Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandaled feet.
Interpretation
This quote encapsulates the duality of human nature, showcasing both darkness and light within a single character.
In this quote, Robert E. Howard introduces Conan, a complex character who embodies both the violent and melancholy aspects of existence, suggesting that the human experience is marked by a struggle between extremes. The imagery of Conan's journey to tread on 'jeweled thrones' reflects a defiance against the established power structures, highlighting themes of struggle, mortality, and the search for meaning amidst chaos.
In practice
During a discussion on the complexity of characters in literature, one might quote Howard to illustrate the duality of human nature.
Let me live deep while I live; let me know the rich juices of red meat & stinging wine on my palate, the hot embrace of white arms, the mad exultation of battle when the blue blades flame crimson, and I am content"......Conan the Cimmerian.
My characters are more like men than these real men are, see. They're rough and rude, they got hands and they got bellies. They hate and they lust; break the skin of civilization and you find the ape, roaring and red-handed.
The old cathedrals are good, but the great blue dome that hangs over everything is better.
This universe, which is the same for all, has not been made by any god or man, but it always has been, is, and will be an ever-living fire, kindling itself by regular measures and going out by regular measures.
Enlightenment is not something you achieve. It is the absence of something. All your life you have been going forward after something, pursuing some goal. Enlightenment is dropping all that.
I was always the youngest boy in my class at high school. I have retained this feeling of being the youngest, even though now I am almost the oldest person I know.
Nothing teaches us about the preciousness of the Creator as much as when we learn the emptiness of everything else.
Man as an individual is a genius. But men in the mass form the headless monster, a great, brutish idiot that goes where prodded.
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