As late as the 1800s, steel was only produced in small amounts and was very expensive. Conan lived in the IRON age. Iron is not steel. You have to remove the impurities from the iron to make steel and that couldn't be done before the 1800s when the Bessemer process was developed.
hard core at your door
Conan lived in the IRON age.
lol at mysticalgirl trying to sound all smart. Conan lived in the Hyborian Age not the Iron Age.
shareI never read the books, only saw the films. But I sort of get the impression that it takes place in an age long lost. Perhaps in that age, they developed the capability to make steel, but that knowledge, and the cultures that developed it, were lost to history. Sort of like the Age of Zeal in Chrono Trigger. I wouldn't call it a problem, it's simply the way it was written. It's a fantasy story. Not intended to inhabit and adhere to a particular time in human history.
share"Know, O Prince, that between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities, and the years of the time of the rise of the Sons of Aryas, there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars - Nemedia, Ophir, Brythunia,Hyperborea, Zamora with its dark-haired women and towers of spider-haunted mystery, Zingara with its chivalry, Koth that bordered the pastoral lands of Shem, Stygia with its shadow-guarded tombs, Hyrkania whose riders wore steel and silk and gold. But the proudest kingdom of the world was Aquilonia, reigning supreme in the dreaming west.
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 sandalled feet."
- The Nemedian Chronicles
In other words, Conan takes place millennia BEFORE the Iron Age. The implication is that the ability to forge steel was forgotten with the end of the Hyborian Age 500 years after Conan died, only to be rediscovered millennia later.
Requiescat in pace, Krystle Papile. I'll always miss you.
Great retort,GreatWhiteApeofBarsoom. I love the Howard books.
shareThe development of steel was actually a central plot point. The entire movie revolves around the fact that these barbarians created a substance nobody else could -- steel. When Thulsa Doom, who clearly comes from a far more cosmopolitan and advanced society, has to seek out steel and yearns to learn how to make it, it's pretty clear that steel takes on a near-mythical quality in this age. In other words, you're looking at it far too literally and historically. This is a movie about ancient legends.
shareWas he really looking for 'steel' as a resource, or just legendary swords and fine craftsmanship from those who carried the knowledge?
I always somewhat suspected that Thulsa Doom had somehow become aware of Conan's father and his swordmaking.
I suppose I knew that steel was way more recent and Conan seems to exist in the B.C.E. era...
But honestly i find a much bigger problem to be the sexism (women used as props, sex objects and only existing to further the man's development)
AND that the only dark skinned character..... (only one exists in the entire world apparently) ... is the villian
but that soundtrack is awesome.
Valeria is no prop, she twice saves Conan's life. This site has a great analysis of the romantic subplot and how well it's handled in this movie;
http://fanwithnoname.wordpress.com/2014/02/19/love-and-war-the-overlooked-progressive-romance-of-conan-the-barbarian/
Valeria is a badass and every bit his partner, is the brains of the operation, and saves Conan even from death and even in death.
She saves Conan, not the reverse.
She is no object. She is critical, hard as steel, fearless, and no damsel in distress by any definition.
I don't know what movie you saw to come away with such an impression. Seldom had any female been portrayed as strong, skilled, and stand alone as a character as we are treated to here.
Even with more modern sensibilities taking hold she remains one of the stronger females portrayed in film. This a movie made a generation ago about a time in antiquity.
Valeria is a well-fleshed out character as well as a perfect romantic foil for Conan.
Thulsa Doom is of a different race from humans. (Notice the transformation into a snake.) You must have had your eyes closed when Conan was fighting all those white villains in the movie to get worked up over Thulsa Doom's skin color.
Requiescat in pace, Krystle Papile. I'll always miss you.
"Conan lived in the IRON age. Iron is not steel."
Nope, he lived in the "Hyborian Age" : it's fantasy, not reality.
What's best in life ?
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You have to remove the impurities from the iron to make steel and that couldn't be done before the 1800s when the Bessemer process was developed.
Earlier even, Ulfbert swords: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulfberht_swords
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