Top Ten Fantasy Weapons from Literature
As long as there have been stories, there have been heroes. The tales of fantasy that humans weave have echoed throughout our history, birthing a plethora of monsters and magic. Every fantasy writer who has picked up a pen or sat at a keyboard has struggled with the question: ‘What’s the most formidable thing I can give my hero so they can beat these baddies in the coolest way possible?’
Modern phrasing aside, it’s a valid question. The idea of a signature weapon is more prevalent in the visual medium of films, but the practice of giving the hero an instantly recognisable trademark armament is a useful descriptive tool for an author. It lets you tell people about their character and the world they inhabit without describing it directly. Got a down-to-earth soldier? Give them a beaten-up longsword. Want to elevate your group of space monks to a mythical status? Give them laser swords instead of guns.
I’ve cobbled together a list of my ten favourite iconic weapons from fantasy and science fantasy literature, but a couple of caveats before I begin… I’ve only included weapons that appear for the first time in literature, meaning books or novels. No comic books or graphic novels or we’d be here all day!
Also, this is not a list of the most powerful weapons, this is my personal list of the weapons I believe to be the most instantly recognisable and, as with any list of this type, this is just my opinion. It’s based on the books I’ve read, so feel free to drop in suggestions for book series in the comments. I’m always up for a good read!
1. Ice – A Game of Thrones
Winter is coming, and the North remembers. George RR Martin’s Game of Thrones series took the world by storm with its release as a television show in 2011. Yes, it’s fifteen years old, try not to choke on your coffee like I did when I wrote that! The book series was enormously popular even before that, with the brooding, craggy Ned Stark serving as a sort of protagonist throughout.
Spoilers for anyone who hasn’t read the book or seen the show (though the casting of Sean Bean should have been a dead giveaway), he doesn’t make it. His execution served as a revelation to every person reading it that Martin was not here to play around. He accentuates the twist by building several fantasy protagonist tropes into Ned’s character, not least of which was his sword, Ice, not to be confused with Jon Snow’s Longclaw from the show.
This massive, double-handed sword, forged of magical Valyrian steel, was a legendary heirloom of the House Stark. Giving the hero of your story a magical sword is a trope that dates back to antiquity and Martin draws a lot of attention to the blade, not just as a weapon, but as a symbol of Ned’s status, authority and duty. The scene where he executes a deserter called Gared from the Night’s Watch cements his character early on as one of grim honour and duty, in spite of his own wants and wishes. He is the warden of the North and Ice is the ultimate symbol of his office.
Martin then brings this whole metaphor full circle by having Ned Stark beheaded by his own weapon. The symbolic weight of his duty and honour is the means of the hero’s death. Bear in mind that, on first reading, we still didn’t know that the ‘nobody is safe’ rule applies here. I personally kept expecting something to happen that would halt the execution, but there was no saving Ned. His fate was inevitable, and the masterful use of symbolism and metaphor would cement Ice as an iconic weapon in the minds of readers to the show’s release and beyond.
2. Geralt’s Swords – The Witcher Series
Geralt’s swords aren’t given specific names in the books, but they are described as having wolf-themed hilts, a reference to his origins in the Witcher school of the wolf. It’s enough to make them a signature weapon but that’s not what makes them iconic. It’s Sapkowski’s cheeky metaphorical flourish: silver for monsters, steel for humans that lands them a place on this list. One of the central themes of the Witcher books is the question of what separates a man from a monster, and tying that so elegantly to his central character’s weapons creates an instantly iconic image.
The swords are described as bastard swords, or hand and a half swords, meaning they’re a type of sword that can be used in one or two hands. However, most people would use two, meaning that Geralt typically uses either his silver or his steel sword, not both at the same time. Whenever he draws his blade, he has to make a choice: is he fighting a monster or a man? It’s a question that is mirrored beautifully in Geralt’s dual nature. As a mutant, he is neither fully man nor monster and is often accepted by neither side.
He carries this dual nature for all to see. A symbol of the question that has haunted him since before even the massacre at Blaviken that earned him the title of ‘Butcher’. When he kills monsters, is he really killing his own kind? Iconic weapons tend to become iconic not just because they look cool, but because they tell us something about the character. Geralt’s swords manage to sum up his entire nature in a single, powerful image.
3. Percy Jackson’s Riptide – The Percy Jackson series
Forged of Celestial Bronze, Riptide is the ultimate answer to the question of whether the pen is truly mightier than the sword!
Percy Jackson’s Riptide is a single-handed Greek Xiphos, made of Celestial Bronze, a material that is deadly only to demigods and monsters. It is completely harmless to humans and will pass through them as though they aren’t there.
In keeping with our theme of weapons mirroring their owners, Riptide can disguise itself as a mundane item to hide its true worth. This ‘dormant form’ depends upon the user, with Riptide becoming a pen for Percy, and other forms for its previous users. Outside of displaying that each of these heroes has borne the burden of their godhood in different ways, I believe the sword’s iconic status comes from its history.
Chiron gives Percy a dark warning that the sword has a long and tragic past. Notably, its previous owner, Zoe, is betrayed by Hercules, who takes the sword to defeat Ladon and then leaves her to deal with the fallout amongst her family. He never even credits her with helping him to victory!
So much of Percy’s story is about legacy and the actions of his father and the other gods dictating his future. Riptide is emblematic of the generational burden laid on his shoulders. It takes power from the ocean, making it particularly useful for Percy as the son of Poseidon, but its history throws him into direct conflict with Zoe, putting him in danger. Simply carrying the weapon sets him apart as a hero and as a target. A self-fulfilling prophecy worthy of Greek myth, and a place on this list.
4. Excalibur – Le Morte D’Arthur
The absolute grandaddy of all iconic weaponry. Calling Excalibur iconic almost doesn’t do the sword justice. It just barely makes it onto this list as literature rather than mythology due to the compilation of the stories of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table in Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Mallory a little under 600 years ago. Whilst not even remotely the first example of a hero having a named signature weapon, it is arguably the most famous.
The sword has undergone a breathtaking amount of reimagining and reworking through the centuries, but its influence can be felt throughout every corner of Western fantasy literature.
Traditionally depicted as a high medieval longsword, the time period of Arthur would suggest something closer to a Saxon or Viking sword. Gifted to Arthur by the Lady of the Lake, the wielder of Excalibur could never know defeat. It was the sword belt or scabbard that actually held the greater power though, rendering the wearer impervious to harm. Only through the stealing of the sword belt by the witch Morgana le Fay is Arthur rendered vulnerable enough to be mortally wounded by Mordred at the Battle of Camlann.
The dying Arthur is tended to by the knight Bedivere, who casts Excalibur away before Morgan and Nimue arrive to take Arthur to the island of Avalon, where he sleeps in case England should ever need his aid again, the once and future king. Whilst not the sword that Arthur draws from the stone, Excalibur is still a symbol of Arthur’s worthiness to rule.
The whole story serves as a record of how the high medieval period romanticised the idea of the Divine order. Arthur is chosen as God’s royal representative on Earth and tested to prove his virtue and that of his knights. He rules for the good of all from his seat at the round table, where all are equal before the law. As the symbol of the inevitable victory of light over darkness, Excalibur stands tall as the epitome of an iconic fantasy weapon.
5. The Sword of Proverbial Sharpness / The Scythe – Discworld
Whilst it was tempting to put the sword of Cohen the Barbarian, or even The Luggage on this list, there could only be one true choice for an iconic weapon from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, and technically it’s two weapons. The sword and scythe of Death are both extensions of his being as the badge of one who carries out THE DUTY. So much so that when Death’s own apprentice starts using them, he begins to take on the identity of Death himself.
What makes these items distinct from their mythological counterparts is the level of work Pratchett puts into making everything in the Discworld seem scientific, even the magic. Whether it’s the fact that high magical concentration causes light to travel at different speeds across the disc, the use of multiple universe theory to explain the invention of popcorn or the examination of philosophical concepts like the effects of observation on reality, Pratchett creates a fantasy world that seems to obey the laws of common sense, while constantly breaking the laws of physics.
In keeping with this, the weapons of Death aren’t just a symbol of Death’s DUTY, they embody it literally as extensions of the concept of death. They are a part of him. On the job, or in the middle of combat against his apprentice, they’re impressive and terrifying, glowing blue with power. Whilst he rests at home, they spend their time in an umbrella stand. They mirror his constant quest to explore the ordinary and everyday lives of humans and his inability to ever truly grasp what makes us tick. They can’t escape their nature and neither can he, and there are few images as iconic as Death on his white horse, galloping into the night sky with his trusted scythe resting in its saddle holder.
6. Holtzman Personal Shields – Dune
I had a few options I could have gone with for this series. The poisonous Gom Jabbar of the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood, the knives of the Fremen or the swords of the emperor’s Sardaukar. For me, though, the weapons that stand out in Dune are the portable forcefields known as Holtzman Personal Shields.
These break the rules I’ve laid out slightly in that they are used by a large number of soldiers in the Dune novels and reflect the character of Paul Atreides through him not wearing one. He is forced to abandon his own, joining the Fremen as the technology attracts sand worms and drives them mad with rage. The iconic status of the personal shields comes from the effect they have on the wider world of Dune itself and what they symbolise for Paul.
The shields deflect fast-moving objects that attempt to pass through them, rendering projectile weapons practically useless. The Dune universe does have laser technology, but using that would be an even worse idea, as hitting a Holtzman Personal Shield with a laser blast results in a nuclear fusion reaction that kills everyone present! Implementing these within his novel allowed Herbert to make all the fighting in Dune a much more brutal spectacle.
This reinforces the pseudo-medieval tone he establishes throughout the books, with great houses and secretive religious cults coming together to give the impression of a science fantasy world very similar to that in Game of Thrones. It also allows him to establish the animosity between the technology of the off-worlders and Arrakis itself. Everything the families bring with them to the planet enrages the Sandworms, portrayed by Herbert as unstoppable forces of nature. Paul leaving his shield behind symbolises the beginning of his transformation into the leader of the Fremen.
Holtzman Personal Shields define so much about the world of Dune that it wouldn’t look the same without them. It was a genius work of unique science fantasy invention that fuelled the imaginations of its readers for decades afterwards.
7. The Ruyi Jingu Bang – Journey to the West
With its earliest print representations dating all the way back to the late Song dynasty, the Ruyi Jingu Bang is the oldest item on this list. It is a staff of black iron with gold rings at either end and a grip of leather in the middle. Humble to look at, the staff’s true power comes from its insane weight, coming in at 7,960 kg. It is the signature weapon of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King.
Whilst it shares a cultural weight and depth of history with Excalibur, the staff behaves very differently in Journey to the West. Sun Wukong finds it whilst looking for a weapon worthy of his great power and skill, so it’s almost the reverse situation to that of Arthur and Excalibur.
In his search, Sun Wukong descends into the watery domain of the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea. He tries out several traditional weapons, each with its own suitably impressive looks and unique abilities, but none of them are good enough for him. In the end, the Dragon Queen suggests giving him a 20-foot-tall pillar of black iron that’s been cluttering up the treasure room.
On interacting with the pillar, Sun Wukong expresses a wish that it was smaller and the pillar complies, shrinking to the size of a staff. It is only when this happens that Sun Wukong realises that the staff can grow or shrink to any size, depending on the wishes of the wielder. The novel explains that this ability was used by Yu the Great to measure the depths of the sea.
It’s a powerful lesson about not judging by appearances that links to the constant underestimation of Sun Wukong himself, and is one of the most iconic weapons in Chinese literature. So much so that when Akira Toriyama came to adapt the story into his Dragon Ball series, he kept the staff in Goku’s possession. Well, until he started firing lasers from his hands at least!
8. The Subtle Knife – His Dark Materials series
Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series was a landmark for fantasy. Gorgeously original, it stands out as a series that trusted its younger readers to handle ideas about authority and spirituality most considered too controversial to even suggest to them. I almost put Iorek Byrnison’s bear armour in this slot, but it couldn’t really be anything other than the Subtle Knife.
Found by Will as he explores an alternate universe in the second book of the series, the knife serves as not just a weapon but a key to opening interdimensional gates that allow the user to travel to parallel worlds. The book treats being a knife bearer as a dubious honour, almost as much a curse as a blessing. This is a concept Pullman brutally reinforces by removing two fingers from knife bearers as a mark of their burden.
The knife opens gates to other worlds, but rather than functioning like a key, it slices through the fabric of reality itself. The tears in reality it creates allow shadowy monsters into the world.
The mechanics are a little too complicated to go into detail here, but the short version is that using the knife damages reality. Metaphorically telling us that knowledge always comes at a cost, a major theme of the series.
The use of the knife mirrors Will’s journey out of childhood and into adulthood as he realises that with every piece of knowledge he gains, he sacrifices some of his innocence, and that every action has consequences he has to take responsibility for. Both he and Lyra end their journey as changed people, more aware of the world around them and their place within it. The knife is symbolic of power at the expense of the well-being of others, and Will’s final selfless act of breaking it cements this as one of the most poignant examples on this list.
9. The Vorpal Sword – Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There
I bet when you started reading this article, the last book you were expecting to see was Alice in Wonderland. However, Lewis Carol hid a poem in his second book that would capture the imaginations of children all over the world. The Jabberwocky is supposed to be a parody of epic poetry like Beowulf, in which a hero is sent on a quest to kill a mythical monster with a magic sword.
If you haven’t read it, the joke centres around Carol using nonsense words to describe every element of the story, from the location of the monster, his hero, and every event, in his trademark whimsical style. Whether deliberate or not, the cadence and rhythm of the words make the poem truly captivating. Without any frame of reference, the monsters he describes are blank slates in the minds of the reader, free to be filled in by what our minds most associate with the sounds of the words. It’s like a Rorschach Test in rhyme.
His audience was mesmerised and the popularity of the poem spread like wildfire, to the point that The Jabberwocky and its iconic Vorpal sword became almost as famous as the book it came from, even becoming personal favourites of Queen Victoria. You’d be hard pressed to find someone who didn’t at least recognise the terms Vorpal or Jabberwock, even before the release of the Tim Burton films.
Perhaps the strangest thing about the whole situation is that there is no description of the Vorpal blade’s appearance, meaning that it probably looks completely unique to each person. It is one of the most iconic weapons in fantasy literature, and we have no idea what it looks like.
9.5 Honourable Mentions
There were too many good choices to make the final cut of this list and, to be honest, I’m still not sure these deserve to be left off, so here are a few from my shortlist before we get to number 10…
Sabriel’s Bells – The ghost banishing bells from the Sabriel books, an inventive and unique way of fighting dark spirits.
The Sword of Martin – The legendary sword of the mouse hero Martin from the Redwall books, gifted to the novice Matthias.
The Pevensies Weapons – Given to the children about to fight the White Witch in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. The coolest set of gifts Santa has ever handed out.
Twig’s Cutlass – The sword of the famous sky pirate captain Twig from The Edge Chronicles series. A set of books that deserves a full animated series, in my opinion.
The Sword of Conan the Barbarian – This was a close one, but I feel it belongs on another list.
10. The One Ring – The Lord of the Rings
The minute you read fantasy literature at the top of this article, you were waiting for The Lord of the Rings to show up. Tolkien’s masterpiece is the source of so much of the groundwork of modern fantasy literature that it’s almost impossible to separate him from the genre sometimes. To be honest, any of the swords in the book could have made this list. The Nazgul blades, Anduril and Narsil, Glamdring and Orcrist, and, of course, Sting, are all iconic in their own right. However, when it comes to an iconic weapon, the One Ring stands above all.
There might be some confusion over me calling the ring a weapon, but hear me out. We only ever see the ring used by beings of lesser power, like halflings or Gollum. It is heavily implied that its powers would be significantly greater if it were given to another character. Galadriel and Gandalf both shy away at the idea of even touching it because through them it would ‘wield a power too great and terrible to behold.’ The ring has the power to bend people to its will and corrupt them, turning enemies into allies. It’s a subtle weapon, but a potent one.
Perhaps the most dangerous thing about the One Ring is that, unlike the swords I listed above, it doesn’t just have to obey the person wielding it. The ring has a will of its own. It’s a weapon so powerful it can betray the person wielding it.
It can attack the enemies of Sauron from within, turning them against each other the way it does with Boromir and Isildur. The ring isn’t just a weapon of Sauron, it’s a part of him, into which he poured all his cruelty, his malice and his will to dominate all life. Perhaps the most powerful and iconic weapon on this list, one ring to rule them all and in the darkness, bind them.
Conclusion
I hope you’ve enjoyed this little romp through fantasy literature as much as I have. I had so much fun with these books growing up and I’m aware that I still have many more to read, so if you’ve got any suggestions for me to check out, please leave a comment below.
