The Road of Kings (ballad)

"The Road of Kings" is a Hyborian ballad, parts of which are quoted as epigraphs in the Conan stories. The subject matter deals with Conan's rulership of Aquilonia. Its authorship is uncertain, but it serves as a positive counter-narrative against the slanderous "Lament for the King" composed by the royal minstrel Rinaldo.

Excerpts
"''When I was a fighting man, the kettle drums they beat

''The people scattered gold dust before my horse’s feet

''But now I am a great king, the people hound my track

''With poison in my wine cup, and daggers at my back"

"''What do I know of cultured ways, the gilt, the craft, and the lie

''I, who was born in a naked land and bred in the open sky

''The subtle tongue, the sophist guile, they fail when the broadswords sing

''Rush in and die, dogs – I was a man before I was a king"

"''Gleaming shell of an outworn lie, fable of Right divine

''You gained your crowns by heritage, but Blood was the price of mine

''The throne that I won by blood and sweat, by Crom, I will not sell

''For promise of valleys filled with gold, or threat of the Halls of Hell"