a shield (the original comic gave him one), the parry hooks are completely pointless and shortens the blade, and on top of the design the prop is stupidly heavy and Arnie can't even use it.

I am that user you're responding to.

I think Doom's power and philosophy is very much a physical thing. When he orders the cult girl to jump to her death, I don't believe that's showing the power of her "spirit", I believe that's saying, "Look at how willingly she sacrifices her Flesh for me. The power to make others sacrifice their Flesh is true power."

>It's also worth mentioning that Conan beheads Thulsa with his FATHER'S sword, NOT his own, arguably providing a counter to the steel itself being weaker than Thulsa, who is unarmed and his attempt to dominate Conan with his willpower at the end fails.
Right, I believe we share the same interpretation of that scene.

But I adamantly refuse to acknowledge that Doom is embodying Will, especially since it is shown that he has grown decadent and corrupt in his worship of Flesh, as evidenced by the orgy scene. His worship of Flesh as being the strongest force in the world has led him to believe that his command over other people, other Flesh if you will, is what makes him the strongest. And Conan, through his years at the Wheel of Pain, forged an indomitable Will that did indeed make his Flesh quite strong, but it was his Will that gave it to him, just as it was his father's Will that created the Steel.

And, in the end when Conan confronts Doom on top of the temple, Doom attempts to essentially seduce Conan to his side by mustering his command of Flesh, and actually seems to legitimately convince Conan that what he says is true, but then you see it in his eyes that he knows Doom is wrong even if what he says is true, and kills him with Steel. That's what the Will is, the invincible force of righteousness which can dominate both Flesh and Steel. I believe Valeria's story supports my interpretation, but this post is getting long so I'll leave it at that.

>Beyond the Black River
feathers coz what was done to the birds to get those feathers weighs heavy on your soul

Please stop shitposting. You don't like the sword, you think's it dumb, people have given you the reasons why it looks the way it does, and your opinion has not changed. The conversation is over.

I just find it amusing that Conan is trying to be a cool badass, while wielding what looks like a letter opener for opening atlantian mail.

> My god is stronger. He is the everlasting sky! Your god lives underneath him.
If some thief started shit talking your god what would you have done?

Glower at him then eat my chicken leg.

Steel is strong, but Will is everything.

> he quenches in water

Get stabbed in the gut and heal it with your will.

And the entire Will theme is pronounced in this scene when Conan prays to Crom

youtube.com/watch?v=W5K3AKl5qpc

If Crom was real and would help Conan, he would be grateful. But if Crom was not a God and did not help them, then Conan didn't care and would go on without any help from the heavens.