SWORDS: THE HERO’S WEAPON OF CHOICE?

Among the weapons of legend, why are swords foremost? Take, for instance Excalibur. Even a child who has seen the Disney film knows this name. In Geoffrey of Monmouth’s ‘History of the Kings of Britain’, Excalibur is written in Latin as ‘Caliburn’, derived from the Welsh Caledfwch. But such is its prominence that a pivotal event of the modern telling of the myth is the sword in the stone and Arthur’s acquisition of his sword features in the many of the various tellings. Francis Pryor writes in his study of prehistory ‘Britain AD’ that this element of the Arthurian tale has a ‘ancient feel’ and suggests it is a reference to the casting of a bronze sword describing it thus: ‘the orange-glowing sword is actually pulled from a two-piece stone mould’.

A traditional imagining complete with anachronisms.

Arthur, if based on a real person, lived in the Iron-Age, when swords were fashioned by beating and folding an iron bar on an anvil, reheating it many hundreds of time by a process known as pattern welding. Iron-Age swords therefore, did not have the instant birth from stone and they also showed the process, the wave-like pattern. In the poem Beowulf, Unferth’s sword is said to be heardecg wraétlíc waégsweord, a ‘sharp-honed, wave-sheened wondersword’ (Seamus Heaney translation). Interestingly, the sword belonging to the great Irish hero of Celtic legend, Fionn mac Cumhaill, was called ‘Mac an Luin’, meaning the ‘Son of the Waves’- could this be another allusion to the wave-pattern or perhaps a watery provenance in common with Excalibur?

Beowulf, like Arthur had a named sword, ‘Hrunting’. But this is not uncommon as in myth, legend and fantastical tales, it is the sword above all other weapons that are featured by name. In Lord of the Rings, Aragon carries ‘The Sword that was Broken’, re-forged as ‘Andúril'; El Cid terrified the Moors with ‘Tizona’ and according to Mallory, Gawain wore ‘Galantine’ on his belt.

Other weapons are so honoured. Thor famously swung ‘Mjölnir’, his hammer, while others figure large, none greater than the fabled ‘Spear of Longinus'; nevertheless, magical swords are the most popular weapon in legend. When we think of Arthur do we readily connect him with his other weapons, a dagger called ‘Carnwennan’ or his shield was named ‘Priwen’ – in the Welsh rendering, the catchily titled ‘Wynebgwrthucher’?

A spear is thrown and lost, a dagger is small and cannot command a battle, a hammer and axe are not side-arms; it is the sword that is personal and prestigious, elegant yet fearsome. This surely explains that when it comes to heroes from pre-history, their swords have equal renown to the arm that wields it.