Heron-mark sword

In the world of Robert Jordan's "The Wheel of Time" series, heron-mark swords are traditionally presented to those who have earned the title of "Blademaster"- either by killing a Blademaster in a fair fight or by being granted the title by a unanimous vote of five Blademasters. These individuals are unrivaled in their mastery of the sword, and are accordingly rare.

Some heron-mark swords were made during the War of Power through use of the One Power, which produced blades that never required maintenance, and were essentially unbreakable. Rand al'Thor possessed one of these swords, a gift from his father. But after the Three Oaths were established, forbidding Aes Sedai to (among other things) use the One Power to make weapons, the number of blademasters eventually began to outstrip the number of Power-wrought blades, necessitating the creation of heron-mark swords of a more conventional nature.

One of the most famous of these swords belonged to Laman Damodred, former king of Cairhien. In an effort to revitalize his noble House's standing, he cut down "Avendoraldera", a sapling taken from the legendary "Avendesora" and given to Cairhien as a gift by the Aiel. He had wanted to create a throne that could not possibly be duplicated by any other ruler, but by destroying the Aiel's token of thanks, he incited what came to be known as the Aiel War, which involved the Aiel coming to take his life in revenge. His sword, which was taken by the Aiel as proof of his death, eventually found its way into the possession of Rand al'Thor, better known as the Dragon Reborn. He replaced his original sword, destroyed in battle with Ba'alzamon, with this new blade, and has used it ever since.

Numerous other characters in the series have been depicted as owning heron mark swords. Rand confronted Seanchan High Lord Turak, a blademaster whom he managed to kill. Be'lal of Forsaken is known to have wielded one, and Sammael can also be assumed to have held one due to having skill rivaling that of Be'lal. Given that he rivaled both of them, and that he was a previous incarnation of Rand al'Thor, it can be assumed that Lews Therin Telamon also carried such a weapon. Another heron mark sword was owned by Eamon Valda, and was given to Galad Damodred after killing the former in a fair fight.

The weapons themselves may vary in the particulars of their designs, as only one (Tam's) has ever been described in detail, but all have a heron etched into the blade just above the crossguard. Some also have herons on the hilt. Tam's sword had forward-slanted quillons and a curved, single-edged blade narrowing to a point, and its hilt was long enough for two-handed use. This overall design is reminiscent of the Japanese katana.

External links

* [http://www.museumreplicas.com/museumreplicas/detail.aspx?ID=623 A licensed replica] in the likeness of Tam's sword, produced by Windlass Steelcrafts.