What are some of the most famous swords recorded in history?

Question

I'm not talking about fantasy/fiction, or video games here. i'm talking real history. what are some of the most famous swords known to man? if fiction has them surely there must be at least one legendary sword in real life?

Answer 1

It depends what time period you're talking about and what culture. There are several famous swords recorded in the folklore of various peoples. Few of these are known to exist in hard historical fact.



The Vikings were particularly fond of naming their swordsand recording them in the semi-historical Sagas. Some of my favourites are:



Fótbítr (Footbiter)



Gunnlogi (Battle-Blaze)



Naðr (Adder)



Also, one of the theories surrounding the historical figure of King Arthur is of a Romano-British chieftain. In this theory Excalibur exists but rather then pulling the sword from the stone Arthur would have picked up a sacred weapon from atop an altar stone as was the tradition among some Celtic tribes in the period.



The Japanese also were very fond of their swords and have several famous names recorded in history but again these are from semi-mythological or only partly historical sources. (Also the katana is not as good as everyone says it is, just have to get my 2 cents in).



Of historical swords that do exist and wre attached to famous warriors the best two examples in Europe would be the Wallace Claymore (a large scottish claymore said to be used by William Wallace and now held in a Scottish museum). And Tizona, the sword of Spanish knight El Cid and still held as a national treasure in Spain.

Answer 2

The sword of Damocles

Excalibur

Jouise - the sword of Charlmagne.

Hrunting(?) - Beowulfs' sword.

Wallaces' claymore

FROM WIKI NOW - Swords in History

Zulfiqar - Sword of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad, Ali ibn Abu Talib and later Husayn ibn Ali in the Battle of Karbala.

Curtana, or Sword of Mercy, or Edward the Confessor's Sword, is a symbolically broken sword that is part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. The sword has a blade cut off short and square, indicating thereby the quality of the mercy of the sovereign.

Jewelled Sword of Offering, Sword of King George IV of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1820–1830), is the only sword actually presented to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom during the Coronation and is part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom.

Sword of Goujian, a historical artifact from the Spring and Autumn Period.

Honjo Masamune, Sword of the Tokugawa shogunate, a feudal military dictatorship of Japan established in 1603.

Seven-Branched Sword, which Wa received from Baekje.

Sword of Muhammad XII, Sword of the last Moorish Sultan in Spain.

Tizona, El Cid's personal sword which exists to this day in Spain as a national treasure.

Colada, the other sword of El Cid.

Lobera, the sword of the king Saint Ferdinand III of Castile

Szczerbiec, the coronation sword of the kings of Poland

The Wallace Sword, a large Scottish Claymore alleged to have been used by famous Scottish patriot and knight William Wallace, when leading the resistance against England in the late 13th century.

Sword of Tippu Sultan

Bhavani Talwar i.e. Sword of Chatrapati Shivaji Raje Bhonsale of Maratha Kingdom , maharashtra India

Nitta Yoshisada, a famous Samurai, offered his gold-mounted sword to Ryūjin for permission to let his army pass through the surf. Later, he used a shorter sword to cut off his own head, when hopelessly exposed to enemies.

Answer 3

In the U.K the most famous sword is definitely William Wallace's sword, now held in the Wallace monument in Scotland.



http://swordforum.com/fall99/sword-of-william-wallace.html