List of historical swords

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This is a list of real famous named swords.

Early medieval swords and Viking swords
European medieval swords
Asian swords
  • Sword of Goujian, a historical artifact from the Spring and Autumn Period.
  • Kusanagi-no-tsurugi (草薙の剣) / Ame no Murakumo no Tsurugi (天叢雲剣 lit. Sword of the heaven of the clustering clouds) / Kusanagi ("Grasscutter" or more probably "sword of snake"). It may also be called Tsumugari no Tachi (都牟刈の太刀) - Both a mythical and real sword of equivalent importance to Japan as Excalibur is to England.
  • Empress Jitō was handed the Sugari no Ontachi (須賀利御太刀) as part of the regalia.
  • Honjo Masamune- represented the Tokugawa shogunate, a feudal military dictatorship of Japan during most of the Edo period. It was passed down from one Shogun to the next. It is one of the best known of the swords created by Masamune and is believed to be one of the finest Japanese swords ever made.
  • Seven-Branched Sword, which Wa received from Baekje.
  • Sword of Tippu Sultan
  • Nitta Yoshisada, a famous Samurai, offered his gold-mounted sword to Ryūjin for permission to let his army pass through the surf.[1] Later, he used a shorter sword to cut off his own head, when hopelessly exposed to enemies.
Near Eastern swords
Modern swords
  • Battle sword: Curved saber of San Martín - The sword of General Don José de San Martín, one of the great libertadores of South America.[2]
  • Sport sword: Satyasi - The competition sword of Akaash Maharaj, Captain General of Canada's national equestrian combat team.[3]
  • Religious sword: Vatican Broadsword - Ceremonial sword carried by members of Vatican city's Papal Swiss Guard.[4]
  • State sword: Jewelled Sword of Offering - The sword presented to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom during the Coronation, and part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom.
  • Executioner's sword: Unnamed - The sword of Muhammad Saad al-Beshi, the Saudi state executioner, who uses it to behead people convicted of capital crimes.[5]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ In describing this event, Japanese sources say Nitta Yoshisada prayed to a sea-god or Ryūjin, English sources almost always refer to Sun Goddess Amaterasu. The Taiheiki itself (稲村崎成干潟事) says:

    Dismounting from his horse, Yoshisada removed his helmet and prostrating himself across the distant seas prayed to Ryūjin. "It is said that the lord of Japan from the beginning, Amaterasu Ōmikami, enshrined at Ise Jingū, hid herself within a Vairocana and appeared as Ryūjin of the vast blue seas. My lord (Emperor Go-Daigo) is her descendant, and drifts upon waves of the western sea due to rebels. I Yoshisada, in an attempt to serve as a worthy subject, will pick up my axes and face the enemy line. That desire is to aid the nation and bring welfare to the masses. Ryūjin of the Eight Protectorate Gods of the (seven) Inner Seas and the Outer Sea, witness this subject’s loyalty and withdraw the waters afar, open a path to the lines of the three armies.

    He therefore speaks to Ryūjin who, he has heard, is manifestation of Amaterasu.

  2. ^ "El sable corvo de San Martín", Epoca, AF Pombo, Difusora de Informacion Periodica, July 28, 2005
  3. ^ UNICEF Team Canada sweeps the championships, 2008 International Tent Pegging Championships, February 20, 2008
  4. ^ Uniform of the Swiss Guards, The Roman Curia, undated (retrieved January 30, 2012)
  5. ^ Saudi executioner tells all, BBC News, June 5, 2003
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