Crom

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Crom is a fictional deity imagined by American author Robert E. Howard and mainly mentioned in swearing by his character Conan the Barbarian, and worshipped, if that is truly the case, it is presumed, by the bulk of the Cimmerian people. The name is probably derived from the ancient Irish deity Crom Cruach. Crom is a grim and gloomy god, ever watching from atop his mountain in dark clouds and obscuring mists, ready to pass a disapproving judgment on any and all, but he is said to approve of courage and tenacity, even if the human is too frail to succeed. He is not so much worshipped as invoked (In Howard's works Conan exclaims things like "Crom and his devils"), as a swearword or when trying to gather one's courage. Not that he ever does anything, good or bad, to mortals. It is said that his sole gift to men is to bestow them at birth with the courage to go on, survive, and vanquish adversity.

In the canonical stories, Conan remarks in conversation that it is best to avoid doing anything that would draw Crom's attention, as the god brings down only trouble and doom.

Crom only directly intervenes in Conan's life once, unasked, to save a middle-aged Conan from a dishonorable death at the hands of a malevolent magician. Crom is saving him, presumably, for a more honourable one involving overwhelming odds, heaps of mangled corpses, and rivers of blood. Conan is aware of the intervention, and afterward sheepishly makes his first sacrifice to Crom since boyhood, doing it secretively for fear of others thinking he has "Gone religious in [his] dotage."

[edit] In the 1982 film

In Conan the Barbarian (1982), directed by John Milius and co-written by Oliver Stone, Crom is referenced similarly to in Howard's works, with one exception. During a theological discussion, Conan says that when he dies, he will go in front of Crom who will ask him the Riddle of Steel, and if he does not know the answer, Crom will mock him and cast him away from Valhalla. The Riddle of Steel is not mentioned in Howard's stories, though it may reflect Crom's similarity to Odin.

At numerous points in the film, Conan murmurs "Crom" as an expletive or expression of surprise.

[edit] Crom [Mainstream Slang]

Crom: Adjective. Another word for "odd". Example: "That's crom".

'Crom' bears Scandinavian/Romanian origin, being a word used for bewilderment or mild curiosity and disturbance.

Conan the Barbarian
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