Magic sword
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The term magic sword refers to any kind of mythological or fictional sword imbued with magical power to increase its strength or grant it other supernatural qualities. The archetype originated in myth and legend, and occurs countless times over in modern fantasy fiction.
Renowned swords appear in the folklore of every nation that used swords. Sometimes the sword is ascribed no powers of its own, but 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.[1]
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 defeat of its wielder, and the restoration of honor by reforging it, either at the wielder's hand, or that of his heir.[1]
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[edit] Mythological
The trope of weapons imbued with supernatural power has been around since at least the early Bronze Age, a time when all metal was thought to be "magical" in nature.[citation needed]
In Norse mythology, the god Frey "possessed a magic sword that struck out at Jotuns of its own accord."[2] Many other swords appear in Norse legend, in the hands of heroes.
Tyrfing appears in the Hervarar Saga. Svafrlami was the King of Gardariki, and a grandson of the god Odin. He caught the dwarves, Dvalin and Durin, and forced them to forge a sword with a golden hilt that would never miss a stroke, would never rust and would cut through stone and iron as easily as through clothes. The dwarves made the sword, and it shone and gleamed like fire. However, in revenge they cursed it so that it would kill a man every time it was used and that it would be the cause of three great evils. They finally cursed it so that it would also kill Svafrlami himself. It would cost the life of not only Svafrlami, but also the life of the Swedish hero Hjalmar.
A similar sword to Tyrfing is Dainsleif, a sword from the legend of the eternal battle Hjaðningavíg, made by the dwarf Dain. Like Tyrfing, Dainsleif gave wounds that never healed and could not be unsheathed without killing a man.
The sword Gram appears in the Völsunga saga. It was stuck by Odin into the tree that held up a hall in which a wedding feast was held. Only Sigmund could pull it out. This caused considerably envy and conflict. Eventually, Sigmund fought Odin disguised as an old man, and Odin shattered the sword. Sigmund left it for his son Sigurd, who reforged it to kill Fafnir.
There is also Mistilteinn, a sword from the Hrómundar saga Gripssonar, which could never go blunt and which Hrómund won from the undead witch-king Þrainn. Like Tyrfing, it was taken from a barrow-wight.
The legendary smith Wayland Smith forged the magic sword Mimung, which appears both in the Anglo-Saxon poem Waldere and in the German/Scandinavian Þiðrekssaga.
Ancient Chinese mythology relates the tale of Lü Dongbin, who "slew dragons with a magic sword",[3] and also performed "freak feats" with it.[4]
In Japanese mythology, there is a magical sword called Kusanagi, as well as a repeated tradition that the katanas of Masamune and Muramasa were of such high quality as to be near-magical. These three swords have been used extensively in popular culture since then, almost exclusively in the realm of videogame RPG's (see below).
In Greek mythology, Theseus was given a magic sword with which to kill the Minotaur by Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos.
The Bible of Abrahamic faiths relates in the Book of Genesis how God, seeking to deter Adam and Eve from returning to the Garden of Eden "placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way." By some accounts, the Cherubim are replaced with the Archangel Michael, who wields a similar weapon.
In the legend of King Arthur, the king himself is related to two magical swords, in most variants. The first is "The Sword In the Stone", called Caliburn; only Arthur could draw it out, thereby proving that he is the rightful king. In some tales, this is his only sword, but in most variants, this sword was then broken, and he receives from The Lady of the Lake a new sword: Excalibur, arguably the most famous of magic swords. 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 the sword with a cutting strength and durability beyond that of ordinary weapons, making it unbreakable by anything but wrongful acts of its user. Excalibur's primary power was apparently spiritual, as it served to identify the chosen king and instill loyalty to him.
In the Matter of France, Roland possessed an indestructible sword, Durendal, which he could not destroy but threw into a poisoned stream to prevent its capture. In the same legends, Charlemagne owned a notable sword, Joyeuse, while Bishop Turpin wielded Almace.
[edit] Fiction
Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene features a golden sword called Chrysaor, the personal weapon of Sir Artegal, the Knight of Justice. The sword was given to him by Astræa, who had been holding it since the days when Zeus had used it to battle the Titans. Because it was "Tempred [ sic ] with Adamant", it was described as being able to cleave and cut through anything.
In Der Ring des Nibelungen, Richard Wagner drew on the legends of Grim for the sword Nothung, belonging by the hero Siegmund and later reforged by his son Siegfried and used by him to kill Fafner.
The hero of Lewis Carroll's poem "Jabberwocky" slays the Jabberwock with a vorpal sword. Although the poem does not define the word "vorpal" (and contains many nonsensical words with no meaning), the term has been adopted in role playing games to describe a sword which possesses a magical ability to decapitate those against whom it is wielded.
In the works of J. R. R. Tolkien such as The Lord of the Rings, many magical swords, usually with powers for good, are wielded by important characters. Gandalf uses his sword Glamdring in his battle with the Balrog, who wields its own sword of flame. Its sister blade, Orcrist, is buried with Thorin Oakenshield under the Lonely Mountain in The Hobbit. Bilbo, Frodo and Samwise carry the sword Sting. It and Glamdring both glow blue when orcs are near. Aragorn bears the sword Andúril, a potent weapon against the evil of Mordor and a symbol of his right to rule.
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 Twelve Swords of Power are the primary plot device in Fred Saberhagen's Books of the Swords.
Lawrence Watt-Evans's The Misenchanted Sword (1985) revolves 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 one by a damalur-sol, a woman hero), an amplifier of magic, a simply very sharp sword, and a sword with a mind of its own.
Similar to Excalibur, as mentioned above, is the sword Callandor in Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time. Protected within the only fortress created by man that has never fallen to an army, the taking of Callandor is said to be one of the most important signs marking the return of the Dragon, the greatest hero of the Ages. Taken by protagonist Rand al'Thor in The Dragon Reborn, it is revealed to be one of the most powerful magical objects ever created. After using it to bind a nation to his cause, Rand later uses it to drive an army of invaders into the ocean, but at the price of killing many of his own men. Afterwards it is revealed that Callandor is incomplete; lacking the buffers that prevent the user from wielding too much of the One Power.
Terry Goodkind's opus series is named for its magical weapon, the Sword of Truth. This blade, with the word "Truth" inlaid into the handle, factors into many of the moral decisions made by Richard Rahl, the series' protagonist. The blade, like most magic in the series, is focused on need. The sword's master is referred to as the Seeker of Truth. Many false Seekers have carried the sword, but a true Seeker can only be named by the First Wizard (Rahl is named by his grandfather, Zeddicus Zorander). A true Seeker has the ability to turn the blade white, when he kills in compassion and forgiveness. Richard has done this twice. Once, killing the Mord-Sith which captured him in Wizard's First Rule, and again to kill a Sister of the Dark in Stone of Tears.
[edit] Movies and Television
In the Star Wars saga, which employs many themes of classical mythology, the lightsaber can be seen as a science fiction or science fantasy analogue of the magic swords of myth – the device itself appears to defy the laws of physics, bringing to mind Arthur C. Clarke's third law of prediction, the observation that a technology that is sufficiently advanced would be indistinguishable from magic.
Within the Star Wars universe, lightsabers are personally-made weapons built as part of the training of a Jedi knight, as he or she learns and grows in his or her use of The Force. This can be seen as a reflection of similar practices found in the bushido-codes of Feudal Japan.
The He-Man cartoon series more directly mixes magic and technology, with the titular hero deriving his power from a magic sword (simply called the Sword of Power), but living in a world where the traditional gadgetry of science fiction is as commonly employed as the magical arts. To activate the sword, He-Man must use the famous and much-beloved war cry, "By the Power of Grayskull!"
In the British television series Robin of Sherwood, Robin Hood carries Albion, one of the seven swords of Wayland, destined to be wielded by Herne's Son. (Herne the Hunter is the pagan god whom Robin Hood serves in the series. As Herne's servant, Robin is given the title Herne's Son.) The sword's powers include providing visions to its bearer. It cannot hurt its master.
The Sword of Omens in the Thundercats animated series possesses magical powers and the Eye of Thundera in the hilt. Another sword, the Sword of Plun-Darr was a key element to the plot of certain episodes.
In the Samurai Jack animated series, the father of the the titular hero gave his son a (katana) from the Gods to defeat the evil Aku. Ordinary katanas had no effect: only the magic katana could harm Aku, although it could not kill him completely.
This particular magic sword would obey only its rightful owner, thus making it impossible to hurt Jack when his enemy wields it (as Aku actually did, to subsequently no effect) -- it could never be used to harm Jack himself. The sword was forged of the pure spirit of good that humans possess, extracted from Jack's father.
[edit] Anime
The manga and subsequent anime Bleach features several magical swords, called zanpakutō ("soul-cutting swords"). These katana-like weapons are assigned to specific Shinigami (called "Soul Reapers" in the English translation) within the Bleach universe as their own personal property, an extension of themselves -- very similar to the concept of a lightsaber as mentioned above. Carrying the comparison further, a zanpakutō can grow in strength and power in tandem with its user. In addition, these swords are often personified in humanoid form throughout the series, and are activated for a Soul Reaper's first use by calling out their true name (see below).
As well as varying greatly from person to person, in terms of given shape, size, power, and usage, all zanpakutō have unique and often poetic Japanese names -- for instance, the main character Ichigo Kurosaki's zanpakutō is called Zangetsu, which means Moon-Cutter.
In another manga and the anime (also published by Shōnen Jump), One Piece, there are swords that, while not technically magic swords, are designated as Sharp-Grade, Fine-Grade, Excellent-Grade, and Supreme-Grade swords, which are much more powerful than a regular sword that they could be called magic swords.
Examples of swords and their feats include Sandai Kitetsu (Third Generation Demon-Splitter), which is a cursed sword, slicing right through stone, and Yubashiri (Running Snow) which is light but strong. Both are katana and are Sharp-Grade and Fine-Grade swords. Wado Ichimonji ("Straight Road of Peace") and Suushi, ("Autumn Rain") are examples of Excellent-Grade swords.
Examples of Excellent-Grade swords are the Wado Ichimonji (The One Road of Harmony), a moderately light yet very strong and sharp katana, and Shuusui (Clear Autumn Water), which is heavy but so sturdy that it will not bend even if a dinosaur were to step on it. Supreme-Grade swords are of the highest quality, and are the sharpest of all.
One of the main protagonists of the anime and manga The Slayers is the knight Gourry Gabriev, who wields the Sword of Light, a sword with a magical blade of pure light.
In YuYu Hakusho, one of the main heroes, Kuwabara Kazuma, wields his "spirit power" as a "spirit sword," originally a lightsaber-like energy blade coming from a wooden handle made from a broken wooden sword tip, the source of which he later learned to produce without the "handle". It later was even more enhanced by a magical handle.
In the various Tenchi Muyo! media, the main character, Tenchi Masaki, gains the power of a legendary lightsaber-like weapon that seems to accompany a pair of energy wings that are his inherent power. Another character, Ryoko, also has the ability to create a red energy blade, again much like a lightsaber, but with no handle -- rather, it simply sits inches above her closed fist with a small ball of energy on the other side of her hand.
In the manga and anime videos, Ogre Slayer, the main character, who was born in human form, from an oni body, in the same way an oni is born from an human body, has no name and is known by the name of his sword, 鬼切丸, Onikirimaru or ogre-slayer. This sword is the main character's horn, as an oni's. This sword enables him to track and kill ogres. The sword appears to have other powers as well, and by the way the main character speaks to it, it could even have an intellect of its own.
[edit] Video and role-playing games
Computer and video games, and fantasy role-playing games feature a great variety of magical armaments, most commonly represented by swords and similar archetypal weapons. Unlike most of their legendary and literary forebears, these swords are rarely unique, and in many role-playing settings or scenarios, magical weapons are so ubiquitous that the player characters are expected to come into possession of them as a matter of course.
Some examples (from a great and diverse wealth of those available):
All games of Legacy of Kain series feature a powerful blade called Soul Reaver, which is used to devour souls of its bearer's victims. It is revealed in Soul Reaver 2 (the third game in the series) that it has been forged by the ancient vampires as a normal blade, and acquired its magical abillities not before consuming its first soul - the one of vampire Raziel, who is one of two main characters of the series, being a wraith at the time (a resurrected vampire capable of devouring souls of his enemies instead of their blood, as he used to as a normal vampire). This extraordinary weapon share many properties with Michael Moorcock's fictional sword Stormbringer.
In the Soul series, the entire plot focuses on two magic weapons: an evil, soul-devouring sword named Soul Edge, and its holy counterpart, Soulcalibur.
The Legend of Zelda features the Master Sword, a sword with properties that enable it to shoot beams, repel evil, and travel through time. In addition, in the original Legend of Zelda, there is a weapon called the Magical Sword. Also there is a weapon known as the Picori Blade, which later gains power and transforms into the Four Sword, which gives the protagonist the power to split into four versions of himself. In The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass the ultimate weapon is the phantom sword, a sword that is identical to the master sword in appearance accept for an hourglass shape instead of the triforce on the handle, with the power to stop time, shield the used from the curse of Bellum, and is the only sword able to hurt phantoms, the strongest enemies in the game, and Bellum himself.
The 'Blades of Chaos' are a pair of divine blades forged in the fire of hades in God of War. The series also contains the Blade or Artemis and the Blade of Olympus. Both are divine weapons used by gods to defeat the Titans in the Titanomachy.
Dungeons and Dragons has swords such as a "+1 sword" which gives a simple attack bonus, flaming swords which can set enemies alight or inflict extra damage against cold-based creatures, and swords based on other swords from myth and fiction, such as Blackrazor (a Stormbringer analogue – see above) and the Vorpal Blade from the Lewis Carroll poem, Jabberwocky (again, see above). Some, such as the Holy Avenger, are used for good, but there are also evil, sentient swords, such as the Sword of Kas.
The Shining Force series has two notable magic swords: in the first game, there is the Chaosbreaker, the perfect synthesis of dark and holy powers, which is used by the hero-protagonist, Max, to battle Dark Dragon. In the sequel, the sword used by Max's descendant, Bowie, is a glowing blade simply called the Force Sword. A special weapon can be made exclusively for Bowie's use, a sword made of burning flames called the Levanter, forged from mythril by a dwarven blacksmith during the course of the game.
In Warcraft III, the sword Frostmourne steals the soul of Arthas Menethil, and drives him insane.
Another Sega Genesis game, Phantasy Star IV, features the sword Elsydeon, usable only by Chaz. It is given to him by the spirit of the heroine of the first Phantasy Star, Alis, (who is subsequently the first "Protector" of the Algol solar system).
The sword, which chooses its user through the help of its guardian-spirit, Alis (somewhat like the The Lady of the Lake as mentioned above) is used as part of a variety of weapons (amongst which is Rika's Silver Tusk, given to her by an aged Myau, another hero of the first Phantasy Star game) to defeat the collective entity of all evil, the Profound Darkness. In the death-throes of the latter, Elsydeon shatters into a cloud of crystals, protecting the party from the collapsing time warp that the Profound Darkness has opened.
Many of the Final Fantasy games possess magical swords. For example, a sword called the Ice Brand, a sword "as clear as ice" (quoting from Final Fantasy Tactics) that is an ice-elemental weapon – effective against fire-type enemies, amongst others.
The Masamune, as mentioned above, is found in countless games, many of which are, again, from the Final Fantasy series. Final Fantasy VII antagonist Sephiroth uses an extremely long version of Masamune. One of the most notable appearances the sword has made was in the widely-praised Super Nintendo game Chrono Trigger, though originally called Grandleon . In the game, the sword, which could only be wielded by the unlikely hero Frog has been split into two pieces, each guarded by two spirits, Masa and Mune, and must be forged back together using a rare substance that must be found in the very distant past (the game's plot revolves around the concept of time travel).
The groundbreaking Sega Genesis title Landstalker features several magical swords, notable amongst them the Sword of Gaia, which when used would cause a powerful earthquake that would affect all enemies on the screen.
In Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, the hero Alucard makes use of literally dozens of magical swords, among which a fire-elemental type sword reputed to have been owned by Oberon, and a lightning-elemental sword with a similar association with Indra. The game itself is rife with Tolkien references, not the least of which is present in another magic sword, said to be the hereditary sword of the House of Hador, as well as actual swords from mythology, such as the Tyrfing and Gram as mentioned above.
In the Prince of Persia trilogy, there is a blade called the Dagger of Time, which gives its wielder many time-based powers, and in the third game, The Two Thrones, the Dark Prince uses a bladed whip called the Daggertail.
In Final Fantasy VI, the character Celes can use the ability "Runic" to absorb most incoming magic attacks when wielding a sword. There are also several magic daggers which the character Locke may use.
In Drakan: Order of the Flame and Drakan: The Ancients' Gates there are several different magical swords and other weapons. In the former game, there is the mystical Rune Blade, made by the ancient Order of the Flame to combat the Dark Union, as well as the demonic Mourn Blade that when used, makes the tormented moans and cries of the condemned be heard. In the second game there are several magical weapons, including the Four Elemental Blades of the Order: the Earth, Lightning, Ice and Fire Blades, that enable the user to summon powers based on the element of the sword, as well as the Mournbringer, the most powerful of the swords in the game.
In Battalion Wars, a magic sword is used in a ressurection ritual. It is brought to the Iron Legion Cenotaph, and placed in a holder. Then a (rather unimpressive, ten word) spell is recited, allowing the troops to return to life. Their souls fuse into a demon and possess the spellcaster.
In Riviera: The Promised Land, Ein, the lead character, wields a sword called the Einherjar, in exchange of losing his wings. The sword is called by other in-game characters as a Diviner, or a weapon owned by Grim Angels, capable of vanquishing demons.
Nintendo's Fire Emblem series of turn-based strategy games feature many magical or "divine" weapons that only the main characters can wield. The hero Marth was known to wield Falchion, the blade of light (not to be confused with the cleaver-like sword variant of the same name). Eliwood and his son Roy wielded the fire-based swords Durandal and the Binding Blade, respectively. The heroine Lyndis wielded two divine katanas, the Mani Katti and the Sol Katti. Ike, commander of the Greil Mercenaries, wielded a blessed sword called Ragnell. These are only the most famous legendary swords; throughout the series, there are many more.
In both Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000, Chaos champions commonly wield swords, (as well as any other melee weapon you care to think of, except spears) with a Daemon trapped inside.
Such examples from video games and role-playing games can, without exaggeration, be given indefinitely.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b Josepha Sherman, Once upon a Galaxy p 113 ISBN 0-87483-387-6
- ^ Encyclopedia of Norse Mythology
- ^ Ancient Chinese Mythology
- ^ Eight Immortals in Chinese Mythology
