Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Literary Lists: Famous Literary Swords: The Sword of Shannara

The Sword of Shannara
The Shannara series by Terry Brooks

When the Warlock Lord waged war against the Four Lands, the last Druid named Bremen had it forged by master smith Uprox Screl. He then imbued it with magic and gave it to the elf king, Jerle Shannara. Jerle was able to defeat the Warlock Lord, but only temporarily.


Years later Jerle's line had all but died out. His last descendant was half-elf, half-human Shea Ohmsford. Shea set out out to find the sword and finish what the enemy had started.
But the sword is a sword of truth, and those who hold it may not like what they find. And it was Shea, all alone, who had to see this truth and destroy the Warlock Lord once and for all. 

Although I don't find the rest of the Shannara series to my taste, the original book continues to fascinate. The sword is traditionally illustrated as glowing and with a curved hilt, as seen on the covers:


Although, in The World of Shannara, a guidebook to the series, it is illustrated quite differently:


The text itself describes it rather vaguely:
[It had a] handle of polished silver, laced with reddish streaks of light that seemed to burn and twist in the bright metal like living things.

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