Conan the Barbarian (1982)

Mako: The Wizard, Narrator

Photos 

Quotes 

• [first lines] 

  The Wizard : Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis and the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of. And unto this, Conan, destined to wear the jeweled crown of Aquilonia upon a troubled brow. It is I, his chronicler, who alone can tell thee of his saga. Let me tell you of the days of high adventure!

• The Wizard : All manner of pleasures and diversions were indulged. Wealth can be wonderful. But you know, success can test one's mettle as surely as the strongest adversary.

• The Wizard : He did not care any more... life and death... the same. Only that the crowd would be there to greet him with howls of lust and fury. He began to realize his sense of worth... he mattered. In time, his victories could not easily be counted... he was taken to the east, a great prize, where the war masters would teach him the deepest secrets. Language and writing were also made available, the poetry of Khitai, the philosophy of Sung; and he also came to know the pleasures of women, when he was bred to the finest stock. But, always, there remained the discipline of steel.

• Subotai : Hey, old man, where did you get this stuff?

  The Wizard : The dead... the gods are pleased with you, they will watch the battle.

  Conan : Are they going to help?

  The Wizard : No.

  Conan : Well, then tell them to stay out of the way.

• The Wizard : It has been surmised, that perhaps, my lord had become like a wild animal that had been kept too long. Perhaps, but whatever... freedom... so long an unremembered dream, was his.

• The Wizard : Ooooh... Once great men lived here... giants... gods... once, but long ago. It is here that I met my master. It was no accident, nor it is mere chance that I am the teller of his tale.

• The Wizard : The mounds have been here since the time of the Titans. Kings buried in them... great kings... domains once glittered like the light on a windy sea. Fire won't burn there... no fire at all. That's why I live down here in the wind.

  Conan : Do you care for these places?

  The Wizard : I sing to them. On nights, when they wish, I sing of the tales of battles, heroes, witches and women. Nobody bothers me down here. Not even... Thulsa Doom.

  Conan : Do flowers grow around here?

  The Wizard : Flowers?

  [laughs] 

  The Wizard : Flowers.

• The Wizard : The Children of Doom... Doom's Children. They told my lord the way to the Mountain of Power. They told him to throw down his sword and return to the Earth... Ha! Time enough for the Earth in the grave.

• The Wizard : I'm a wizard, mind you. This place is kept by powerful gods and spirits of kings. Harm my flesh and you will have to deal with the dead!

• The Wizard : [about the spirits]  Sometime soon, perhaps tonight, they'll try to take him. And if they succeed...

  Valeria : If they succeed, you'll follow.

• The Wizard : The ashes were trampled into the Earth, and the blood became as snow. Who knows what they came for... weapons of steel, or murder? It was never known, for their leader rode to the south, while the children went north with the Vanir. No one would ever know that my lord's people had lived at all. His was a tale of sorrow.