The Filmgoer's Guide to Conan the Barbarian (1982): Cimmerian Mythology

Fire and wind come from the sky, from the gods of the sky, but Crom is your god. Crom, and he lives in the earth. Once giants lived in the earth, Conan, and in the darkness of chaos, they fooled Crom, and they took from him the enigma of steel. Crom was angered, and the earth shook, and fire and wind struck down these giants, and they threw their bodies into the waters. But in their rage, the gods forgot the secret of steel and left it on the battlefield, and we who found it. We are just men, not gods, not giants, just men. And the secret of steel has always carried with it a mystery. You must learn its riddle, Conan, you must learn its discipline, for no one, no one in this world can you trust, not men, not women, not beasts... This you can trust.

It's all very nice and evocative, but aside from the name Crom, absolutely nothing comes from Robert E. Howard. Indeed, much of Cimmerian theology and philosophy in the film is entire the creation of Oliver Stone and John Milius, with many divergences from what we know from Howard.

Creation Myths

There are three stories which delve into Cimmerian mythology, from which we can divine an idea of what the Cimmerians believed:

“Their gods are Crom and his dark race, who rule over a sunless place of everlasting mist, which is the world of the dead."
- "The Phoenix on the Sword," The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, p24

While Crom was chief of Conan's gods, and by far the one he swore by most often, Crom was not the only deity in the Cimmerian pantheon.  The other Cimmerian gods and goddesses we know of are Badb, Morrigan, Macha, Nemain, Diancecht and Dagda, as written in a list of Cimmerian deities' names in Howard's notes. In "Xuthal of the Dusk," Conan swears "Lir and Mannanan Mac Lir," who may also be Cimmerian gods. Just as Howard's Cimmerian is described in very similar terms to his Irish and Scottish heroes, there's little reason to doubt that the Cimmerian gods are much different from their later Irish incarnations. It's interesting to note that almost half of the Cimmerian pantheon consists of women, which reflects their egalitarian attitude towards gender.

What of the giants? We do know some of the creatures of Cimmerian folklore:

Conan listened attentively. The natural skepticism of the sophisticated man was not his. His mythology contained ghouls, goblins, and necromancers.
 - "Iron Shadows in the Moon," The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, p193

Conan glared at him unspeaking, feeling a chill along his spine. Wizards and sorcerers abounded in his barbaric mythology, and any fool could tell that this was no common man.
 - "The Hour of the Dragon," The Bloody Crown of Conan, p105

Conan did not press the matter, nor did he look incredulous. His beliefs included night fiends, ghosts, hobgoblins and dwarfs.
 - "Untitled Fragment," The Bloody Crown of Conan, p308

"The soldiers, who do not believe in ghosts or devils," he said, "are almost in a panic of fear.
You, who believe in ghosts, ghouls, goblins, and all manner of uncanny things, do not seem to fear any of the things in which you believe."
 - "Beyond the Black River," The Conquering Sword of Conan, p60

Ghouls, goblins, necromancers, wizards, sorcerers, night fiends, ghosts, hobgoblins, dwarfs and ghosts - but no giants. The closest approximations would appear to be the Ice-Giants of the Nordheimer:

"She lures men from stricken fields into the wastelands to be slain by her brothers, the ice-giants, who lay men’s red hearts smoking on Ymir’s board. The Cimmerian has seen Atali, the frost-giant’s daughter!"
 - "The Frost-Giant's Daughter," The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, p45

However, there is no interlap between the Cimmerians and Nordheimer, for the two peoples consider their religions distinct:

"By Ymir -"
"Who are you to swear by Ymir?" she mocked. "What know you of the gods of ice and snow, you who have come up from the south to adventure among an alien people?"
"By the dark gods of my own race!" he cried in anger.
- "The Frost-Giant's Daughter," The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, p40

This is extremely important when discussing another aspect of the film's Cimmerian mythology, as well as the cultural makeup of the Cimmerians themselves.

So, there is no evidence for giants in Cimmerian mythology in Robert E. Howard's universe. There is nothing in the stories which mentions any creation myth for the Cimmerians, let alone the one put forward in the films. Finally, the Enigma and Riddle of Steel: there is none, nor anything like it, in Cimmerian folklore or culture.

Cimmerian Afterlife

Conan: What gods do you pray to?
Subotai: I pray to the four winds... and you?
Conan: To Crom... but I seldom pray to him, he doesn't listen.
Subotai: What good is he then? Ah, it's just as I've always said.
Conan: He is strong! If I die, I have to go before him, and he will ask me, "What is the riddle of steel?" If I don't know it, he will cast me out of Valhalla and laugh at me. That's Crom, strong on his mountain!
Subotai: Ah, my god is greater.
Conan: Crom laughs at your four winds. Laughs from his mountain!
Subotai: My god is stronger. He is the everlasting sky! Your god lives underneath him.

While the film rightly has Crom dwelling atop his mountain, we hear the shocking admission from Conan that he prays to Crom, albeit as a seldom occurence (though given his later prayer opens with Conan saying he has never prayed to Crom before, Conan may simply be lying to Subotai).  This is in direct opposition to one of the few tenets of Cimmerian religion in the stories:

His gods were simple and understandable; Crom was their chief, and he lived on a great mountain, whence he sent forth dooms and death. It was useless to call on Crom, because he was a gloomy, savage god, and he hated weaklings. But he gave a man courage at birth, and the will and might to kill his enemies, which, in the Cimmerian’s mind, was all any god should be expected to do.
 - "The Tower of the Elephant," The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, p70

Milius' Crom appears to be open to challenges from strong men, and even invites prayer: very different from Howard's Conan, who considers anyone calling upon him to be a weakling.  Furthermore, the film's Crom appears to have a jovial and hearty side, laughing as he casts the unworthy from his vaulted halls, even at foreign deities!  In Howard's stories, Crom is described as "grim," "loveless," "gloomy," "savage," "dark" - never any indication of mirth or joy.

The Cimmerian afterlife appears somewhat similar to that of the Norse, with reference to Valhalla, a quintessentially Norse element, virtually inextricable from Odin, Asgard, Ragnarok and so forth. We have a description of Cimmerian afterlife in the original stories:

“But what of the worlds beyond the river of death?” she persisted.
“There is no hope here or hereafter in the cult of my people,” answered Conan. “In this world men struggle and suffer vainly, finding pleasure only in the bright madness of battle; dying, their souls enter a gray misty realm of clouds and icy winds, to wander cheerlessly throughout eternity.”
 - "Queen of the Black Coast," The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, p131

Doesn't sound much like Valhalla to me. If there was any further doubt, Valhalla does appear in the Hyborian Age, as the final destination of the Nordheimer - who, as discussed above, have a separate mythology from the Cimmerians.

"Not in Vanaheim," growled the black-haired warrior, "but in Valhalla will you tell your brothers that you met Conan of Cimmeria."
 - "The Frost-Giant's Daughter," The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, p39

I seek not beyond death. It may be the blackness averred by the Nemedian skeptics, or Crom’s realm of ice and cloud, or the snowy plains and vaulted halls of the Nordheimer’s Valhalla. I know not, nor do I care.
 - "Queen of the Black Coast," The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, p131

Crom may dwell on a mountain, but he does not live in Valhalla.  Conan does profess that he prefers the way of the Æsir to that of his own people, but this is more a preference to their lifestyle and general demeanour than their religion:

"What manner of men are these northern folk?" asked Prospero.
"Tall and fair and blue-eyed. Their god is Ymir, the frost-giant, and each tribe has its own king. They are wayward and fierce. They fight all day and drink ale and roar their wild songs all night."
"Then I think you are like them," laughed Prospero. "You laugh greatly, drink deep and bellow good songs; though I never saw another Cimmerian who drank aught but water, or who ever laughed, or ever sang save to chant dismal dirges."
"Perhaps it’s the land they live in," answered the king. "A gloomier land never was – all of hills, darkly wooded, under skies nearly always gray, with winds moaning drearily down the
valleys."
"Little wonder men grow moody there," quoth Prospero with a shrug of his shoulders, thinking of the smiling sun-washed plains and blue lazy rivers of Poitain, Aquilonia’s southernmost
province.
"They have no hope here or hereafter," answered Conan. "Their gods are Crom and his dark race, who rule over a sunless place of everlasting mist, which is the world of the dead. Mitra!
The ways of the Æsir were more to my liking."
 - "The Phoenix on the Sword," The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, p24

A final consideration is cinematic's Conan's off-handed dismissal of Subotai's deities, which is very unlike the more respectful - or rather, cautious - Cimmerian of Howard's stories:

"Conan, do you fear the gods?"
"I would not tread on their shadow," answered the barbarian conservatively. "Some gods are strong to harm, others, to aid; at least so say their priests. Mitra of the Hyborians must be a strong god, because his people have builded their cities over the world. But even the Hyborians fear Set. And Bel, god of thieves, is a good god. When I was a thief in Zamora I learned of him."
- "Queen of the Black Coast," The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, p131

Here, we see that although Conan does not consider Mitra, Set, Bel, or any of the other gods to be his gods, he nonetheless gives them a certain amount of respect. Robert E. Howard's Conan has seen too much sorcery and magic in his life to mock the gods in such a way, though that should not be mistaken for deference or fear: simple pragmatism.  Little use in challenging a god when you have nothing to gain.

Conan's respect to other religions - at least those which do not involve the invocation of demons and other evil rites - is a fixture throughout his life, even into his kingship:

Persecution caused the followers of Asura to hide their temples with cunning art, and to veil their rituals in obscurity; and this secrecy, in turn, evoked more monstrous suspicions and tales of evil.
But Conan’s was the broad tolerance of the barbarian, and he had refused to persecute the followers of Asura or to allow the people to do so on no better evidence than was presented against them, rumors and accusations that could not be proven. "If they are black magicians," he had said, "how will they suffer you to harry them? If they are not, there is no evil in them. Crom’s devils! Let men worship what gods they will."
- "The Hour of the Dragon," The Bloody Crown of Conan, p151-152

Conan, while not necessarily worshipping other gods, shows broad tolerance towards the faiths of others. As long as they do not practise human sacrifice, black magic or darkest deviltry, Conan believes men should be free to worship what gods they will.

Conan's Faith

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 two stood against many. That's what's important! Valor pleases you, Crom... so grant me one request. Grant me revenge! And if you do not listen, then to hell with you!

A wonderful moment in the film, the film is less a prayer than it is a demand. The film's Conan has undergone incredible hardship from an early age: his parents murdered before his eyes; his people and home destroyed; put into slavery; set to push a wheel for decades; forced into fighting for his life in gladiatorial combat; torture, beatings, and witnessing the death of his only love. Yet somehow, Conan remembers his father's words, and he remembers Crom. Faced with such struggles, it would be easy for Conan to forsake Crom, but even through all this, Conan still believes in Crom. Just as Job was faithful to God after all his sufferings, so to did Conan keep his belief: unlike Job, however, Conan was only willing to take so much. Finally, Conan makes his first prayer to Crom, and it's as much an open challenge as it is a request.

Robert E. Howard's Conan has endured many hardships of his own, though not of the same sort as his cinematic counterpart: capture by Hyperboreans; wandering the cities of the Hyborian kingdoms as a penniless, starving youth; the basic struggle to survive in the harsh wilderness. Yet not in any of the Conan stories did Conan pray to Crom, nor could he:

“What of your own gods? I have never heard you call on them.”
“Their chief is Crom. He dwells on a great mountain. What use to call on him? Little he cares if men live or die. Better to be silent than to call his attention to you; he will send you dooms, not fortune! He is grim and loveless, but at birth he breathes power to strive and slay into a man’s soul. What else shall men ask of the gods?”
 - "Queen of the Black Coast," The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, p131

Howard's Crom is that most unusual of gods: the one that actively rejects his people's worship, prayer and devotion, and rather expects his people to be entirely self-sufficient. Robert E. Howard's Conan would never pray to Robert E. Howard's Crom, for the simple reason that Crom has already given the essential gift to every human at birth: the courage, will and power to survive.  That was all Crom would give his people, and that's all his people would ask.