Magic sword

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In

In some traditions, the sword is ascribed no powers of its own. It is famous because it is the hero's sword, or because of its origin, as when a god gives it to the hero. Other swords keep their wielders safe or destroy their enemies. A more localized motif is the sword that has been broken and must be reforged, commonly found in Northern Europe. Such a sword symbolizes the initial defeat and loss of honor of its wielder. Subsequent victory and the restoration of honor is achieved by reforging it, either at the wielder's hand or that of his heir.^[1]

History

It is probable that the roots of the sentient weapon myths stem from ancient peoples belief that sword making and metallurgy was in fact a magical process. Through the fires of the forge (fire was also given spiritual connotations) a

The Vikings prized their swords above all other things, handing them down from generation to generation and giving them names. The value of the blade was not only determined by its quality but also by how many battles that it was used in. Polynesian people such as the Māori also had comparable reverence for their weapons. They believed a weapon contained a spiritual force called mana and that the weapon held the spirits of its maker, its line of owners and also stole the spirits of those it killed. These weapons where highly prized for their mana and cherished as heirlooms. The Samurai of Japan believed that their swords had their own soul that could possess them. It was not the wielder but their swords that desired to kill; Samurai were just the instrument that the sword used to complete that task. Since most of them were Buddhists (a religion that finds violence and murder abhorent), that train of thought gave them some peace of mind in their killing vocation.^{[citation needed]}

Later, as the concept of

Magic swords may exhibit various degrees of sentience, from being merely influenced by the wielder to being able to think for itself or even control its owner.

Biblical

The

Mythological

Arthurian

In the legend of

Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain is the first non-Welsh source to speak of the sword. Geoffrey says the sword was forged in Avalon and Latinises the name "Caledfwlch" as Caliburnus. When his influential pseudo-history made it to Continental Europe, writers altered the name further until it finally took on the popular form Excalibur. However, in other variants Excalibur itself is the sword in the stone. It is not clear from the various accounts of the Arthur legend whether Excalibur itself was possessed of magical powers or merely had a magical origin, though its scabbard protected its bearer from physical harm. Many interpretations of the legend appear to endow Excalibur with a cutting strength and durability beyond that of ordinary weapons.

In Wolfram Von Echenbach's Parzival, the eponymous hero is given a sword by the Grail king, Anfortas. Parzival's cousin explains that "“The sword will withstand the first blow unscathed; at the second it will shatter. If you then take it back to the spring, it will become whole again from the flow of the water. You must have the water at the source…If the pieces are not lost and you fit them together properly, as soon as the spring water wets them, the sword will become whole again, the joinings and edges stronger than before.”

Chinese

Ancient

In

In Spanish legends, two magic swords belonged to the warrior Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, "El Cid", according to the medieval epical poem "Cantar del mio Cid". The first, "Tizona", had a personality of its own, and its strength varied according to the person who used it. "Colada", too, had power only in the hands of a brave warrior.^{[citation needed]}

France

In the

In the English or Scottish medieval epic poem Greysteil, the hero uses a magic sword 'Egeking' which was made in the Far East. In the Norman Kingdom of Sicily we find 'Mikalis,' the magical sword of King Roger II.

Written fiction

In the works of

Caudimordax

which, in the story, is translated to mean "Tailbiter".

Hal Foster's Prince Valiant wields the Singing Sword, which makes its bearer undefeatable if he fights for a good cause.

In Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's Darksword series the Darksword is a sword capable of absorbing magic.

Michael Moorcock created a sinister magic sword in Stormbringer, wielded by Elric of Melniboné. This black sword has the power to suck out the souls of its victims and transfer their energy to its holder. It also appears to have a mind of its own, sometimes striking against its "master's" will. Mercedes Lackey's creation, the sword Need is similarly independent, although along less sinister lines.

The

Books of the Swords

Lawrence Watt-Evans's The Misenchanted Sword (1985) involves the difficulties of dealing with the sword of the title; the protagonist must kill a man when he draws it, can only kill one, will die if he ever kills a hundred men with it – and will not die without killing them, but will ceaselessly age.

The Blue Sword contains a blue sword, known as Gonturan, that is both a symbol of power (as it can only be used by a damalur-sol, a woman hero), an amplifier of magic and a very sharp sword. It is also a sword with a mind of its own.

In

The eponymous sword from The Sword of Shannara series, by Terry Brooks, has a distinctive pommel in the form of the druidic symbol from the series: a hand holding aloft a torch (similar to the Statue of Liberty). Otherwise it is visually unremarkable, though very well made and unworn. Its ability lies in revealing absolute truth, which can be difficult to bear. The sentiment of the enchantment follows that of the "To thine own self be true..." advice to Laertes. A prospective wielder, upon drawing the blade for the first time, is made to confront all their personal flaws, shortcomings, fears, delusions and morally questionable acts. If the being's psyche cannot deal with the revelations, they might not be permanently harmed, but the blade is unusable to them. However, if they can accept the truth of themselves, though it is still a jarring experience, they come out of it wiser for the self-knowledge. Also, they are able to wield the Sword as both a particularly strong and sharp weapon, and as a harsh mirror of Truth to those touched by the blade. This exposure to reality, like many years of counseling condensed into a moment, can actually destroy anyone "evil" enough, e.g. the Warlock Lord of the same book. It also can reveal illusions and give some protection from magical effects.

Also of note is the Sword Nightblood from the book Warbreaker. Nightblood is a sentient sword which was given a direction when awakened. This direction was to 'destroy evil.' However, being a sword, Nightblood could not judge right and wrong and killed almost indiscriminately. Simply undoing the clasp (which was extraordinarily tempting for one without a pure heart) was enough for nightblood to utterly destroy the one holding it. Nightblood was often recovered by Vasher sticking clean through a man, not even unsheathed. Nightblood, when fully drawn consumed Its user's BioChromatic breaths at an alarming rate, while sending tendrils of darkness out to destroy anything the sword deemed 'evil.' The sword could also telepathically communicate with its wielder, often asking questions such as "Hello, would you like to kill someone today?" or alternatively asking to be unsheathed.

The