Magic Sword - Fiction

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 with Adamant", it was described as being able to cleave through anything.

In Der Ring des Nibelungen, Richard Wagner drew on the legends of Grimm for the sword Nothung, belonging to 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. Glamdring's 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. In addition, in Farmer Giles of Ham, the protagonist is given and wields a magic sword named 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 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) 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 Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time is the sword Callandor, which is actually not a sword, but a powerful Sa'angreal shaped as a sword and made out of crystal. It is kept within the Stone of Tear. It can only be taken by the Dragon and is a major sign of his return. Until he takes it the Stone of Tear will never fall to any invaders, but when the sword is taken the Stone is said to fall to the People of the Dragon. It is later revealed that unlike other Sa'angreals it doesn't have the safety mechanism that prevents a wielder from absorbing too much of the One Power through it.

Terry Goodkind's 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. The Seeker gains the swordmastery of all those that have wielded the blade previously. 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.

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 Harry Potter series of novels by J.K. Rowling features the Sword of Gryffindor, which is used by several of the book's prominent characters. The sword is an indestructible weapon crafted from goblin metal, the properties of which allow the sword to absorb any substance into itself that will make it stronger, in the case of the books, the immensely deadly venom of a basilisk.