Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Types of swords
This is a list of sword types found through history all around the world.
| Contents |
Sword types sorted by countries of origin
Ancient
China
- Dao (刀 pinyin dao1)
- Jian (劍 pinyin jian4)
- Butterfly sword
Europe
- Bastard-sword
- Cutlass
- Espada Ropera
- Estoc
- Falchion
- Flamberge
- Gladius
- Long-sword
- Rapier
- Sabre
- Scramasax
- Smallsword
- Spatha
- Two-handed swords
- Claymore
- Great Sword
- Spadone
- Zweihänder
- Árije
Japan
- Bokken (木剣)
- Katana (刀; かたな)
- Ken
- Kodachi
- Nagamaki
- Nodachi
- Shinai
- Tachi (太刀; たち)
- Tantō (短刀; たんとう)
- Wakizashi (脇差; わきざし)
Middle East
South Asia
South Pacific
Named swords
Many swords in mythology, literature and history are named by their wielders or by the person who makes them.
History and mythology
- Caliburn - King Arthur's sword, probably made by Merlin but certainly put by him into a stone in a churchyard to test who the rightful king is. This sword was broken in a fight with King Pellinore (according to Mallory ).
- Excalibur - King Arthur's sword, given to him by the Lady of the Lake after Caliburn was broken in a fight with King Pellinore; the sword itself as well as the scabbard was magical.
- Galatine - The sword of Sir Gawain in the Arthurian legends.
- Secace - The sword of Sir Launcelot in the Arthurian legends.
- Kusanagi (Grasscutter) - A sword of equivalent importance to Japan as the Excalibur is to England
- Thul fiqar - The legendary two-tipped sword of Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib
- Tizona - the sword of El Cid.
- Szczerbiec - The sword of Polish kings
- Hrunting - Unferth , associate of Beowulf
- Gram (in the Volsung Saga) or Balmung (sometimes in later traditions) - Sigurd
- Tyrfing - a cursed sword from the Elder Edda
- Durandal - the sword that belonged to Roland, a hero of the medieval French epic "The Song of Roland", supposedly once belonged to Hector of Troy
- Joyeuse - the sword of Charlemagne (Charles the Great), the famed medieval king of the Franks and first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
- Grus- the historical sword of Boleslaw Krzywousty (Boleslaus the Wrymouthed), medieval prince of Poland
- Caladbolg - The sword used by the hero Cuchulain in the Irish epic the Táin Bó Cuailnge.
Literature and popular culture
- Glamdring (Foe-hammer) - Originally the sword of Turgon, King of Gondolin in the Silmarillion, then the sword of Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings.
- Narsil (Sun and Moon) (later Andúril, Flame of the West) - The sword of Elendil, and later Aragorn in J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy.
- Sting - The Elven short-sword wielded by Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit and Frodo Baggins in Lord of the Rings.
- Stormbringer - The black sword used by Elric, a character invented by Michael Moorcock.
- Dyrnwyn - The legendary sword used by Gwydion in the Prydain stories by Lloyd Alexander.
- Catclaw - The sword used by The Gray Mouser in a series of stories by Fritz Leiber.
- Green Destiny Sword - The sword used by Li Mu Bai in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
- Vorpal Sword - The sword mentioned in Lewis Carroll's poem "The Jabberwocky" and now a well-known blade in Dungeons & Dragons
- Buster Sword - The oversized sword belonging to the videogame character Cloud Strife.
- Masamune - Named after a Japanese swordsmith. Also used throughout the Final Fantasy series.
Last updated: 05-24-2005 15:07:59
03-10-2013 05:06:04
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The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details


