Game of Thrones: A Storm of Valyrian Swords, and other things with pointy ends

Spoilers!

The Named Swords of The Seven Kingdoms, forged from the fabled Valyrian steel, seem destined to unite against the Night King and his White Walkers.

Symbols of status and prestige, these blades are relics of Old Valyria, crafted exquisitely with magic and enchantments. Greatly desired by Knights of the realm, it’s said that nothing holds quite the edge like Valyrian steel. They say there may be - at most - little more than a handful left.

There are many mentioned throughout the books, but understandably, not all have made it into the series. Sam was clearly thinking ahead when he made the decision this week to waltz off with Heartsbane, the ancestral Greatsword of House Tarly, held by the family for five hundred years. Safe to say, should he return to Horn Hill, Sam is likely to be grounded, at the very least. There will surely come a time though, when Sam will wield it with honour.

Then the return of Benjen Stark, aka Coldhands (George, who assured us that Coldhands was definitely not Benjen in the books, looks now to have been overruled by producers Benioff and Weiss), seemingly a cohort of The Three Eyed Raven, brings with it the notion that Dark Sister, one of the two famous ancestral Valyrian steel longswords of House Targaryen (the other being Blackfyre) could be brought into play. Last known to have been wielded by a certain Brynden Rivers, aka Bloodraven, aka the Three Eyed Raven, it’s unknown whether the sword travelled north with him when he joined the Night’s Watch. If it did, and Brynden kept it with him when he left Castle Black, then Benjen, Bran and Meera may well be bringing it home.

Confused about which sword belongs to whom? Me too, so I decided to trawl through and make a list:

Blackfyre was the sword of the Targaryen Kings, brought from Dragonstone after the Doom, and passed from king to king after Aegon I Targaryen’s death. Aegor Rivers, known as Bittersteel, stole Blackfyre away with him when he fled to the Free Cities (after another failed rebellion) where he eventually founded the sellsword Golden Company.

Type: Bastard Sword.

Current whereabouts: Presumably with someone in the Golden Company. But seen last in that part of the world, there’s every possibility it could end up back with a Targaryen Queen …

Dawn (top picture) belongs to House Dayne, with the knight who wields it known as Sword of the Morning. Massively famous, its origins are a mystery but this ancestral sword appears to have been with the Daynes for thousands of years. The family do not pass it from lord to lord - it has to be earned. The last to wield it was Ser Arthur Dayne, killed, reluctantly, at the Tower of Joy. Ned Stark returned Dawn to Arthur’s sister, Ashara at their home, Starfall (thus fuelling rumours that she may have been Jon’s mother). Although sharing all the properties of Valyrian steel, legend has it that Dawn was forged from the heart of a fallen star.

Type: Greatsword

Current whereabouts: At Starfall, awaiting a worthy knight.

Brightroar was the ancient Valyrian sword belonging to House Lannister, lost when their ancestor Tommen II sailed to Valyria and never came back. The Lannisters have been searching for it ever since.

Type: Greatsword.

Current whereabouts: Unknown

Ice: Lord Eddard Stark’s ancestral Valyrian spell forged sword, in the family for approximately 400 years.

Type: Greatsword

Current whereabouts: Passed to Ser Ilyn Payne to behead Ned, then taken by Tywin and used to forge two new swords …

Widow’s Wail was one forged from Ice, which became a wedding gift to Joffrey from Tywin.

Type: Longsword.

Current whereabouts: Bequeathed to Tommen upon Joffrey’s death - but I’m pretty sure the Starks would like to get their hands on it.

Oathkeeper was the other sword made from Ice, gifted by Tywin to Jaime, subsequently passed to Brienne in her quest for the Stark sisters. The pertinence of the Stark daughters being protected by their father’s steel was not lost on Jaime.

Type: Longsword

Current whereabouts: With Brienne and Sansa, as intended. Oath kept.

Lightbringer aka The Red Sword of Heroes, was the sword forged by Azor Ahai, the legendary hero Melisandre kept insisting was reborn as Stannis. He forged his own version, supposedly made of living fire but … “The sword is wrong, she has to know that … light without heat … an empty glamour … the sword is wrong, and the false light can only lead us deeper into darkness” - Maester Aemon to Samwell Tarly.

Type: Unique

Current whereabouts: Unknown / with Brienne / with Melisandre, or with Stannis in the book.

Longclaw belonged to House Mormont, who owned this Valyrian blade for 500 years. Originally passed to Jorah until his unfortunate choice regarding slavers, he honourably left it behind when he fled east. Stark stalwart Maege Mormont returned the sword to her brother, Commander Mormont, who passed it to Jon Snow following the wight attack.

Type: Bastard Sword

Current whereabouts: With Jon Snow, appropriately.

Needle was specially forged at Winterfell by Mikkel, by order of Jon, who gifted it to Arya.

Type: Unique

Current whereabouts: Hidden from the House of Black and White by Arya, to be retrieved as and when required.

Lady Forlorn is the ancestral sword of House Corbray. The jury is out on whether it is genuine Valyrian steel. It’s dark, smoke-grey steel is reminiscent of Ice.

Type: Longsword.

Current whereabouts: With Ser Lyn Corbray.

Hearteater is the name King Joffrey gave his sword prior to the Battle of the Blackwater, replacing his previous sword, Lion’s Tooth (which Arya threw into the Trident after the attack on Mycah).

Type: Bog standard

Current whereabouts: No-one cares

Finally, Just Maid is a legendary sword which appears in a story told by Brienne. I’ve included it purely because I’m a romantic at heart. The legend says the sword was a token of love given to a perfect knight, Ser Galladon of Morne, by The Maiden from the Faith of the Seven. Says Brienne: “No common sword could check her, nor any shield withstand her kiss.” Sir Galladon unsheathed it only three times and not once against a mortal man “for she was so potent as to make any fight unfair.”

Type: Unique

Current whereabouts: Wouldn’t everyone like to know? A sword like that …

The differences between sword types:

Greatsword: The greatsword is the largest of all swords, needing two hands to wield it, being way longer and heavier than any other.

Bastard Sword: Swords which fall between a longsword and greatsword in size and sometimes referred to as a ‘hand-and-a-half sword’.

Longsword: One handed blades of around three feet in size, aka broadswords or just swords, common to knights throughout Westeros.

Shortsword: A one handed blade made for thrusting, it’s longer and heavier than a dagger but shy of a longsword.

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