Famous Swords From History, Myth, and Literature Quiz

Answer: Curtana

Curtana -- whose name is a corruption of a Latin word for "shortened" -- is without a point or sharp edge (hence the association with "mercy"). It stands between the swords of spiritual justice and temporal justice -- each of which bear serviceable points and edges. (Haute-Clair was a sword borne by Oliver; Morglay was borne by Sir Bevis; I made up Gracieuse.)

Answer: Crocea Mors

Geoffrey, the "biographer" of King Arthur, has this to say of Crocea Mors (the "Yellow Death," apparently so called because the sword was of gold, and deadly to anyone wounded by it): "Erat nomen gladio Crocea Mors qua nullus eyadebat vivius qui eo vulnerabatur" ("The sword was named Yellow Death because none could evade it alive who could be wounded"). Geoffrey relates that the sword was entombed with a Briton slain by Julius in combat, one Nennius, brother of Cassibellaun, self-styled King of the Britons. (I made up all the wrong answers; Mirabilis would mean "Marvellous;" Dens Acerbis would mean something like "Sharp Tooth" and Aestuosus would mean something like "Hotly.")

Answer: Philippan

Boasts the Egyptian queen in Antony and Cleopatra, II.V.23-28, "That time,--O times!-- / I laugh'd him out of patience; and that night / I laugh'd him into patience; and next morn, / Ere the ninth hour, I drunk him to his bed; / Then put my tires and mantles on him, whilst / I wore his sword Philippan." Supposedly the blade was given Antony by Cleopatra but then lost by him when he was defeated by Octavian at Actium. (Whitefire was the sword won by Eric Brighteyes in H. Rider Haggard's pseudo-saga of that same name; Sanglamore was borne by Braggadocchio in the Faerie Queene; I made up Afflictor, which would mean "Destroyer".)

Answer: Kusanagi

Kusanagi ("Herb-Queller") is also called Ame no Murakumo no Tsurugi ("Sword of Black Clouds in the Sky"). The other two great treasures were a mirror (Yata no Kagami) and a jewel or jewels (Yasakani no Magatama). Collectively, the three treasures are said to symbolize courage, wisdom and benevolence. (Shirasaya means "scabbard";Yasurime refers to decorative markings on the tang of a sword blade, and Mitsukado refers to the point where the ridge lines on the poin of the blade and the ridge lines and transverse ridge line on the length of the blade meet.)

Answer: Siegfried

On Odin's advice, Siegfried dug a narrow pit near Fafnir's watering hole, and when the dragon passed over the pit to take a drink, Siegfried let the beast feel the edge of his blade. Fafnir died before he had more than halfway passed over the pit, and the pit filled with his black blood, nearly drowning Siegfried. Balmung is said to have been forged by Wieland the Smith.

Answer: El-Ahrairah

Al-Battar meant "Beater"; Dhu'l Fakar was a scimitar whose name meant "Sharp", and "Halef" meant "Deadly". In addition, the Prophet was supposed to own yet another named blade, Medham ("Sharp"). (El-Ahrairah is the chief god of lapine mythology in Richard Adams' "Watership Down".)

Answer: Durandal

When Roland was mortally wounded and his death almost upon him, he strove to break Durandal against a stone to prevent it falling into the hands of the Saracens; however, the magic blade was unbreakable (fortified as it was by a thread from the cloak of the Virgin Mary, a tooth of St. Peter, a hair of St. Denys, and a drop of St. Basil's blood). Roland therefore hid it under the flow of a poisoned stream. (Sauvaigne was borne by Ogier the Dane; I made up both Apakonis and Katathegos, which are related to Greek words for "sharp" or "to sharpen.")

Answer: Glorious

Ansias, Munifican and Galas were the greatest swordsmiths in the world, and each forged three great swords, and each sword required three years to forge. Ansias forged Baptism, Florence and Graban for Strong-i'-the-Arm (Fortinbras, if you like). Munifican forged Durandal, having temporarily forgotten that it was borne centuries earlier by Hector at Ilium, and also Sauvaigne and Courtain for Ogier the Dane. Galas forged Flamberge, Joyeuse and Closamont for Charlemagne. Oliver broke all nine with Glorious. (Ascalon is said to have been the sword of St. George; Azoth was the demon-infested sword of the alchemist Paracelsus, and Greysteel was the blade borne by Koll the Slave.)

Answer: Honoree

Honoree was an Arthurian sword famously unsheathed by Biausdous, son of Gawain.

Answer: El Cid

Eleventh century warrior Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, known as El Cid, is Spain's greatest hero, and was Islam's greatest enemy in Iberia.

Answer: Orna

From the account of the Second Battle of Magh Tuireadh: "It was in this battle Ogma found Orna, the sword of Tethra, a king of the Fomor, and he took it from its sheath and cleaned it. And when the sword was taken out of the sheath, it told all the deeds that had been done by it, for there used to be that power in swords". (I have seen web pages referring to Orna as the sword of Balor of the Evil Eye, but I do not know of any primary source for that (probably incorrect) factoid.) (According to Saxo Grammaticus, Logthe belonged to the son of Ole Siward and Lyusing was one of the swords belonging to Ragnald. Quern-Biter belonged to Hakon I of Norway, as celebrated by Longfellow in "King Olaf's Christmas": "Quern-biter of Hakon the Good, / Wherewith at a stroke he hewed / The millstone through and through, / And Foot-breadth of Thoralf the Strong, / Were neither so broad nor so long, / Nor so true [as Olaf's sword].")

Answer: Fragarach

An Fragarach (the "Answerer" or "Retaliator") had the property of being able to cut through any armor. It may have been forged by the Sea God Mananan Mac Lir; Lugh certainly bore a number of magical treasures created by Mananan. However, Lugh did not use Fragarach to slay his grandfather Balor (his most famous slaying) -- for that feat he used a sling stone. (The Froach Mor was a blade of Mananan's; Naegling is the name given to one of Beowulf's swords; Caledfwlch is a Welsh variant on the name of Arthur's sword, attested in the lost ~990 manuscript of Culhwch and Olwen and collected in the Mabinogion.)

Answer: Caladbolg

Apparently Caladbolg would cover the sweeping arc of a rainbow in the sky when swung. King Ailill stole Caladbolg from Ferghus when he found out that Ferghus has been sleeping with his Queen, Medb. However, Ailill returned the blade when he needed Ferghus to fight Cuchulainn. Ferghus almost immediately got into an argument with one of his own supposed allies, but rather than kill him was persuaded to slice up the hills instead. (The Gai Bolga or Gae Bolga was Cuchulainn's underwater disemboweling foot-spear; according to Saxo Grammaticus Hwiting was one of the swords of Ragnald; I made up Vorpeadhal as a sort of Irish spelling of "vorpal", the adjective invented to describe a sharp sword by Lewis Carroll in "Jabberwocky".)

Answer: Excalibur

The Pendragon, of course, was King Arthur, bastard son of Uther Pendragon and rightful High King of Britain. Nimue (or Vi Vianna), the Lady of the Lake, also gave Arthur a scabbard for the blade, whose worth (according to Merlin) was ten times that of the shining sword itself, for its bearer could not be wounded. (Mimung was borrowed by Siegfried; Zuflagar is attributed to Mohammed's son-in-law Ali; Balisarda was borne by Rogero in Orlando Furioso.)

Answer: Arthur

The early Arthurian chroniclers, such as Geoffrey of Monmouth (1135), make no mention of the "sword in the stone" episode. For Geoffrey (for example), Arthur bore a deadly blade called "Caliburn" (which had been forged in Avalon) and that was the end of the story.

The earliest surviving mention of the "sword in the stone" episode comes from the three Merlin poems by Robert de Boron (~1200). Robert's version had the sword thrust into an anvil upon a stone; later writers omitted the anvil. It is not, I believe, until Malory's famous and influential version of the cycle (1470) that it is really clear that there are two separate swords, one drawn from the stone and subsequently broken in battle with Pellinore, and one -- Excalibur -- given to Arthur by the lady of the Lake specifically in replacement for the sword that was broken. (To be perfectly accurate, there are elements of this synthesis as early as the French Vulgate sources (~1235), but Malory brought it all together for the first time without ambiguity.) The "sword in the stone" episode is strikingly similar, of course, to the Germanic-Norse story in which Sigmund is the only hero capable of drawing Gram from the beam called the Branstock (wherein it had been thrust by Odin).

The familiar version of the story (Malory's) is that the sword was inscribed with language to the effect that "Whosoever draws this sword from this stone shall be the rightful King of All Britain." The young Arthur drew out the sword by accident, while seeking a sword for his foster brother to use in a tournament, and thus established his divine right to the throne; Merlin supplied the information necessary to prove his biological right to the throne separately and independently.

Answer: Dyrnwyn

In some versions of the list of the Hallows, the sword would burst into flames whenever wielded by anyone other than Rhydderch (apparently burning the wielder), but I have seen other versions that claim that it would burst into flames whenever wielded by someone noble (apparently burning the foes of the wielder).

The thirteen Hallows are usually given as Dyrnwyn, the Sword of Rhydderch the Generous (possessing the ability to burst into flame); the Hamper of Gwyddno Garanhir (possessing the ability to turn food for one man into food for a hundred men); the Horn of Bran (possessing the ability to provide any drink the owner desires); the Chariot of Morgan the Wealthy (possessing the ability to travel anywhere almost instantly); the Halter of Clyno Eiddyn (possessing the ability to provide any particular horse desired by its owner); the Knife of Llawfronedd the Horseman (possessing the ability to carve enough food for twenty-four men); the Cauldron of Diwrnach the Giant (possessing the ability to boil the food of a hero but not a coward; this was the only Hallow recorded with certainty to have been successfully brought back by King Arthur when he quested for them); the Whetstone of Tudwal Tudglyd (a sword sharpened with the stone by a brave man would always kill, although a sword sharpened by a coward would remain unchanged); the Coat of Padarn Red-Coat (which would only and always fit a man of noble birth); the Crock of Rhygenydd; (possessing the ability to provide its owner's favorite food); the Dish of Rhygenydd (with the same ability as the Crock); the Chessboard of Gwenddolau (possessing the ability to play by itself; when Peredur set up the board and "his" side loses he casts the board into a lake); and the Mantle of Arthur (possessing the ability to make its wearer invisible). (I think "Cleddyf" means "sword" in Welsh; Gwgawn is a Welsh warrior's name; Galatyn is the name of Gawain's sword.)

Answer: Gram

This sequence bears many points of contact with many other myths, and is one of the Norse cycles relied upon by Tolkien in his conception of "Lord of the Rings". Odin thrust Gram into the beam Branstock in the hall of the Volsungs, with the words "Whoso draweth this sword from this stock, shall have the same as a gift from me, and shall find in good sooth that never bare he better sword in hand than is this". None could draw it out save Sigmund (father of Sigurd). Later, when Sigmund was old, Odin returned, shattered Gram, and slew Sigmund. Sigurd, as yet unborn, was the inheritor of the shards. Still later, when Sigurd was of warrior age, his tutor Regin tried to make him a sword with which the hero could slay the dragon Fafnir (Regin's brother and the hoarder of much treasure), but failed to make a sword that would not shatter when Sigurd tested it.

The only sword which held up was the reforged Gram. Sigurd's story is largely identical to the Teutonic story of Siegfried; with Odin's help, the hero slays the dragon and wins the hoard. (Skilving means "Trembler" and has been used as a poetic kenning for "sword"; Hrotti was a sword Sigurd found in Fafnir's hoard; Mistilteinn {"Mistletoe") was probably not really a sword name (although it is listed as such in the Nafnathulur) but rather a kenning for something deadly, playing upon the story of the mistletoe used to kill Baldur.)

Answer: Skofnung

In Kormak's Saga Ogmundsson, Dalla sent Kormak to borrow Skofnung from Skeggi of Midfjord, but Skeggi refused to lend it: "Skofnung and Kormak, said he, would never agree: 'It is cold and slow, and you are hot and hasty.'" Dalla prevailed upon Skeggi to lend the sword, and Skeggi reluctantly agreed.

However, he placed conditions upon the hot-headed warrior poet: "'Hard will you find it to handle,' said Skeggi. 'There is a pouch to it, and that you shall let be. Sun must not shine on the pommel of the hilt. You shall not wear it until fighting is forward, and when you come to the field, sit all alone and then draw it. Hold the edge toward you, and blow on it.

Then will a little worm creep from under the hilt. Then slope the sword over, and make it easy for that worm to creep back beneath the hilt.'" Kormak found these instructions ridiculous, and completely ignored them: "[Kormak] showed the sword, and tried to draw it, but it would not leave the sheath. . . .

Then he set his feet against the hilts, and pulled until he tore the pouch off, at which Skofnung creaked and groaned, but never came out of the scabbard. . . . Now, he never heeded whether the sun shone upon the hilt, for he had girt the sword on him outside his clothes. And when he tried to draw it he could not, until he set his feet upon the hilts.

Then the little worm came, and was not rightly done by; and so the sword came groaning and creaking out of the scabbard, and the good luck of it was gone." Kormak ends up losing the fight (which was only to first blood) when Skofnung cuts off Whitting's tip, which flies off and pierces Kormak's hand. (Hrunting was a sword used by Beowulf; Screp was the keen but battered blade of Wermund; and Welsung was the blade associated with Sintram.)

Answer: Tyrfing

Tyrfing was forged by the wonderful dwarven smith Dvalinn, under duress. King Svafrlami of Russia forced the dwarf to forge a sword which would never miss, would never rust, and would cut iron and stone as easily as cloth. The dwarf complied, but cursed the sword so that it would kill a man whenever it was drawn (even if the only possible person to be killed was an ally, a son, or a brother), so that it would bring about three great evils, and so that it would be the cause of Svafrlami's death. Sure enough, Svafrlami was slain by the berserk Andgrim, who took the sword. Later Andgrim's son Angantyr bore Tyrfing, and when he fell in battle it was buried with him.

As related in "The Waking of Angantyr", Angantyr's daughter Hervor later entered his burial mound to ask for the sword, which dead Angantyr only reluctantly gave her, warning her fully that it would cause as much sorrow as success. (Gungnir is Odin's indestructible spear; Skidbladnir is Frey's collapsible boat; Brisingamen is a necklace belonging to Freyja.)

Answer: Surt

According to the Voluspa, Surt will bring down the dome of the heavens in connection with the end of the world; imagery associated with this sword in the Svipdagsmal indicates he will do so with Laevateinn. The poem literally states that Laevateinn was forged by "Loftur" (a name for Loki), but since almost no name in the poem stands for its apparent referent, it is likely that the audience was not intended to understand that Loki forged the sword, but rather that someone else whom Loki could stand in for as a poetic kenning was the smith; many scholars have proposed that the smith was the elf Volund, a great enemy of the gods who, like Loki, was imprisoned by them underground.

In the Svipdagsmal, Svipdag parlays with a knowledgeable giant, seeking the means to enter the hall of Menglod.

It turns out, after laborious and crafty questioning and answering, that (among other things) to enter one must get by two great wolves, and the only way to do that is to throw them the meat from a particular magic rooster, and that the only way to kill the rooster is with Laevateinn. Of course, the only way to get Laevateinn is to give a gift to the giantess who guards it, and the only gift she will accept is a sickle possessed by the magic rooster. . .

Answer: Chrysaor

The golden sword (tempered with admantium, mind you) was given to the Knight of Justice by Astraea: "Which steely brand, to make him dreaded more, / She gaue vnto him, gotten by her slight / and earnest search, where it was kept in store / In Ioues [Jove's or Jupiter's] eternall house, vnwist of wight, / Since he himselfe it vs'd in that great fight / Against the Titans, that whylome rebelled / Gainst highest heauen; Chrysaor it was hight; / Chrysaor that all other swords excelled, / Well prou'd in that same day, when Ioue those Gyants quelled. // For of most perfect metall it was made, / Tempred with Adamant amongst the same, / And garnisht all with gold vpon the blade / In goodly wise, whereof it tooke his name, / And was of no lesse vertue, then of fame. / For there no substance was so firme and hard, / But it would pierce or cleaue, where so it came; / Ne any armour could his dint out ward, / But wheresoeuer it did light, it throughly shard." Book V. (Angurvadel was the magical sword of Frithjof; I made up the silly names Angelfire and Zebubsbane.)

Answer: Stormbringer

Invented by Michael Moorcock, the conceit is that Stormbringer is a weapon of Chaos that exists in all of the worlds of the multiverse, sometimes under different names or in different forms, but always as a dark weapon of significant supernatural power.

At the end of one of the Elric books it is revealed that Stormbringer is itself a god of Chaos, and the only survivor of a theomachy that destroyed all the other gods of at least one universe. (I made up all the silly wrong answers, although it wouldn't really surprise me to hear that one or more of them have also been invented by some pulp fantasy or Dungeons and Dragons writer.)

Answer: Rhindon

Fenris Ulf is the name of the lupine head of the secret police of the White Witch in C.S. Lewis' "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe". Later, in "Prince Caspian", when the Pevensy children return to Narnia after a long absence, they come across a sword: "'It is my sword Rhindon,' he said; 'with it I killed the Wolf.' There was a new tone in his voice, and the others all felt that he was really Peter the High King again." (Snyrtir was, according to Saxo Grammaticus, the sword of Bearce; Brinnig belonged to Hildebrand; Arondight was, according to some sources, the sword used by Launcelot du Lac.)

Answer: Greywand

Fafhrd and his smaller, citified companion the Gray Mouser were the two most notorious rogues in (or of) the City of Lankhmar, in the series of books and stories by swords-and-sorcery pioneer Fritz Leiber. The Mouser would name his rapier Scalpel and his dagger Cat's Claw. I forget where, but somewhere in the books the pair openly acknowledge that Greywand, Scalpel and Cat's Claw are not names they attached to particular weapons, but rather were names they applied to whatever weapon they happened to be using at the time, more for effect than anything else. (I made up all the silly wrong answers.)

Answer: Gandalf the Grey

"'This, Gandalf, was Glamdring, Foe-hammer that the king of Gondolin once wore.'" "The Hobbit" (spoken by Elrond). The Istari Gandalf won the sword, lost until then for over 6,000 years since the fall of Turgon in battle, when he turned the trolls Tom, Bert and Bill Huggins to stone.

It is noteworthy that more than six millennia after it was lost, the goblins still recognized and feared it. Gandalf recognized its value, certainly, and kept it with him both when he fell from the Bridge of Khazad-Dum and when he climbed back out again.

It is odd that Gandalf still has Glamdring after his reincarnation as Gandalf the White, but the text of J. R. R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" makes it clear that he does.