Featured Essays sword & sorcery The Cinematic Forging of Excalibur and Conan the Barbarian A pair of epic films with different — but connected — ideas about swords, symbolism, mysticism and magic. By Adam Ganderson | Published on October 16, 2025 Comment 0 Share New Share Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis and the early 1980s, two R-rated films were released that became the ultimate expressions of a new wave of sword-and-sorcery cinema. Excalibur (1981) and Conan The Barbarian (1982) had grizzled bikers and D&D dice rollers lining up together around the block at theaters, taught fantasy-loving teenagers how to recite Old Irish spells, and introduced raw vulture as a hot new menu item. Like two serpents facing each other on the shield of a snake cult, these are different stories which are connected in hidden ways. One film was launched on a wave of resurgent interest in Texan weirdo Robert E. Howard, starting with stories reprinted as Ace paperbacks adorned by the art of Frank Frazetta and then followed by a successful run of 1970s comics. The other was based on Thomas Malory’s 15th-century adaptation of Arthurian legend, Le Morte D’Arthur. Both had notoriously difficult film shoots that culminated in singular visions filled with crushed enemies, giant snakes, flying arrows, leather, armor, caves, mud, blood, naked bodies, and philosophical enigmas regarding the magical properties of swords. Allegedly, six swords were crafted to represent Excalibur by armorer Terry English. English also made the silver headpiece worn by Nicol Williamson as Merlin which might have saved the actor’s life when he was struck by a flying piece of rock while shooting a castle siege. The two most famous swords in Conan—the Atlantean Sword and the Master Sword forged by Conan’s dad—were built by blacksmith Jody Samson. According to genre historian Paul M. Sammon, dozens of others were created for battle scenes: carbon fiber prop swords, swords with retractable blades, and weapons with CO2 cartridges in the handle that would spray blood.  But beyond the sword as a weapon of war, in these films it is a signifier of connection and severance between past and present, pagan and civilized, nature and human, life and death. Both bringer of destruction and harbinger of rebirth. Its forging could even be seen as analogous to filmmaking: an assemblage of various elements shaped to create a moment in time before the director says “cut.” Or perhaps we might imagine a reel of film forged in the fire of a projector and quenched on a movie screen, revealing images of severed serpent heads and magic blades plunged into stone… much of the material shaped in the minds of two dudes named John.  British director John Boorman had for years been circling both The Lord of the Rings and Arthurian legend, while in the meantime covering everything from classic L.A. noir, backwoods adventure, and bizarro sci-fi. John Milius, aka “Viking Man,” aka “The Zen Anarchist,” was a fanatic of all things related to weapons, war, and surfing, and had directed a couple good films but was primarily known as a screenwriter, particularly for co-writing Apocalypse Now. When he was called in to direct Conan, he brought influences ranging from Akira Kurosawa to John Ford to bear on Howard’s source material, and assembled a cast that included ex-NFL players, professional surfers, and Broadway dancers…plus Arnold Schwarzenegger. During a special features interview from the 2024 Arrow Video edition of Conan, Milius says, “I’ve always had a great interest in pagan cultures and pagan times and it allowed me to do a pagan movie.” “Pagan,” here, has a number of different possible interpretations. Boorman, for his part, described Excalibur as an allegory for the past, present, and future of humanity occurring in three parts. The first as “man emerging from the swamp,” the second as the building of Camelot and emergence of civilization, and the third as the downfall of civilization and “the Wasteland.” On his DVD commentary for the film, Boorman states: “Merlin represents the magic of the past. The way in which human beings connected to nature. With the coming of civilization there was a loss of that magical connection to the old gods of the past.” These old gods are still present when the movie opens in England during the Dark Ages (though shot entirely in Ireland.) It is the woods. It is dark, except for scattered torch flame. It almost seems probable that it was always night during the Dark Ages. Even the knights have black armor. They blend with the night. They are Night Knights. Merlin retrieves Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake and gives the sword to Gabriel Byrne as Uther Pendragon. Merlin announces: “Behold! This is the Sword of Power, Excalibur. Forged when the world was young and bird and beast and flower were one with man and death was but a dream.” The question of why anyone would forge a sword during an age when “death was but a dream” is just one of several riddles posed by these two films. There is also, of course, the Riddle of Steel. This is introduced in Northern Cimmeria, thousands of years in the distant past: the Hyborian Age. In an opening montage directed by production designer Ron Cobb, a warrior forges a sword inscribed with mysterious lettering and animal insignia. On a mountaintop, the man—Conan’s father, played by William Smith—gives his young son the famous “this you can trust” speech: a tale of mortal men finding steel left behind by gods. More importantly, steel possesses a riddle that Conan must learn: “Not men, not women, not beasts” are to be trusted over a sword. Especially not beasts, since his dad gets eaten by dogs in the very next sequence when Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones) and his Snake Cult wipe out Conan’s village and family and then steal the Master Sword. Most readers will know that the rest of the movie revolves around the central theme of revenge and retrieval of the lost sword. Through training, thieving, drinking, and various tribulations, Conan himself is forged like a piece of steel, each experience honing Conan’s psyche after his village is burned down and his will is gradually turned to iron. Some of this is explained during one of the most hilarious DVD commentaries ever recorded. It is worth seeking out Milius and Schwarzenegger’s description of the film where they unintentionally come off as the Hollywood director-meets-Austrian bodybuilder version of Beavis and Butthead.  Regardless, Conan eventually does learn to trust men and women, in particular Gerry Lopez as Subotai and Sandahl Bergman as Valeria. Both of these characters end up saving Conan’s life at various times. Lopez’s physicality works great in action scenes, though his dialogue was unfortunately over-dubbed. Bergman shines (at times like a literal Valkyrie) as Valeria. The intense training she and Arnold underwent with master swordsman Kiyoshi Yamazaki is obvious, and at times during filming the commitment to realism became dangerous—Sandahl almost lost a finger during a fight scene with an extra. Additionally, her skills as a professional dancer were extremely useful during scenes involving scaling walls, jumping off of towers, and chopping people’s heads off. Excalibur’s warriors are more metal than leather. The neon-colored battle scenes are realistically bloody and awkward, given all the heavy armor. Nigel Terry, as Arthur, goes through less rigorous training than Conan and, by contrast, it is his naive trust in other people which becomes part of his undoing. His path is mystical, his very conception tied to magic. Merlin uses the Charm of Making to call forth the Dragon’s Breath and give Uther the ability to disguise himself as the Duke of Cornwall, impersonating the duke in order to impregnate Igraine, the duke’s wife. Arthur is conceived out of this rape by deception, leading Merlin to declare “the future has taken root in the present.” When Uther is ambushed and killed, his final act is thrusting the sword into the stone. This action sets up the solution to the riddle of Excalibur’s forging by revealing it as an avatar for the concept of time; forged in the past, but a seed for the future. It is literally planted inside a rock, waiting dormant until Arthur, having come of age, can retrieve it and bring about the second phase of humanity.  Arthur’s retrieval of Excalibur leads to a period (in the film, about thirty minutes) of unification between humans, nature, magic, and civilization. But civilization, like steel, exacts a cost. The cost is committing to chivalrous rules which, when too strict, begin to snuff out the connection between humans and pagan magic. Neither Arthur or Conan have ambitions to be king. Their ascensions only happen because of the swords. When Conan tumbles into an underground cave to find the skeleton of an Atlantean king, he claims the weapon because his family sword was lost. Like Excalibur, the Atlantean Sword is tied to a time of pre-history. Atlanteans are meant to be ancestors of Cimmerians, and so the cave itself represents a connection to a mystical past within the barbarian’s own mind and serves as portent of Conan’s destiny in becoming king. The first words Arnold speaks on screen are when a warlord boss asks: “Conan, what is best in life?” Conan replies: “To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women.” This mirrors a similar exchange at Camelot when Arthur, the trappings of civilization closing in around him, asks his court: “Which is the greatest quality of knighthood? Courage? Loyalty? Passion? Humility?” Merlin answers, “They blend, like metals used to make a great sword.” Arthur, not grasping the significance, says, “No more riddles.” And so the wizard simply goes with “Truth. When a man lies, he murders some part of the world.”  Camelot is presented as a glowing kingdom, but its beauty is deceptive, a type of lie. Milius’ Hyborian Age version of civilization is seedy and corrupt. “How does the wind get in here?” Conan asks Subotai as they enter a city, where they proceed to get stoned on Stygian Black Lotus (sold by Ron Cobb in a cameo). This is an age of people existing “in the swamp,” as Boorman put it. Conan would not like Camelot much. More savage than chivalrous, he is suspicious of magic. Milius and Schwarzenegger capture the barbarian spirit as envisioned by Howard in the 1930s, partially based in Howard’s conception of the noble savage: brooding, often silent, but a patient hunter. And the hunt is of primary concern. After stealing the Serpent’s Eye jewel from the snake cult compound, Valeria suggests that maybe she and Conan should chill out and enjoy their riches, to no avail—it’s not that he doesn’t like Valeria. But revenge is more important. Conan’s penultimate sword battle takes place at The Mounds. Fittingly, this is the home of The Wizard of The Mounds, played by Mako—himself a version of the Merlin trickster, though with much less screen time. The Mounds are a Hyborian Age version of Stonehenge which are mirrored in Excalibur by Merlin’s rainbow-lit crystal cave fortress, which is itself located under a type of Stonehenge structure. Here, Merlin attempts to trap the sorceress Morgana (who is also Arthur’s half-sister, played in the film by Helen Mirren). But at that very moment Arthur discovers Sir Lancelot and his wife Guenevere cheating on him in the woods, and relinquishes Excalibur, stabbing it into the ground between them. The sword, being magical, pierces the spine of the dragon and goes through Merlin. This allows Morgana to reverse the Charm of Making, trap the wizard in a giant crystal, and thereby severing Arthur’s connection to the land. In a parallel dimension, it is when Conan abandons his sword and tries to infiltrate the snake cult as an acolyte that he is captured. Thulsa Doom demonstrates to him the answer to the riddle: that flesh is stronger than steel, then suggests he consider this while being crucified on the Tree of Woe. This is the part where Conan, his arms nailed to the desiccated tree, kills a vulture with his teeth and, facing death, is forced to reckon with the idea that Thulsa actually got the riddle right. Whoa indeed.  When Fritz Leiber coined the term “sword and sorcery,” he was referencing “Howardian fantasy-adventure.” But he was also citing a type of duality. Two elements, sometimes in tandem, sometimes in opposition: Steel versus magic versus dream versus reality. Conan’s sorcerous elements are secondary to the central idea of steel as the ultimate truth. Boorman’s film is saturated by magic: from the green gel-filtered lighting to mirror-shine armor to billowing black fog, it is a primeval rock ‘n’ roll carnival, a place where truth is elastic. Fritz Leiber’s famous characters, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, are themselves representative of both sword and sorcery. Fafhrd is clearly modeled on Conan, where Mouser, though not related to any specific Arthurian character, represents the more magical half of the duo. He is an adept of sorcery, a Merlin in the making. Though Mouser, of course, is also quite skilled with a sword.  Some of this duality is born out in the way these films were made. Excalibur’s dream logic visuals, largely achieved through camerawork, are vastly different from Conan’s practical monster effects. There’s a 35-foot mechanical snake which Arnold decapitates, James Earl Jones at one point actually turns into a snake. A wolf witch turns into a ball of fire. Flying death demons howl through a scene reminiscent of Kwaidan. Apparently, this is only a fraction of the fantastical elements that were in the script’s first draft, written by Oliver Stone. But the subsequent rewrite by Milius, more suited to the main character’s distrust of the supernatural, made things “more action oriented, less magical,” according to Ron Cobb.  Arthur’s fit of jealousy, his relinquishing of Excalibur, is just one of many times the sword is broken or lost throughout the story. It is plunged into the rock then broken in an early duel with Lancelot then returned, like new, by the Lady of the Lake, before being lost again when Arthur discovers the betrayal by his wife and best friend. Conan too eventually ends up breaking the Master Sword (wielded by Thulsa’s henchman Rexor) with a blow from the Sword of Atlantis: an act of victory and a clean break with his past, the final step as the unformed molten ore of his mental and physical strength solidify into iron.   These episodes of destruction and rebirth ultimately reveal the swords as representative of the duality between masculine and feminine. Conan’s entire quest is wrapped up in revenge and retrieval of a weapon that was forged by his father then stolen. On the way to solving the riddle of steel, he uses another sword that belonged to an ancient royal male ancestor. When Arthur pulls the sword from the stone, he also recovers a sword once wielded by his father. But Excalibur never really belonged to Uther. He did not forge it—it was on loan from the Lady of The Lake through a deal negotiated by Merlin. In the end, it is again returned to the magical waters. Each time it is lost, Excalibur is returned from water by a woman, re-forged then quenched ad infinitum. The sword breaking the surface in the hand of The Lady of the Lake is analogous to birth, a woman’s water breaking at the start of labor. Towards the finale, Perceval recovers the Holy Grail—more a pagan than Christian symbol in this instance, though that’s another story. But the grail awakens Arthur to his connection with the land and this sets the stage for a final battle. He reconciles with Guenevere and discovers that she has kept Excalibur through the dark years of “The Wasteland.” She has joined a convent and is celibate, but in this instance acts as mother to the sword, which here becomes the reconciler, restoring humanity’s connection with Earth.  All of this is captured by Nicol Williamson’s portrayal of Merlin. He is cynical, wryly fatalistic, often hilarious. Described by Boorman as “sexless,” he represents both male and female, a being whose mystical world is being replaced by the rational squareness of civilization. His physical form, like Excalibur, is eventually imprisoned inside a rock, but his magic persists (like the swords of both films) as “a dream to some; a nightmare to others.” Did Merlin know that a time when “spirits of wood and stream grow silent” would arrive when he called forth the sword from the lake? Was this an intentional act of severance with the past? For that matter, how did Conan, in his final scene, come to wear a crown “upon a troubled brow,” hemmed in by the civilization he so detests? It is the legacy of both movies to leave us with riddles not easily answered and plenty to contemplate—maybe late at night under the influence of Black Lotus, pondering life under the tree of woah…[end-mark] The post The Cinematic Forging of <i>Excalibur</i> and <i>Conan the Barbarian</i> appeared first on Reactor.

The Trump administration fact-checked California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday after he promoted a false claim that the Trump administration was closing parts of the Interstate 5 highway for a military showcase.  “Governor Newsom is deliberately spreading Fake News to Californians to fearmonger and score cheap political points,” Taylor Van Kirk, the vice president’s press secretary, told The Daily Signal. “Vice President Vance is eager to be in California on Saturday celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Corps alongside United States Marines who, despite the Democrats’ shutdown, will continue to receive pay thanks to President Trump’s hard work,” Van Kirk added.  Newsom had posted on Wednesday a social media screed denouncing the president and vice president and replying to a left-wing media report which claimed that portions of the I-5 were to be shuttered for the Marine Corps event. The training exercise by the Marines is set to occur on Saturday, Oct. 18 at Red Beach, Camp Pendleton, which is located in Southern California.  “Donald Trump and JD Vance think that shutting down the I-5 to shoot out missiles from ships is how you respect the military. PUT ASIDE YOUR VANITY PARADE AND PAY OUR TROOPS INSTEAD,” Newsom wrote on X.  William Martin, a special assistant to the president and communications director to the vice president, responded to the California governor’s post on X by sharing the Marine Corps announcement of their military showcase, which included a section that explicitly stated there would not be any closed highways. “All training events will occur on approved training ranges and comport with established safety protocols. No public highways or transportation routes will be closed,” the announcement said.  Martin then answered Newsom’s post directly.  “This is complete fake news. The Marine Corps said they are NOT shutting down the I-5 highway and that the event at Camp Pendleton is a training exercise. Also, President Trump IS paying the troops despite Chuck Schumer’s efforts to hold their salaries hostage,” Martin wrote on X. The federal government is currently more than two weeks into a government shutdown following Senate Democrats refusal to agree to a GOP funding bill in the Republican controlled Senate and House of Representatives. The government shutdown has led to thousands of federal workers being furloughed without pay and the closure of the Smithsonian museums and National Zoo. The post Fact Check: Newsom Lies About the Vice President’s Visit in California appeared first on The Daily Signal.

In Honor of 47, I Declare a Green Dregs and Scam Day: Ørsted Blowing Away

Simulations have given a certain edge to one of two competing hypotheses.

In the midst of panic, a radio van was employed to play "Indian snake charmer music."

The opportunity is incredible, but limits and politics might make us miss it.

The less said about its "projecting jaw" the better.

When President Donald Trump pulled out of the Iran deal in his first term, The New York Times predicted catastrophe. Its editorial board wrote: “When it comes to the danger of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, there is no sign Iran or any of the other major powers in the existing and so far successful pact will simply fall in line with Mr. Trump’s notional new plan. More likely, his decision, announced on Tuesday, will allow Iran to resume a robust nuclear program, sour relations with close European allies, erode America’s credibility, lay conditions for a possible wider war in the Middle East ...” But now, seven years later, Trump, in his second term, su ccessfully negotiated with Hamas for the release of the remaining living hostages and the bodies of others kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of 1,200 Israelis and the taking of 250 others. The ceasefire, hopefully just the first step for a broader, more lasting peace, was agreed to by the leaders of Qatar and Turkey, where leaders of Hamas reportedly live. The leader of Egypt signed and the Gulf states, as well as Iran, supported the deal. Even Russian President Vladimir Putin praised it. As for former President Joe Biden, he praised Trump by name, while claiming Trump’s deal stood on the foundation of a plan constructed during his administration: “The road to this deal was not easy. My Administration worked relentlessly to bring hostages home, get relief to Palestinian civilians, and end the war. ... Now, with the backing of the United States and the world, the Middle East is on a path to peace that I hope endures and a future for Israelis and Palestinians alike with equal measures of peace, dignity, and safety.” This is a statement from Biden, whose catastrophic pullout from Afghanistan emboldened America’s enemies, including Iran, the world’s leading exporter of terror and benefactor of Hamas. Trump said on many occasions that had he been in office, Oct. 7 “would never have happened.” There is good reason to agree with his assessment. How did Trump pull this off? After all, Biden, his successor, racked up decades of foreign-policy experience. He spent 36 years in the Senate, with 12 years as the chair or ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. So, what happened? Simple. After Oct. 7, Trump battered Israel’s enemies -- Hamas, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and Iran. Gaza has been leveled. Iran’s nuclear program was bombed, with the sanctions Trump imposed on Iran causing high unemployment and 40% annual inflation. This is what forced Hamas to the table. Finally, to Trump’s many detractors, look at it this way: Years ago, I watched two professional golfers being interviewed on the Golf Channel. The interviewer asked, “What makes a good golfer?” One golfer said, “I look at how he grips the club; where he places his feet, how he positions his shoulders; if he’s right-handed, whether he keeps his left arm locked as he swings; if he keeps his eyes squarely on the ball as he swings so he doesn’t hook or shank; the movement of his hips; whether he swings smoothly without a hitch ...” He proceeded to give several more precise mechanical details. The other golfer said, “I look where the ball lands.” When it comes to Trump, detractors look at his swing: the insults, the bragging, the swagger, the ego, his tweets, his cockiness, his demeanor, his flippancy, and his various opinions on all manner of things that really don’t much matter. As the Trump-supporting Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) puts it, Trump does not have an “unexpressed thought.” Supporters look where the ball lands: the economy; borders; eliminating DEI; SCOTUS judges; pro-life; foreign policy; school choice; combating urban crime; focused deportations; opposing biological men competing against biological women in sports, etc. And it looks like the man is having fun. It’s infectious. In the final analysis, isn’t this all that really matters? The rest of it is, pardon the expression, white noise. Whom do you think the enemies of the United States fear more -- a president who calls “climate change” the “ultimate threat to humanity,” or a president who renames the Department of Defense the Department of War? Larry Elder is a bestselling author and nationally syndicated radio talk-show host. To find out more about Larry Elder, or become an “Elderado,” visit www.LarryElder.com. Follow Larry on X @larryelder. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2025 CREATORS.COM

Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo does not take the issue of childhood vaccines likely — and is making major changes for the health and safety of Florida children.Florida is seeking to end all vaccine mandates, including those for schoolchildren.“The whole ‘means justify the ends’ that people are championing — our critics are championing — it’s a really bad way to make public policy,” Ladapo tells BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales on “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered.”“Ultimately, I get the interest in — you know, none of us want people to be sick. None of us want to have to deal with people catching different viruses or bacterial infections, going to the hospital, things that are part of life — but we want to minimize those for sure,” he continues.“But you can’t do it through unethical means. The means do not justify the ends. If the means are bad, the means are bad. The means and the ends are two different things. And it’s just so clearly both a parents' rights issue and it’s very clearly a moral and ethical issue,” he adds.Ladapo believes that Americans have a God-given right to “control what goes into your body.”“Otherwise, do you really own it?” he asks.Gonzales couldn’t agree more.“If the government says you don’t have the right to control what enters your body, you don’t have any rights,” she says. “Like, that is one of the most fundamental, basic ideas. I don’t understand how it’s controversial.”Want more from Sara Gonzales?To enjoy more of Sara's no-holds-barred takes on news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

The Department of War has implemented new rules regarding news-gathering at the Pentagon such that now, according to Secretary Pete Hegseth, the building "has the same rules as every U.S. military installation."These rules, which reflect the fact acknowledged by the New York Times that "members of the news media do not possess a legal right to access the Pentagon" and that "legally, the press has no greater right of access than the public," prompted apoplexy among scores of liberal news outlets.'It's like college move-out day.'After the Pentagon Press Association characterized the rules as a form of intimidation, the Associated Press, the Atlantic, CNN, Fox News, the New York Times, Politico, Reuters, Task & Purpose, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post announced that they were not going to sign an agreement signaling comprehension of the new policy by the 5 p.m. Tuesday deadline.If the liberal reporters loath to sign a form indicating they "have received, read, and understand" the new rules thought that the Department of War was going to buckle in the face of their protest, they were greatly mistaken.The Pentagon Press Association said in a statement that on Wednesday — a day after Hegseth gave select publications a virtual wave goodbye — the Department of War "confiscated the badges of the Pentagon reporters from virtually every major media organization in America."The PPA claimed further that "Oct. 15, 2025, is a dark day for press freedom that raises concerns about a weakening U.S. commitment to transparency in governance, to public accountability at the Pentagon, and to free speech for all."RELATED: While the lights are off, let’s rewire the government Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty ImagesFootage shows shows a gaggle of reporters who apparently turned in their press credentials and vacated their Pentagon workspaces exiting the building, many wearing looks of self-satisfaction.A reporter from an independent outlet that covers the military told the Columbia Journalism Review, "It's like college move-out day."Nancy Youssef, a reporter for the Atlantic who has occupied space at the Pentagon since 2007, told the Associated Press, "It's sad, but I'm also really proud of the press corps that we stuck together."One America News Network did not stick together with the liberal media outfits. It reportedly signed the form recognizing the new rules.Hegseth indicated that the new rules rejected by the liberal media were, in essence, that reporters can no longer roam freely through the halls of the Pentagon; members of the press must wear visible badges; and the "credentialed press [is] no longer permitted to solicit criminal acts."The lengthy document detailing the new rules in full states that:credentialed members of the press who are American citizens can access the Pentagon 24 hours a day;reporters must ensure their press credentials are visible and worn above the waist while in the Pentagon;reporters cannot roam around various locations within the Pentagon without an escort from an authorized War Department official;while members of the press are not required to submit their writings to the War Department for approval, DOW information "must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released by any military member, DoW civilian employee or contract employee"; andreporters could have their credentials revoked or not renewed if they "solicit government employees to violate the law by providing confidential government information."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!