videocassette version of the film was released on October 2, 1982. Sales and rental figures of the videocassette were high; from its launch, the title was listed in Billboards Videocassette Top 40 (Sales and Rental categories) for 23 weeks. According to Sammon, sales of the film through frequent home video releases increased the film's gross earnings to more than $300 million by 2007. Conan the Barbarian was novelized by Lin Carter and the de Camps (L. Sprague and his wife, Catherine). It was also adapted by Marvel in comic form; scripted by Michael Fleisher and drawn by John Buscema, the comic was one of the rarest paperbacks published by the company. Accolades Conan the Barbarian did not receive any film awards, but the Hollywood Foreign Press Association noted Bergman's performance as Valeria and awarded her a Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year—Actress. Poledouris's score was judged by Films in Reviews Page Cook as the second best sound track of the films released in 1982. The film was nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Actor for Arnold Schwarzenegger. The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists: 2003: AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains: Conan – Nominated Hero 2005: AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores – Nominated 2008: AFI's 10 Top 10: Nominated Fantasy Film Themes The central theme in Conan the Barbarian is the Riddle of Steel. At the start of the film, Conan's father tells his son to learn the secret of steel and to trust only it. Initially believing in the power of steel, Thulsa Doom raids Conan's village to steal the Master's sword. Subsequently, the story centers on Conan's quest to recover the weapon in which his father has told him to trust. Weaponry fetish is a device long established in literature; Carl James Grindley, an assistant professor of English, said ancient works such as Homer's Iliad, the Old English poem Beowulf, and the 14th-century tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight pay detailed attention to the arsenal of their heroes. Grindley further said that Conan the Barbarian, like most other contemporary action films, uses weapons as convenient plot devices rather than as symbols that mark the qualities of the hero. James Whitlark, an associate professor of English, said the Riddle of Steel makes the film's emphasis on the swords ironic; it gives the illusion that the weapons have powers