Oath of Swords is a fantasy novel by American author David Weber, the first in the War God series.

It follows the adventures of Bahzell Bahnakson and his friend Brandark; the format is a swords-and-sorcery land with dwarves, elves, humans, and hradani—the Four Races.

When he investigates he finds a hradani woman named Farmah being raped and brutally beaten by the crown prince Harnak.

The wealthy dwarven merchant Kilthandaknarthas hires them as caravan guards and they travel with him for some time, beating off several attacks by a group of assassins called the Dog Brothers, who are connected to Sharna's church.

Zarantha was planning to set up a mage academy in her native land to give her countrymen the training they need.

They use a human sacrifice to raise a demon, which they send after Bahzell, and to enchant a sword to allow Sharna himself to reach through the bearer and strike directly.

Bahzell's compulsion for rescuing people leads him to interfere with a Purple Lord who is in the middle of throwing an entire village out into the wilderness for being short of rent.

He kills the Purple Lord and instructs the townspeople to blame everything on a band of invading hradani, to draw the pursuit.

Bahzell is successful and Brandark's fatal wounds heal, leaving him alive and recovering, though missing an ear and two fingers.

The two companions then travel to Bortalik Bay, where they receive a message from Zarantha that she is safe and well and that her father has adopted the two hradani.

The son of Bahnak, prince of Hurgrum, Bahzell has a strong sense of honor, which gets him into trouble from the get-go as he cannot ignore the injustices that happen around him.

The son of one of Churnazh's Bloody Sword allies, Brandark is generally held in contempt in Navahk for his civility, which is seen as weakness, and is disliked by the prince for his political satire.

He is something of dandy dresser with an effete mannerism, an intellectual and a scholar with a lifelong ambition to become a bard (though he lacks a decent singing voice), which is why he favors the goddess Chesmirsa.

[citation needed] It is this reason that causes him to worship the Dark God Sharna, who offers him more pleasures of the flesh than he could ever have imagined and promises to him the throne of Navahk in the future.

He wanders about Norfressa, enforcing the ancient Strictures of Ottovar, the code of law that governs the use of magic, and assists Bahzell and Brandark in saving Zarantha's life from the Carnadosan priests.

Throughout the story he attempts to recruit Bahzell into his service, believing that he has what it take to serve the forces of good in the world.