That is true, the thought had occured to me.

There are many named swords in the sagas. Some of them are famous (Skofnung and Gram), some of them less so, and some of them are just mentioned by name and never apear again. Very few times is a sword called magical or really considered such. Occasionally we find an author who tells us about one of the swords magical properties but this still tell us very little about the nature of magical swords. Think about Leg Biter in Laxdaelasaga. It is clear that this is a powerful sword and an important one, but is it magical? We would probably say yes but im not too sure the saga author would.

Elsewhere in the same saga there is another sword (skofnung) where any would it causes cant be healed unless it is healed by the stone that accompanies the sword. But then this sword is almost of no consequence to the rest of the story. Why is it in there in the first place then? Who gives these swords power? The smith? Its possible, even probable. Its just a pitty we dont have any "magic" swords that we know about to try and see why people considered them so important.

Joe;

If you are looking for why a sword HAD magical properties it presupposes that magic is REAL: Now that is a whole different discussion. ( Or, if the question is how do you make a magical sword. )

If we assume that there is no such thing as " magic " that actually works, anything that might have been perceived as magic hundred of years ago might have been explanable by science today.

Now a sword that kills with even a small wound could have been poisoned in some way.

A far superior sword might have very good qualities that might get exagerated in the telling of a saga.

A legend could have been started if incredible good or bad luck happended to a series of owners without there being any
" real magical "cause or effect !

As to special properties I don't really think any existed if you define it as cutting stone pillars in half with zero damage to the blade. ( Now if you could make a Star Wars type light saber and time machine it back to the 8th century you would certainly create a " Legend " ;) :D )

Swords exist today that are associated with paranormal phenomena or possess an evil spirit. Is that good enough? :lol:

[quote="Bob Uhl"]

Daniel Parry wrote:

As for artifacts with an 'evil spirit,' I've held a German rifle from WWII made in Buchenwald (?), and even without being told its provenance one senses something truly evil and repellant about it.

Y'know, it's true that there is something... strange about certain weapons.

've seen and held historical ones that just have this aura, a completely irrational air of wickedness, that makes me nervous just being around them (which is not normal, BTW; the only kind of sharp objects that otherwise bother me in the least are hollow hypodermic needles). I can easily understand why swords were so often named and revered, sometimes even regarded as living beings... the best of them certainly seem to possess an attitude and character.

And there's a sword made by the local smith that he says has been a nasty one from the beginning - every one who has ever touched it, the smith and myself included, has cut themselves on it. It's a really good sword, a type XV cut-and thruster with a beautiful fishtail pommel, well balanced and moves like a dream, but somehow or other everybody just manages to nick themselves with it. Go figure. Ask me, it's a) bad luck, and b) weird. :)

It could just be our perception playing tricks on us, of course, but that in itself is quite a feat from an inanimate object, neh? Although not quite so surprising for a work of art, art being all about perception and the manipulation thereof - the shapes and proportions of an otherwise completely mundane item can carry just as much feeling with them as a painting or a piece of music. The importance and ubiquitousness of the golden section and other aesthetic principles in both fine arts and sword design may well be more significant than you'd think at first.

Ok guys this is getting off topic unless you are discussing magic viking needles or magic viking buchenwald rifles. :mad: ;) :lol:

I don't remember the names involved but I think there were a couple of Japanese sword makers with similar names who had the reputation of making the best of possible blades i.e. Really up there when trying to determine who was the best sword maker in history. One of these smiths swords were reputed to be evil and " made " the owners act in an evil or more violent than usual even for the standards of samurai.

The smith was supposed to have a miserable personality that infected his swords. Oh, I also think they also ultimatly brought tragedy and disaster to the unfortunate onwners

Anyway that was what people believed about his swords. :evil: :eek: :lol:

I think i heard bout that one. I believe the Old Icelandic name for it was Þórbjörn Blóðsúgr. :eek:


please excuse the bad translation :wtf: ;)