historical swords

Historical Swords

Joyeuse: the legendary sword of Charlemagne

The sword of Joyeuse, which today sits in the Louvre Museum, is one of the most famous swords in history. Historical records link the sword to Charlemagne the Great, King of the Franks. If it did indeed belong to the famous king, who reigned some 1,200 years ago, the sword of Joyeuse would have been used in countless coronation ceremonies, and is tied with ancient myth and legend ascribing it with magical powers.

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The story of Joyeuse

The story begins in the year 802 AD. Legend states that the sword of Joyeuse, meaning “joyful” in French, was forged by the famous blacksmith Galas, and took three years to complete. The sword was described as having magical powers associated with it. It was said to have been so bright that it could outshine the sun and blind its wielder's enemies in battle, and any person who wielded the legendary sword could not be poisoned. The Emperor Charlemagne, coming back from Spain was said to have set up camp in the region and acquired the sword.

Goujian: the actient chinese sword that defied time

Fifty year ago, a rare and unusual sword was found in a tomb in China. Despite being well over 2,000 years old, the sword, known as the Goujian, did not have a single trace of rust. The blade drew blood when an archeologist tested his finger on its edge, seemingly unaffected by the passage of time. Besides this strange quality, the craftsmanship was highly detailed for a sword made such a long time ago. Regarded as a state treasure in China today, the sword is as legendary to the Chinese people as King Arthur's Excalibur in the West.

How Goujian was found

According to the leader of the archeological team responsible for the excavation, it was discovered in a tomb, in a near air-tight wooden box next to a skeleton. The team was stunned when the perfectly preserved bronze sword with scabbard was removed from the box. When it was unsheathed, the blade was revealed to be untarnished despite being buried in damp conditions for two millennia. A test conducted by the archaeologists showed that the blade could easily cut a stack of twenty pieces of paper.

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Samurai Muramasa blades

In Nitobe Inazo’s 1899 work exploring the way of the samurai, Bushido, the Soul of Japan, the sword is dubbed as the ‘Soul of the Samurai’. As swords were so highly revered, the swordsmith’s work became an immensely important task. In Chapter XIII of Nitobe’s work, the writer speaks about the swordsmiths as follows: “The swordsmith was not a mere artisan but an inspired artist and his workshop a sanctuary. Daily he commenced his craft with prayer and purification, or, as the phrase was, "he committed his soul and spirit into the forging and tempering of the steel." Every swing of the sledge, every plunge into water, every friction on the grindstone, was a religious act of no slight import.” Some of Japan’s ancient swordsmiths became as famous as the samurai themselves. One of the most well-known Japanese swordsmiths was Muramasa Sengo, second only to Masamune Gorō.

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Mysterious Viking Sword

The Viking sword Ulfberht was made of metal so pure it baffled archaeologists. It was thought the technology to forge such metal was not invented for another 800 or more years, during the Industrial Revolution.

About 170 Ulfberhts have been found, dating from 800 to 1,000 A.D. A NOVA, National Geographic documentary titled “Secrets of the Viking Sword”, first aired in 2012, took a look at the enigmatic sword’s metallurgic composition.

In the process of forging iron, the ore must be heated to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit to liquify, allowing the blacksmith to remove the impurities (called “slag”). Carbon is also mixed in to make the brittle iron stronger. Medieval technology did not allow iron to be heated to such a high temperature, thus the slag was removed by pounding it out, a far less effective method.

The Ulfberht, however, has almost no slag, and it has a carbon content three times that of other metals from the time. It was made of a metal called “crucible steel."

12th century sword that may belong to ivan the terrible

A new theory has been put forward by a Russian archaeologist to explain the mystery of a 12th century blade made in Germany, adorned in Sweden, and found in Siberia – the sword may have belonged to Tsar Ivan the Terrible, given to him as a gift at the time of the conquest of Siberia.

According to a report in the Siberian Times, the medieval sword was discovered by accident in 1975 during excavations led by archaeologist Vyacheslav Molodin to study Bronze Age settlements and cemeteries on the banks of the River Om in Novosibirsk, Siberia.

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