The Sword of Mercy, or Edward the Confessor's Sword, is a symbolically broken sword that is part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. The sword has a blade cut off short and square, indicating thereby the quality of the mercy of the sovereign; according to the mythological history of the sword, its tip was broken off by an angel to prevent a wrongful killing.
It is one of five swords used during the coronation of the British monarch. It is carried in the coronation procession between the Sword of Temporal Justice and the Sword of Spiritual Justice. These three swords are believed to have been made for the coronation of Charles I of England, and were among the few items of the crown jewels to escape being melted down by Oliver Cromwell.
The sword is also wielded during the ceremony at which the monarch bestows knighthood upon the recipient of the honour.
Famous quotes containing the words sword of, sword and/or mercy:
“He who the sword of heaven will bear
Should be as holy as severe;
Pattern in himself to know,
Grace to stand, and virtue go;
More nor less to others paying
Than by self-offenses weighing.
Shame to him whose cruel striking
Kills for faults of his own liking!”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“I had not given a penny for a song
Did not the poet sing it with such airs
That one believed he had a sword upstairs;
Yet would be now, could I but have my wish,
Colder and dumber and deafer than a fish.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“Until the men of action clear out the talkers we who have social consciences are at the mercy of those who have none.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)