Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Næġling (Old English: [ˈnæjliŋɡ]) is the name of one of the swords used by Beowulf in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem of Beowulf. The name derives from "næġl", or "nail", and may correspond to Nagelring, a sword from the Vilkina saga. It is possibly the sword of Hrethel, which Hygelac gave to Beowulf (ll. 2190–2194).
Swords have great significance in the war-centred Anglo-Saxon culture from which Beowulf arises. Therefore, emphasis is strongly placed on the exchange of weapons of war. Weapons such as swords circulated through Anglo-Saxon society as inheritance through family, birthed through the monsters, found under magic rocks, and as rewards between lords and their subject
Dyrnwyn – Sword of Rhydderch Hael in Welsh legend; When drawn, it blazed with fire; if drawn by a worthy man, the fire would help him in his cause, but its fire would burn the man who drew it for an unworthy purpose. Hrunting and Nægling – Beowulf's magical swords. Shamshir-e Zomorrodnegar – Legendary Persian sword.
[40] Textual sources indicate that swords were sometimes given names, such as the Hrunting sword from Beowulf. [41] On some swords from the sixth century onward, rings were attached to the upper guard or pommel, many of which were ornamented. [42] These rings sometimes served a practical purpose—for example, a soldier could tie a cord to the ...
Beowulf kills Grendel with his bare hands, then kills Grendel's mother with a giant's sword that he found in her lair. Later in his life, Beowulf becomes king of the Geats, and finds his realm terrorised by a dragon , some of whose treasure had been stolen from his hoard in a burial mound.
The Beowulf poem uses the term hring-mæl, literally "ring-sword" or "ring-ornament", [11] and scholars who interpret this as referring to this type of sword can point to it as one indication that the Beowulf poet was still drawing from an unbroken tradition of the pagan period, as ring-swords disappeared from the archaeological record with ...
Beowulf answers the challenge by boasting that he is the strongest swimmer in the world, and entertains the company with a tale about how, in that contest, he swam the North Sea in full armor while carrying a sword, killed nine huge sea-monsters who dragged him to the ocean floor, and was carried by the currents to the shore of the land of the ...
In Medieval epics, heroes gave names to their weapons. The name, lineage, and power of the weapon reflected on the hero. Among the major tales are those of Sigurd the Volsung and his sword Gram that he used to kill the dragon Fafnir; [a] [1] Beowulf and the swords Hrunting and Nægling; [2] King Arthur's Excalibur, the "Sword in the Stone"; [2] Roland's Durendal; Waldere's Mimming; [2] and the ...