Types of swords
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This is a list of sword types found through history all around the world.
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Sword types sorted by countries of origin
African
Ancient
China
- Dao (刀 pinyin dāo)
- Jian (劍 pinyin jiàn)
- Butterfly sword
Europe
- Bastard-sword
- Cinquedea
- Cutlass
- Dirk
- Espada Ropera
- Estoc
- Falchion
- Grossemesser
- Hand-and-a-half Sword
- Kriegsmesser
- Flamberge
- Gladius
- Long-sword
- Rapier
- Sabre
- Scramasax
- Smallsword
- Spatha
- Two-handed swords
Japan
- Bokken (木剣)
- Katana (刀; かたな)
- Ken
- Kodachi (小太刀)
- Nagamaki
- Nodachi (野太刀)
- Shinai (竹刀)
- Tachi (太刀; たち)
- Tantō (短刀; たんとう)
- Wakizashi (脇差; わきざし)
Philippines
Middle East
South Asia
South Pacific
Named swords
Many swords in mythology, literature and history are named by their wielders or by the person who makes them.
History and mythology
- Caliburn - King Arthur's sword, probably made by Merlin but certainly put by him into a stone in a churchyard to test who the rightful king is. This sword was broken in a fight with King Pellinore (according to Mallory).
- Excalibur - King Arthur's sword, given to him by the Lady of the Lake after Caliburn was broken in a fight with King Pellinore; the sword itself as well as the scabbard was magical.
- Galatine - The sword of Sir Gawain in the Arthurian legends.
- Secace - The sword of Sir Launcelot in the Arthurian legends.
- Kusanagi (Grasscutter) - A sword of equivalent importance to Japan as the Excalibur is to England
- Thul fiqar - The legendary two-tipped sword of Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib
- Tizona - the sword of El Cid.
- Szczerbiec - The sword of Polish kings
- Hrunting - Unferth, associate of Beowulf
- Gram (in the Volsung Saga) or Balmung (sometimes in later traditions) - Sigurd
- Tyrfing - a cursed sword from the Tyrfing Cycle, which includes the Hervarar saga and parts of the Poetic Edda.
- Durandal - the sword that belonged to Roland, a hero of the medieval French epic "The Song of Roland", supposedly once belonged to Hector of Troy
- Joyeuse - the sword of Charlemagne (Charles the Great), the famed medieval king of the Franks and first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
- Grus- the historical sword of Boleslaw Krzywousty (Boleslaus the Wrymouthed), medieval prince of Poland
- Caladbolg - The sword used by the hero Cuchulain in the Irish epic the Táin Bó Cuailnge.
Literature and popular culture
- Buster Sword - The oversized sword belonging to the videogame character Cloud Strife.
- Catclaw - The sword used by The Gray Mouser in a series of stories by Fritz Leiber.
- Dyrnwyn - The legendary sword used by Gwydion in the Prydain stories by Lloyd Alexander.
- Energy Sword - A type of sword made of pure energy manufactured by the Covenant in the video game Halo
- Glamdring (Foe-hammer) - Originally the sword of Turgon, King of Gondolin in the Silmarillion, then the sword of Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings.
- The Grandfather, generally considered one of the most powerful swords in the Diablo universe.
- Green Destiny Sword - The sword used by Li Mu Bai in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
- Holy Avenger - A powerful sword which only a paladin can wield in the Dungeons & Dragons based computer games Neverwinter Nights & Baldur's Gate series
- Masamune - Named after a Japanese swordsmith. Also used throughout the Final Fantasy series as well as other video games.
- Master Sword - Also known as the "Sword of Evil's Bane", this sword is generally considered a divine weapon in Nintendo's epic Legend of Zelda video game series used by Link.
- Narsil (Sun and Moon) (later Andúril, Flame of the West) - The sword of Elendil, and later Aragorn in J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy.
- Ragnarok - A powerful sword in several of the Final Fantasy video games, and a spacecraft in Final Fantasy VIII.
- Sting - The Elven short-sword wielded by Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit and Frodo Baggins in Lord of the Rings.
- Stormbringer - The black sword used by Elric, a character invented by Michael Moorcock.
- Vorpal Sword - The sword mentioned in Lewis Carroll's poem "The Jabberwocky" and now a well-known blade in Dungeons & Dragons
- Ultima Weapon - A powerful sword in the Final Fantasy computer role-playing game series. It is sometimes referred to as the Atma Weapon, and is the damage caused by the weapon, as well as its size and appearance, is dependent upon the wielder's hit points; the more hit points the weilder has, the more effective the weapon.