← Back to search
Cover of A Witch Shall Be Born

A Witch Shall Be Born

Robert E. Howard (1975)

Subgenre
Age groupAdult 18+
Content ratingR
Pages52 (Quick Read (<250))
SettingSecondary World
CSM age16+

Content levels

ViolenceStrong
Sexual contentMild
LanguageMild

Protagonist archetypes

Morally Gray Protagonist

Synopsis

"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.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.

Tags

Pulp FantasyDark FantasyWeird FictionClassic Fantasy