Author's note: much of the base information here is from the article posted on Feb 7th, 2019, by Faen Aelpha.
There is probably no more famous blade name in the western world than Excalibur. The legendary sword of King Arthur, the name is recognized from the Ural mountains of Russia to the Western coast of North America. The sword itself has been depicted in nearly every form imaginable on the silver screen, and the name Excalibur has gone on to grace modern weapons, literature, airplanes, military operations, cars, and musical albums, and even one of the more conspicuous films of the 1980s telling one version of the tale of King Arthur.
If Excalibur ever was a real sword, it would most likely be fashioned after the pattern of the roman gladiolus, the single most common, and advanced sword type of the time contemporary to the birth of the Arthurian legends.
But not surprisingly, the blade born of British folklore before the times of the Normans is not the only sword to leave its mark on history by name alone.
There are actually two Joyeuse swords. The first is the one said to have been the personal sword of Charlemagne, the king who founded what has today become France in the 9th century CE. The second, made in the 13th century, was created as a (then) modern invocation of the original storied blade, and used as a sword of state, or ceremonial sword by the french monarchs. The replica (which some say has the original blade in it, but that is disputed) is on display in the Louvre.
Another sword name with a lot of aplicatons today, "Durandal" as a name has been applied to ships of two generations, a anti-runway bomb used by NATO forces, and even a soccer (futbol) star's surname.
Per the "Song of Roland" (Champion to king Charlemagne) an angel gave this sword to the king. It was made of numerous relics from the Christian tradition, including a tooth from Saint Peter and part of the vestments of the Virgin Mary. In literature, Roland uses it to defend himself against a horde of Muslim fighters. In one very old legend, Durandal was thrown from a cliff by Roland, and may be embedded in a rock face in the mountain village of Rocamadour, in France, even today.
While the amazing (and in the later case, fantastical) stories of both of these blades are largely believed to be more fable than fact, any audience contemporary to the time who heard the word 'sword' would likely have envisioned the the arming, or knightly sword, one of the most common types of single-handed blades in western Europe.
A sword as steeped n history as the religion that helped make it, Zulfiqar was/is a two pointed scimitar that belonged to Hazrat Ali, the cousin of the profit Muhammad. Muhammad himself is reportedly quoted as saying "There is no warrior like Ali and there is no sword like Zulfiqar." The location of the blade is unknown today, at least publicly, but it is believed to be held in a private collection.
(an artistic reproduction of the blade Zulfiqar. The exact design is unknown)
Five foot, four inches long, with a four foot and four in handle, this massive Scottish weapon is as real as the people is killed. Massive, fast moving, 2-handed weapons like this were common in the middle ages, especially among wealthier combatants such as knights, landed nobles, and royal guards. This one, of course, was made famous for its owner, William Wallace, the Scottish warrior who fought the English in the 13th centuries.
There is a sword on display in Scotland claiming to be the same weapon, but strong evidence exists to suggest that it is not the same blade that William Wallace used, and that it may never have even been a viable combat sword at all.
Tizona and Colada
Another set of blades with as much fable as fact in their makeup, Tizona and Colada were the Spanish single swords owned, and wielded by Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, also known as Cid the Champion during the time of the expulsion of the moors from the Iberian Peninsula. The story of the man himself is told in "The Song of My Cid", one of the oldest surviving epic poems from the Castilian Region of Spain.
While one of the two blades named in the poem is on display in Barcelona, the authenticity of its heritage, like so many artifacts of that time and place, is in dispute. Like its northern European contemporaries, a real life blade of that time would likely be between 20 and 30 inches long, straight, and with a fuller to reduce weight and increase strength.
Having once belonged to the legendary Danish king, Hrólf Kraki, Skofnung is one of Icelandic literature’s most famous swords, a regional counterpart to Excaliber in terms of social standing and gravitas.
Even if we peel away the fable and magic of the stories that swirled around the regional monarchs, the story of Hrólf himself is fascinating in that he is mentioned in Beowulf, the works of Widsith, and the Chronicon Lethrense and Annales Lundenses, three separate stories from three different authors at different times in history.
The sword itself is said to hold the spirits of 12 of the king’s bravest bodyguards, and is forbidden from ever being drawn int he presence of women.
Hrunting and Naegling
A pair of swords, they were once the weapons of the mythical hero Beowulf. According to tradition, both were mystical swords though they were unable to defeat the hero’s enemies. In fact, Naegling was broken during a confrontation with a dragon.
Today, no artifacts claiming any of this heritages exist, but a sword from the early 6th century in Iceland would be build along very conservative lines, and possibly even imported (or stolen) from central Europe.
The sword of Gou Jian
Gou Jian,was the king of Yue (modern northern Zhejiang, China) from the 5th and 4th centuries BCE.
[ For reference, he and his court would be roughly contemporary with King Leonidas and the Battle of Thermopylae in ancient Greece. ] Gou Jian's word was rediscovered in the 20th century by archaeologists. Legend is that one of them lost a finger to the blade when handling it, but this is unconfirmed.
The blade is case in an unusual tin bronze alloy that has proved unusually resistant to tarnish or rust. One of the most interesting aspects of the weapon is actually its scabbard. The wood sheath was so finely made that it formed an air tight seal around the blade, which is believed that the weapon was so well preserved, even though the grave site it was found it was under water at the time.
The weapon was authenticated by scholars, and is believed to be the authentic weapon of the royal court of Gou Jian. It is on display in china, and is considered a national artifact. In 2013, while on load to Singapore for exhibit, the weapon was damaged, leaving a 7cm crack in the blade itself. As a result, it is not on the list of restricted artifact never to leave mainland china.
It weighs less than a kilo and measures 58 cm in length, 4.6 cm in width, and 8.5 cm at the handle.
His Lordship Ivo Blackhawk
Kingdom of Ansteorra"Long Live the King!"
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