Magic sword

A magic sword is any mythological or fictional sword imbued with magical power to increase its strength or grant it other supernatural qualities. The archetype originated in myth and legend, and occurs regularly in fantasy fiction.

Renowned swords appear in the folklore of every nation that used swords. Sometimes the sword is ascribed no powers of its own. It is famous because it is the hero's sword, or because of its origin, as when a god gives it to the hero. Other swords keep their wielders safe or destroy their enemies.

A more localized motif is the sword that has been broken and must be reforged, commonly found in Northern Europe. Such a sword symbolizes the initial defeat and loss of honor of its wielder. Subsequent victory and the restoration of honor is achieved by reforging it, either at the wielder's hand or that of his heir.

History

It is probable that the roots of the sentient weapon myths stem from ancient peoples belief that sword making and metallurgy was in fact a magical process. Through the fires of the forge (fire was also given spiritual connotations) a lump of earth was transformed into a shiny usable object that could be hammered into many shapes. Extending further from the transformation of ore into metal, the difficulty of actually obtaining a quality blade; which took intense concentration and skill added to its esoteric qualities. While any blacksmith could manufacture a knife or an axehead only a swordsmith could create a high quality sword. The secrets of doing so were jealously guarded as well as formulas for alloys.

Magic sword (disambiguation)

A magic sword is any kind of mythological or fictional sword imbued with magical power.

Magic sword may also refer to:

Magic Sword (video game)

Magic Sword (Japanese: マジックソード), fully titled as Magic Sword: Heroic Fantasy, is a side-scrolling fantasy arcade game released by Capcom in 1990. The game casts the player as a hero who must fight his way through a mystical tower in order to save the world. The player can use a sword, axe or magic, and can also rescue and recruit potential allies of various character classes, each of which has his or her own special abilities. Three years earlier, Capcom had released the similar Black Tiger in 1987.

Plot

Magic Sword takes place in an unnamed world, which is being threatened by the dark lord Drokmar, who has control over an evil crystal known as the "Black Orb", which would allow him to rule over the world. In order to prevent this from happening, the hero, known as the Brave One, must scale to the top of the 50-floor tower in which Drokmar resides, known as Dragon Keep.

At the game's end, when Drokmar is defeated, the player has the option of two endings: Destroy the Black Orb, or to take control of it, becoming the new dark lord.