Famous Swords

Famous Swords

In the days of chivalry, a knight's horse and sword were his most treasured and carefully kept possessions, and his sword as well as his horse had its own name. The old romances, especially those of the Charlemagne and Arthurian cycles, are full of these names. Below we give a list of the more noteworthy.

Angurvadal (Stream of Anguish), Frithiof's sword.
Ar'ondight, the sword of Launcelot of the Lake.
Azoth, the sword of Paracelsus ( Browning Paracelsus, Bk. v).
Balisarda, Rogero's sword, made by a sorceress.
Balmung, one of the swords of Siegfried, made by Wieland.
Caliburn, another name of Excalibur.
Chrysaor (sword, as good as gold), Artegal's sword ( Spenser Faërie Queene).
Colada, the Cid's sword.
Corrougue, Otuel's sword.
Courtain (the Short Sword), one of the swords of Ogier the Dane; Sauvagine was the other, and they both took Munifican three years to make.
Curtana, the blunted sword of Edward the Confessor.
Durandan, Durandal, or Durandana (the Inflexible), Orlando's sword.
Excalibur, the sword of King Arthur. (Ex cal[ce]liber[are], to liberate from the stone.)
Flamberge or Floberge (the Flame-Cutter), the name of one of Charlemagne's swords, and also that of Rinaldo's and Maugis or Maligigi's.
Glorious, Oliver's sword, which hacked to pieces the nine swords made by Ansias, Galas, and Munifican.
Gram (Grief), one of the swords of Siegfried.
Greysteel, the sword of Koll the Thrall.
Haute-Claire (Very Bright); both Closamont's and Oliver's swords were so called.
Joyeuse (Joyous), one of Charlemagne's swords; it took Gallas three years to make.
Merveilleuse (the Marvellous), Doolin's sword.
Mimung, the sword that Wittich lent Siegfried.
Morglay (Big Glaive), Sir Bevis's sword.
Nagelring (Nail-Ring), Dietrich's sword.
Philippan. The sword of Antony, one of the triumvirs.
Quern-biter (a Foot-Breadth) ; both Haco I, and Thoralf Skolinson had a sword so called.
Sanglamore (the Big Bloody Glaive), Braggadochio's sword ( Spenser Faërie Queene).
Sauvagine (the Relentless): see Courtain above.
Schrit or Schritt (? the Lopper), Biterolf's sword.
Tizona (the Poker), King Bucar's sword. See CID.
Tranchera (the Trenchant), Agricane's sword.
Waske, Iring's sword.
Welsung, both Dietlieb and Sintram had a sword so called.
Zuflagar, Ali's sword.