Tree of Woe

The "Tree of Woe" is a dead tree in the Conan the Barbarian movie.

Description
The Tree of Woe is a dessicated lone tree in the eastern lands of Hyboria. The tree is subject to the scorching sun at all hours of the day hence the reason it has dried out and withered to its decayed state.

The tree is used by Thulsa Doom's snake cult as an extensive method of punishment and execution where the victim is crucified on the tree and exposed to the same excruciating agony of the sun that the tree had undergone. Conan is among one of Thulsa's victims to be crucified on the tree, however he is rescued by his companion Subotai in just enough time before he dies.

Behind the Scenes
In the scene of Conan crucified on the Tree of Woe, the director had the idea of Christ's crucifixion in mind when setting it up. The crucifixion was reversed in that rather than Conan wondering if his god has forsaken him and being faced in front of a crowd, he is alone on the tree being insulted by Crom with no more company than the vultures offer him.

The scene uses real vultures, including the one that leans over Conan's shoulder to pick at his wounds. They replaced the vulture in between camera switches with a different vulture that was stuffed after it died mysteriously on set, and Arnold bit into the neck of the dead one before spitting it out. Medics stood by after the scene to give Arnold a solution to gargle to prevent his chances of getting sick after biting a dead vulture.