This is a list of magical weapons from fiction and folklore. A magical weapon is one that is directly described as such in the work, or one that has obvious fantastic or supernatural qualities.
Dyrnwyn – Sword of
Rhydderch Hael in Welsh legend; When drawn, it blazed with fire; if drawn by a worthy man, the fire would help him in his cause, but its fire would burn the man who drew it for an unworthy purpose.
Caliburn – Another name for Excalibur, but in some versions of the legends is the sword
King Arthur pulled from the stone.
Clarent –
King Arthur's sword of peace. Also known as the Coward's Blade, as it is the sword Mordred, his son, stole and later used to kill King Arthur.
Some weapons in Chinese folklore do not, strictly speaking, have magical properties, but are forged with materials or methods that are unique in the context of the story.
Chentu - A horse whip which looks like a crooked stick, and is a typical attribute of
Aiyanar,
Krishna in his aspect as Rajagopala, and
Shiva with
Nandi.
Kaladanda – the staff of Death is a special and lethal club used by the God
Yama or God of
Naraka or Hell in Hindu mythology. It was the ultimate weapon; once fired it would kill anybody before it no matter what boons he had to protect himself.
Mace ofBhima – A club that was presented by
Mayasura. It was a weapon of
Danavas King Vrishaparva.
Nandaka – Nandaka or Nandaki is the sword of the Hindu god
Vishnu.
Parashu – The parashu is the weapon of the god
Shiva who gave it to
Parashurama, sixth avatar of
Vishnu, whose name means "Rama with the axe".
Pasha – A supernatural weapon depicted in Hindu iconography. Hindu deities such as
Ganesha,
Yama and
Varuna are depicted with the pasha in their hands. The pasha is used to bind a foe's arms and legs or for hunting animals.
Pattayudha – The divine sword of Lord
Virabhadra, commander of Lord
Shiva's armies.
Pinaka – The great bow of
Shiva, arrows fired from the bow could not be intercepted.
Sudarshana Chakra – The legendary discus of
Vishnu, which cannot be stopped by anyone, except by Lord
Vishnu and Lord
Shiva. It has tremendous occult and spiritual powers, by which it is able to destroy anything.
Teen Baan –
Shiva gave
Barbarika three infallible arrows (Teen Baan). A single arrow was enough to destroy all opponents in any war, and it would then return to
Barbarika's quiver.
Trident of Madhu – It was given as a boon by Shiva to Madhu, a Rakshasa. Then he gave it to his son
Lavanasura. It was a very powerful weapon. It destroys anyone who directly fights with its master.
Trishula – The trident of
Shiva, stylized by some as used as a missile weapon and often included a crossed stabilizer to facilitate flight when thrown. Considered to be the most powerful weapon.
Vajra – A lightning thunderbolt wielded by
Indra, the god of rain and thunderstorms.
Fragarach – Sword of the god of the seas
Manannan mac Lir and later
Lugh in Irish legend; it was said to be a weapon that no armour could stop.
Caladbolg – Two-handed sword of
Fergus mac Róich in Irish legend; said to make a circle like an arc of rainbow when swung, and to have the power to cleave the tops from the hills.
Moralltach (Great Fury) – a highly lethal sword belonging to
Aengus, which left no stroke or blow unfinished at the first trial. Aoegus eventually gave to his foster-son
Diarmuid Ua Duibhne along with a second sword of less power, the Beagalltach (Little Fury).
Gáe Buide and Gáe Dearg – Spears of
Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, given to him by Aengus. They were said to inflict wounds from which none could recover.
Claíomh Solais – Sword of
Nuada, the king of the gods in Irish mythology; in legend, the sword glowed with the light of the sun and was irresistible in battle, having the power to cut his enemies in half.
Spear of Lugh – Spear of
Lugh, the champion of the gods in Irish mythology.
Japanese folklore
Ame-no-nuhoko – Japanese halberd which formed the first island.
Kusanagi – Legendary Japanese sword. Can also be considered as Kusanagi-No-Tsurugi.
Muramasa – The katana forged by famous swordsmith Muramasa, it was rumored that it was a demonic sword that can curse the wielder to murder people. It also said that the demonic sword rumor was made by Ieyasu Tokugawa, the 1st Shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate because he hated those swords made by Muramasa.
Tonbogiri – One of three legendary spears created by the famed swordsmith Muramasa. It is said to be so sharp that a dragonfly landing on the edge would be instantly cut in half. This is the origin of the name.
Honjo Masamune – A legendary and very real Japanese sword (with alleged mythical abilities), created by Japan's greatest swordsmith, Goro Nyudo
Masamune. The Masamune sword is by far the most referenced Japanese sword in popular fiction, ranging through books, movies and computer games.
Murasame – A magical katana that mentioned in fiction
Nansō Satomi Hakkenden, it said the blade can moist itself to wash off the blood stain for keeping it sharp.
Angurvadal (Stream of Anguish) – A magical sword of
Viking, and later
Frithiof. The sword was inscribed with Runic letters, which blazed in time of war, but gleamed with a dim light in time of peace.
Dáinsleif – King
Högni's sword that gave wounds that never healed and could not be unsheathed without killing a man.
Forseti's axe (also Fosite's axe) – A golden battle axe that
Forseti (or Fosite in the Frisian mythology) used to save the old sages of the wreck and then threw the axe to an island to bring forth a source of water.
Freyr's sword – A magic sword which fought on its own. It might be
Lævateinn.
Gambanteinn – A sword which appears in two poems in the Poetic Edda
Gríðarvölr – A magical staff given to
Thor by
Gríðr so he could kill the giant
Geirröd.
Gungnir –
Odin's spear created by the dwarf
Dvalinn. The spear is described as being so well balanced that it could strike any target, no matter the skill or strength of the wielder.
Hrotti – Hrotti is a sword in the Völsung cycle (Fáfnismál, Völsunga saga, 20). It was a part of
Fáfnir's treasure, which
Sigurðr took after he slew the dragon.
Skofnung – The legendary sword of Danish king
Hrólf Kraki. It was renowned for supernatural sharpness and hardness, as well as for being imbued with the spirits of the king's twelve faithful berserker bodyguards.
The Sword of
Surtr – The weapon the fire giant Surtr wields in the battle of Ragnarok. The Prose Edda calls it a flaming sword, although in the Poetic Edda merely it is described only as a "bright blade."
Tyrfing – A sword made by dwarves in the
Elder Edda. It would kill a man when drawn and would eventually kill its wielder.
Thuận Thiên Kiếm (Sword of Heaven's Will), the mythical
sword of the Vietnamese Emperor
Lê Lợi, given to him by the Dragon King (Long Vương), who used it to liberate
Vietnam from
Ming occupation after ten years of fighting from 1418 until 1428.[4] According to the legend, after defeating
Ming China, Emperor Lê Lợi was boating on the
Hoàn Kiếm Lake (in
Hanoi) when a Golden Turtle God (
Kim Qui) surfaced and asked for his magic sword.[4][5][6]
In novels
Ice. A Valyrian steel greatsword owned by house Stark in
A Song of Ice and Fire a Book series by George R.R. Martin. A sword notable for its large size and large history.[7]
Sword of Gryffindor – In the Harry Potter series, a sword that was previously owned by
Godric Gryffindor. Has the power to reveal itself to any worthy
Gryffindor student in a time of need. In the novels, reveals itself to Harry and Neville Longbottom.
Callandor - an unbreakable sword made of crystal, "The Sword That is Not a Sword" is also a powerful aid to channeling (magic) in the Wheel of Time series.
Anglachel – One of the two swords forged by Eöl the
Dark Elf out of a black iron meteorite. It is said to be able to cleave any iron from within the earth. Anglachel appears to be a sentient sword that speaks on occasion and has some will of its own.[8]
Caudimordax – This sword cannot be sheathed when a dragon comes within five miles of its bearer's presence.[10]
Andúril/Narsil – The sword of Elendil that was used by Isildur to cut the One Ring from Sauron (Narsil) reforged several ages later by Elrond (Andúril); the reforging of the shards was foretold as a sign of the coming of the true King of Gondor.
Aiglos – The spear with which the Elven king Gil-galad went to war.
Dragonlances – In the Dragonlance novels and roleplaying supplements, a dragonlance is a weapon created for defeating evil dragons.
Whelm – A hammer introduced in
White Plume Mountain. Whelm can only be wielded by a
dwarf. It can create shockwaves, and returns to the wielder's hand once thrown.[11]
Axe of the Dwarvish Lords. Powerful weapon first introduced to the game in 1976. A dwarf who possesses the axe increases their innate abilities.
In popular culture
The
Lasso of Truth – a weapon wielded by
DC Comics superhero
Wonder Woman that forces anyone it captures into submission; compelling its captives to obey the wielder and tell the truth.
The Sword of Triton:
Blackbeard's sword, later wielded by
Hector Barbossa with magical properties that first appears in the 2011 film Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. According to the film's visual guide, the Sword of Triton was forged in the lost city of
Atlantis as well as commands and channels unearthly and mystical power that brings dead matter to life. The Pirates of the Caribbean Online website states that the sword was forged by the sea deity
Triton himself and that it has passed from one ancient mariner to another until falling into Blackbeard's possession.[12] In On Stranger Tides, Blackbeard uses the sword to ensnare the
mutinous crew of the Queen Anne's Revenge by the ship's ropes and unleash
Greek fire upon
mermaids at Whitecap Bay. It is revealed that Blackbeard attacked the Black Pearl, which led Barbossa to claim Blackbeard's ship and sword. Barbossa used the sword's magical properties to control the wind, as well as the ship's rigging, and sailed the Revenge to Tortuga. In the 2017 sequel Dead Men Tell No Tales, it is revealed that the Black Pearl was
trapped in the bottle "five winters" earlier before Barbossa stabs the bottle with the sword, restoring the miniaturized Pearl to its original size. Although it was not clarified onscreen,
Terry Rossio's unproduced screenplay for Dead Men Tell No Tales reveals the sword's powers comes from Rhysis, one of the three Pearls of Neptune, which commanded the winds of the sea and was hidden inside the sapphire that was embedded into the hilt of the Sword. The Pearl rules the winds of the ocean, and everything associated with the wind, including the ships at sea, their rigging and sails.[13]
The
Lightsaber (Star Wars) - an energy sword powered by a rare Force-attuned crystal, which can only be used to its full potential by those skilled enough in the
Force to wield it. Each lightsaber is constructed by its wielder as a rite of passage, making each one of them unique. Lightsabers are used by the
Jedi, an order of Force-using peacekeepers, and their evil counterpart, the
Sith.[14]
The
Darksaber[15] (Star Wars) - a variant on the
Lightsaber which symbolically turns its wielder into "Mandalore", the rightful ruler of the
Mandalorians. It can only be claimed by challenging its wielder in single combat, and using it takes its toll on an inexperienced or reluctant wielder.[16]
^
abThế Dũng Hàn Lê Lợi: tiểu thuyết lịch sử 2002 Page 17 "Đệ nhìn kỹ thì nhận ra đó là lưỡi kiếm, hai chữ Thuận Thiên nổi lên màu vàng rực rỡ."
^Bettleheim, Matthew P. (2012). "Swinhoe's Softshell Turtle (Rafetus swinhoei): The Legendary Sword Lake Turtle of Hoan Kiem Lake". Bibliotheca Herpetologica. 10 (1): 4.
^Vo, Nghia M. (2012). Legends of Vietnam: An Analysis and Retelling of 88 Tales. Jefferson, NC: MacFarland and Co. pp. 120–121.
This is a list of magical weapons from fiction and folklore. A magical weapon is one that is directly described as such in the work, or one that has obvious fantastic or supernatural qualities.
Dyrnwyn – Sword of
Rhydderch Hael in Welsh legend; When drawn, it blazed with fire; if drawn by a worthy man, the fire would help him in his cause, but its fire would burn the man who drew it for an unworthy purpose.
Caliburn – Another name for Excalibur, but in some versions of the legends is the sword
King Arthur pulled from the stone.
Clarent –
King Arthur's sword of peace. Also known as the Coward's Blade, as it is the sword Mordred, his son, stole and later used to kill King Arthur.
Some weapons in Chinese folklore do not, strictly speaking, have magical properties, but are forged with materials or methods that are unique in the context of the story.
Chentu - A horse whip which looks like a crooked stick, and is a typical attribute of
Aiyanar,
Krishna in his aspect as Rajagopala, and
Shiva with
Nandi.
Kaladanda – the staff of Death is a special and lethal club used by the God
Yama or God of
Naraka or Hell in Hindu mythology. It was the ultimate weapon; once fired it would kill anybody before it no matter what boons he had to protect himself.
Mace ofBhima – A club that was presented by
Mayasura. It was a weapon of
Danavas King Vrishaparva.
Nandaka – Nandaka or Nandaki is the sword of the Hindu god
Vishnu.
Parashu – The parashu is the weapon of the god
Shiva who gave it to
Parashurama, sixth avatar of
Vishnu, whose name means "Rama with the axe".
Pasha – A supernatural weapon depicted in Hindu iconography. Hindu deities such as
Ganesha,
Yama and
Varuna are depicted with the pasha in their hands. The pasha is used to bind a foe's arms and legs or for hunting animals.
Pattayudha – The divine sword of Lord
Virabhadra, commander of Lord
Shiva's armies.
Pinaka – The great bow of
Shiva, arrows fired from the bow could not be intercepted.
Sudarshana Chakra – The legendary discus of
Vishnu, which cannot be stopped by anyone, except by Lord
Vishnu and Lord
Shiva. It has tremendous occult and spiritual powers, by which it is able to destroy anything.
Teen Baan –
Shiva gave
Barbarika three infallible arrows (Teen Baan). A single arrow was enough to destroy all opponents in any war, and it would then return to
Barbarika's quiver.
Trident of Madhu – It was given as a boon by Shiva to Madhu, a Rakshasa. Then he gave it to his son
Lavanasura. It was a very powerful weapon. It destroys anyone who directly fights with its master.
Trishula – The trident of
Shiva, stylized by some as used as a missile weapon and often included a crossed stabilizer to facilitate flight when thrown. Considered to be the most powerful weapon.
Vajra – A lightning thunderbolt wielded by
Indra, the god of rain and thunderstorms.
Fragarach – Sword of the god of the seas
Manannan mac Lir and later
Lugh in Irish legend; it was said to be a weapon that no armour could stop.
Caladbolg – Two-handed sword of
Fergus mac Róich in Irish legend; said to make a circle like an arc of rainbow when swung, and to have the power to cleave the tops from the hills.
Moralltach (Great Fury) – a highly lethal sword belonging to
Aengus, which left no stroke or blow unfinished at the first trial. Aoegus eventually gave to his foster-son
Diarmuid Ua Duibhne along with a second sword of less power, the Beagalltach (Little Fury).
Gáe Buide and Gáe Dearg – Spears of
Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, given to him by Aengus. They were said to inflict wounds from which none could recover.
Claíomh Solais – Sword of
Nuada, the king of the gods in Irish mythology; in legend, the sword glowed with the light of the sun and was irresistible in battle, having the power to cut his enemies in half.
Spear of Lugh – Spear of
Lugh, the champion of the gods in Irish mythology.
Japanese folklore
Ame-no-nuhoko – Japanese halberd which formed the first island.
Kusanagi – Legendary Japanese sword. Can also be considered as Kusanagi-No-Tsurugi.
Muramasa – The katana forged by famous swordsmith Muramasa, it was rumored that it was a demonic sword that can curse the wielder to murder people. It also said that the demonic sword rumor was made by Ieyasu Tokugawa, the 1st Shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate because he hated those swords made by Muramasa.
Tonbogiri – One of three legendary spears created by the famed swordsmith Muramasa. It is said to be so sharp that a dragonfly landing on the edge would be instantly cut in half. This is the origin of the name.
Honjo Masamune – A legendary and very real Japanese sword (with alleged mythical abilities), created by Japan's greatest swordsmith, Goro Nyudo
Masamune. The Masamune sword is by far the most referenced Japanese sword in popular fiction, ranging through books, movies and computer games.
Murasame – A magical katana that mentioned in fiction
Nansō Satomi Hakkenden, it said the blade can moist itself to wash off the blood stain for keeping it sharp.
Angurvadal (Stream of Anguish) – A magical sword of
Viking, and later
Frithiof. The sword was inscribed with Runic letters, which blazed in time of war, but gleamed with a dim light in time of peace.
Dáinsleif – King
Högni's sword that gave wounds that never healed and could not be unsheathed without killing a man.
Forseti's axe (also Fosite's axe) – A golden battle axe that
Forseti (or Fosite in the Frisian mythology) used to save the old sages of the wreck and then threw the axe to an island to bring forth a source of water.
Freyr's sword – A magic sword which fought on its own. It might be
Lævateinn.
Gambanteinn – A sword which appears in two poems in the Poetic Edda
Gríðarvölr – A magical staff given to
Thor by
Gríðr so he could kill the giant
Geirröd.
Gungnir –
Odin's spear created by the dwarf
Dvalinn. The spear is described as being so well balanced that it could strike any target, no matter the skill or strength of the wielder.
Hrotti – Hrotti is a sword in the Völsung cycle (Fáfnismál, Völsunga saga, 20). It was a part of
Fáfnir's treasure, which
Sigurðr took after he slew the dragon.
Skofnung – The legendary sword of Danish king
Hrólf Kraki. It was renowned for supernatural sharpness and hardness, as well as for being imbued with the spirits of the king's twelve faithful berserker bodyguards.
The Sword of
Surtr – The weapon the fire giant Surtr wields in the battle of Ragnarok. The Prose Edda calls it a flaming sword, although in the Poetic Edda merely it is described only as a "bright blade."
Tyrfing – A sword made by dwarves in the
Elder Edda. It would kill a man when drawn and would eventually kill its wielder.
Thuận Thiên Kiếm (Sword of Heaven's Will), the mythical
sword of the Vietnamese Emperor
Lê Lợi, given to him by the Dragon King (Long Vương), who used it to liberate
Vietnam from
Ming occupation after ten years of fighting from 1418 until 1428.[4] According to the legend, after defeating
Ming China, Emperor Lê Lợi was boating on the
Hoàn Kiếm Lake (in
Hanoi) when a Golden Turtle God (
Kim Qui) surfaced and asked for his magic sword.[4][5][6]
In novels
Ice. A Valyrian steel greatsword owned by house Stark in
A Song of Ice and Fire a Book series by George R.R. Martin. A sword notable for its large size and large history.[7]
Sword of Gryffindor – In the Harry Potter series, a sword that was previously owned by
Godric Gryffindor. Has the power to reveal itself to any worthy
Gryffindor student in a time of need. In the novels, reveals itself to Harry and Neville Longbottom.
Callandor - an unbreakable sword made of crystal, "The Sword That is Not a Sword" is also a powerful aid to channeling (magic) in the Wheel of Time series.
Anglachel – One of the two swords forged by Eöl the
Dark Elf out of a black iron meteorite. It is said to be able to cleave any iron from within the earth. Anglachel appears to be a sentient sword that speaks on occasion and has some will of its own.[8]
Caudimordax – This sword cannot be sheathed when a dragon comes within five miles of its bearer's presence.[10]
Andúril/Narsil – The sword of Elendil that was used by Isildur to cut the One Ring from Sauron (Narsil) reforged several ages later by Elrond (Andúril); the reforging of the shards was foretold as a sign of the coming of the true King of Gondor.
Aiglos – The spear with which the Elven king Gil-galad went to war.
Dragonlances – In the Dragonlance novels and roleplaying supplements, a dragonlance is a weapon created for defeating evil dragons.
Whelm – A hammer introduced in
White Plume Mountain. Whelm can only be wielded by a
dwarf. It can create shockwaves, and returns to the wielder's hand once thrown.[11]
Axe of the Dwarvish Lords. Powerful weapon first introduced to the game in 1976. A dwarf who possesses the axe increases their innate abilities.
In popular culture
The
Lasso of Truth – a weapon wielded by
DC Comics superhero
Wonder Woman that forces anyone it captures into submission; compelling its captives to obey the wielder and tell the truth.
The Sword of Triton:
Blackbeard's sword, later wielded by
Hector Barbossa with magical properties that first appears in the 2011 film Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. According to the film's visual guide, the Sword of Triton was forged in the lost city of
Atlantis as well as commands and channels unearthly and mystical power that brings dead matter to life. The Pirates of the Caribbean Online website states that the sword was forged by the sea deity
Triton himself and that it has passed from one ancient mariner to another until falling into Blackbeard's possession.[12] In On Stranger Tides, Blackbeard uses the sword to ensnare the
mutinous crew of the Queen Anne's Revenge by the ship's ropes and unleash
Greek fire upon
mermaids at Whitecap Bay. It is revealed that Blackbeard attacked the Black Pearl, which led Barbossa to claim Blackbeard's ship and sword. Barbossa used the sword's magical properties to control the wind, as well as the ship's rigging, and sailed the Revenge to Tortuga. In the 2017 sequel Dead Men Tell No Tales, it is revealed that the Black Pearl was
trapped in the bottle "five winters" earlier before Barbossa stabs the bottle with the sword, restoring the miniaturized Pearl to its original size. Although it was not clarified onscreen,
Terry Rossio's unproduced screenplay for Dead Men Tell No Tales reveals the sword's powers comes from Rhysis, one of the three Pearls of Neptune, which commanded the winds of the sea and was hidden inside the sapphire that was embedded into the hilt of the Sword. The Pearl rules the winds of the ocean, and everything associated with the wind, including the ships at sea, their rigging and sails.[13]
The
Lightsaber (Star Wars) - an energy sword powered by a rare Force-attuned crystal, which can only be used to its full potential by those skilled enough in the
Force to wield it. Each lightsaber is constructed by its wielder as a rite of passage, making each one of them unique. Lightsabers are used by the
Jedi, an order of Force-using peacekeepers, and their evil counterpart, the
Sith.[14]
The
Darksaber[15] (Star Wars) - a variant on the
Lightsaber which symbolically turns its wielder into "Mandalore", the rightful ruler of the
Mandalorians. It can only be claimed by challenging its wielder in single combat, and using it takes its toll on an inexperienced or reluctant wielder.[16]
^
abThế Dũng Hàn Lê Lợi: tiểu thuyết lịch sử 2002 Page 17 "Đệ nhìn kỹ thì nhận ra đó là lưỡi kiếm, hai chữ Thuận Thiên nổi lên màu vàng rực rỡ."
^Bettleheim, Matthew P. (2012). "Swinhoe's Softshell Turtle (Rafetus swinhoei): The Legendary Sword Lake Turtle of Hoan Kiem Lake". Bibliotheca Herpetologica. 10 (1): 4.
^Vo, Nghia M. (2012). Legends of Vietnam: An Analysis and Retelling of 88 Tales. Jefferson, NC: MacFarland and Co. pp. 120–121.