20230208 Bronze sword used by King Goujian of Yue 01
Part of the ancient text, lit. 'The King of Yue personally made' (越王自作)
Deciphering the scripts on the Sword of Goujian
Sword of Goujian
The Sword of Goujian is an ancient Chinese bronze jian renowned for its unusual sharpness, intricate design, and remarkable resistance to tarnish.
Deciphering the Bird-Worm Inscription
Inlaid in gold near the hilt are eight characters written in an ancient Bird-worm seal script. While researchers quickly deciphered six characters identifying the weapon as made for a King of Yue, the monarch's exact name sparked intense scholarly debate. The mystery was resolved after more than two months of correspondence by letter among experts, including the prominent scholar Guo Moruo.
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Albrecht Duerer portrait of Charlemagne with Joyeuse
Joyeuse displayed in the Louvre.
Louis XIV with Joyeuse (Hyacinthe Rigaud, 1701)
Joyeuse in the Louvre
Another view of same
Detail of hilt
Joyeuse
Joyeuse was the legendary personal sword of Charlemagne; a sword identified as Joyeuse was used in French coronation ceremonies and is now kept at the Louvre.
The Blindness-Curing Relic Behind a Battle Cry
Medieval tradition attributes the weapon's cheerful name directly to the miraculous relic embedded in its hilt. The pommel of Charlemagne's personal sword contained a fragment of the Holy Lance that cured Longinus of blindness. According to the Chanson de Roland, this holy relic not only inspired the name Joyeuse but also gave rise to the historic French war cry Monjoie.
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Szczerbiec
Schematic diagram of the shapes and dimensions of the principal elements of Szczerbiec (ornamentation not shown)
Reverse side of Szczerbiec (perspective-distorted)
Szczerbiec on display in the Wawel Castle treasure vault
Obverse of the hilt
National Party (Poland) emblem.
Szczerbiec
Szczerbiec is the ceremonial sword used in Polish royal coronations from 1320 to 1764, preserved as part of the medieval Polish crown jewels at Wawel Castle.
Anachronism at the Golden Gate
Popular lore claims King Boleslaus I the Brave notched Szczerbiec against the Golden Gate of Kiev during a succession crisis in 1018. This founding narrative represents a chronological impossibility. The Golden Gate was not constructed until 1037, and the surviving sword actually dates to the late 12th or 13th century.
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Procession in the 1685 coronation of James II, including blunt Curtana sword (E) borne by the Earl of Shrewsbury.—Engraving from Sandford (1687), History of the Coronation of James II [56]
Curtana
Curtana, or the Sword of Mercy, is a blunt-ended ceremonial sword in the British Crown Jewels used at the coronation of British monarchs to symbolize mercy.
A Shortened German Blade
The steel blade of the ceremonial weapon is missing about 2.5 cm of its tip and measures 96.5 cm in total length. Rather than bearing purely English craftsmanship, the steel features a decorative "running wolf" mark which originated in Passau, Lower Bavaria, Germany. Though the Curtana once possessed a naturally jagged end, the tip was later squared off.
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Chiljido
Seven-Branched Sword
This ceremonial sword is believed to be a gift from the king of Paekche to a Yamato ruler, mentioned in the Nihon Shoki during the reign of the semi-mythical Empress Jingū.
Fragile Cast Metal Over Martial Combat
Early evaluations assumed the weapon was forged mild steel, but metallurgical experiments transformed this understanding. Research by Tsutomu Suzuki and replica trials by swordsmith Kunihira Kawachi demonstrated that the sword was actually cast. The six delicate lateral protrusions would have shattered during melee combat, indicating that the blade was designed for ritual ceremonies rather than military warfare.
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Imperial Sword and scabbard, kept in the Imperial Treasury at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria
Imperial Sword and scabbard (detail)
Imperial Sword scabbard (detail) showing one of the 14 engraved gold plates
Imperial Sword
The Imperial Sword is one of the four most important parts of the Imperial Regalia of the Holy Roman Empire, given to the emperor during coronations and displayed in the Imperial Treasury in Vienna.
A Legendary Lineage Debunked by Chronology
Holy Roman tradition associated the weapon with a donation of Saint Maurice's relics by the Abbey of Saint Maurice to King Henry the Fowler. In reality, the physical weapon postdates both historical figures. The sword was actually manufactured for Emperor Otto IV in the twelfth century, potentially for his 1198 coronation as King of the Romans.
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Example photograph showing the swords of several Ottoman sultans in the Topkapı Palace, Istanbul, Türkiye, 2007
Sword of Osman
The Sword of Osman is an important sword of state used during the enthronement ceremony of the sultans of the Ottoman Empire, named after the founder of the Ottoman dynasty, Osman I.
Spiritual Lineage of a Dynasty's Weapon
Ottoman enthronement replaced conventional crowning with an investiture known as the Kılıç alayı, serving as the empire's variant of the Bay'ah. The ritual practice originated when Osman I was girt with the sword of Islam by his mentor and father-in-law, Sheikh Edebali. Enacted regularly from Murad II's accession onwards, the state weapon permanently linked imperial legitimacy to the dynastic founder.
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Wallace sword
Wallace Sword
The Wallace Sword is an antique two-handed sword purported to have belonged to William Wallace, a Scottish knight who led resistance during the First War of Scottish Independence.
Human Skin Scabbards and Royal Silk Restorations
In 1505, King James IV of Scotland spent 26 shillings to refurbish what was described as Wallace's weapon with silk cords, a fresh hilt, and a new scabbard. Folklore provided a macabre explanation for why these replacements were necessary centuries after the Battle of Stirling Bridge. According to legend, the original scabbard, hilt, and belt had been fashioned from the dried skin of Hugh de Cressingham.
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A boy inspects the Sword of Stalingrad in the Battle of Stalingrad Museum, 1953.
The sword in 2016
The presentation of the Sword of Stalingrad at the Tehran Conference
Sword of Stalingrad
The Sword of Stalingrad is a bejewelled ceremonial longsword commissioned by King George VI as a token of homage to the Soviet defenders of the city during the Battle of Stalingrad.
Regal Goldsmithing on Sheffield Steel
Handcrafted as a modern masterpiece, the weapon fused lethal functionality with opulent regal emblems. The four-foot double-edged blade was hand-forged from Sheffield steel and framed by a solid-silver crossguard with parcel-gilt leopard heads. Its grip was wrapped in 18 carat gold wire, capped by a rock crystal pommel, and paired with a crimson Persian lamb skin scabbard. These extravagant materials transformed an instrument of war into an imperial tribute.
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The Tizona sword while on exhibit in the Museo del Ejército (Salón de Reinos) in Madrid
Tizona
Tizona is one of the swords carried by Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, known as El Cid, according to the Cantar de Mio Cid.
Linguistic Shift from Burning Embers to Generic Blade
The name Tizona originated from the older form Tizón, an everyday word meaning firebrand that derives from Latin titionem. Medieval documentation demonstrates that this terminology served as a general term for swords rather than an exclusive personal name. King James I of Aragon owned a blade named Tisó during his thirteenth-century reign without referencing El Cid, directly mirroring the English custom of calling weapons brands.
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Kogarasu Maru and Koshirae
Replica of the tachi Kogarasu Maru, Ozawa Masatoshi, 1970.
Kogarasu Maru
The Kogarasu Maru, or Little Crow Circle, is a unique Japanese tachi sword believed to have been created by the legendary smith Amakuni during the 8th century AD.
The Evolutionary Bridge from Ken to Katana
Swordsmiths did not leap directly from straight ancient blades to curved single-edged samurai weapons. Instead, the Kogarasu Maru represents a critical evolutionary bridge between the early double-edged Japanese ken, derived from the Chinese jian, and the classic curved tachi. Its distinct morphology demonstrates how Japanese weapon design transitioned between traditions during a pivotal era of metallurgical innovation.
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