Magic sword
[1] It is probable that the roots of the sentient weapon myths stem from ancient peoples' belief that sword making and metallurgy was in fact a magical process.
The skill necessary to forge a balanced blade - one which is not too brittle or too soft and able to hold a usefully sharp edge - in the age before automated machines, blast furnaces, and the knowledge of molecular chemistry made the creation of a sword seem almost miraculous.
A lack of expertise in knowing when and how to apply carbon and flux and quench the blade could ruin weeks of work.
In Japan, the swordsmiths were so concerned with this belief that they would undergo purification rituals and meditation before even attempting to start a new blade, for fear that they might inadvertently create an evil sword.
Since most of them were Buddhists (a religion that finds violence and murder abhorent), that train of thought gave them some peace of mind in their killing vocation.
[citation needed] Later, as the concept of demons, spiritual possession, and elementals entered the realm of mythological themes, it was only a natural leap to attribute magical properties of the swords of folklore to indwelling spirits.
King David was given the sword of the slain giant Goliath by the priest Ahimelech, to which was attached extra-biblical mythology and traditions.
When his influential pseudo-history made it to Continental Europe, writers altered the name further until it finally took on the popular form Excalibur.
You must have the water at the source…If the pieces are not lost and you fit them together properly, as soon as the spring water wets them, the sword will become whole again, the joinings and edges stronger than before.” Ancient Chinese mythology relates the tale of Lü Dongbin, who "slew dragons" with a magic sword and performed "freak feats" with it.
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.
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.
The first magical sword which enters the story is Gram (="wrath"), stuck by Odin into the tree Barnstokkr in the hall of the Völsungs.
In the Nibelungenlied, Sîfrit (the Middle High German version of "Siegfried," the equivalent to Norse Sigurd) discarded Gram in exchange for another magic sword, Balmung ("destruction").
In Japanese mythology, there is a magical sword called Kusanagi, which was one of the three crown jewels given to the Emperor Jimmu by the goddess Amaterasu.
[citation needed] In the Matter of France, Roland possessed an indestructible sword, Durendal, which he threw into a poisoned stream to prevent its capture.
In the English or Scottish medieval epic poem Greysteil, the hero uses a magic sword 'Egeking' which was made in the Far East.
Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene features a golden sword called Chrysaor, the personal weapon of Sir Artegal, the Knight of Justice.
In Der Ring des Nibelungen, Richard Wagner drew on the legend of Gram for the sword Nothung, belonging to the hero Siegmund and later reforged by his son Siegfried and used by him to kill Fafner.
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.
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.
This blade, with the word "Truth" inlaid into the handle, factors into many of the moral decisions made by Richard Rahl, the series' protagonist.
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.
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.
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, 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 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.
In series: The Dancing Gods, by Jack L. Chalker, the protagonist, the barbarian Joe, is given "The last unnamed magical sword in Husaquahr".
These swords are rarely unique, and in many role-playing scenarios, magical weapons are so ubiquitous that the player characters are expected to come into possession of them as a matter of course.
