So to riff off Jean's cogent identification of Mr. Tenjou's sword as the one given to her on her wedding day, we should now Name that Sword!

Wikipedia lists many mythological swords. For my money, I think it might be:

Nægling, aka Nagelring, the sword of Beowulf.

For a while I thought it might be Curtana, but one problem with that guess is that Utena's sword was forged by the gods, but we know that Durendal was forged by the dwarves...

other guesses? My next best guess is Fragarach which would be cool if only because I think the 13 treasures would be a cool addition to UF cannon...

yours in speculation,
t.
Trigger Argee
trigger_argee@hotmail.com
Manon, Maccadon, Orado, etc.
Denton, never leave home without it.

"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me." - HST

I suppose I might as well just tell you, since it's not like I'm holding out for some Dramatic Reveal; it's only not mentioned in the two places the sword has appeared because in neither case was there an opportunity to do so that wouldn't've have been blatant and awkward exposition.

The three swords made by Ivaldi the Ancient (who was, for the record, a dwarf) for the sons of Borr all have had many names in their long and adventurous histories, but the inscription on the one Utena now holds tells the original names Ivaldi gave to all three:

My name is Cortana, of the same steel and temper as Joyeuse and Durandal.

Cortana originally belonged to Vili, Joyeuse to Vé, and Durandal to Odin. Durandal was later adapted into the key to Yggdrasil; both Cortana and Joyeuse were lost when Odin's brothers perished. Joyeuse has still not been found.

It should be noted that the Æsir Cortana is not the same sword as Curtana, Edward the Confessor's Sword of Mercy, which is blunt at the tip to symbolize the monarch's mercy and is one of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. The latter was almost certainly named after the former, but Ivaldi's Cortana quite definitely has a point. In Earth mythology, it is probably the one reputed to have been wielded by Holger the Dane in the Matter of France, though how all three of Ivaldi's Æs blades found their way to Carolingian Europe is a bit of a mystery.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Admin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

Should a certain Salusian AI and her Spartan partner be curious about this little fact? Because in this universe, having two of them at the same time is so -not- a coincidence. Would be amusing to see what might happen if Cortana's holgraphic form 'touched' the blade Cortana.

What's interesting is that you're purposely distinguishing between the two--but then again, "Curtana" and its sister swords forged by Ogier the Dane, have some funky naming overall. Charlemagne had a thing for female names for swords--which is why Durandal has a feminine name out there. (But then again, if you used The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen version of "Roland", then things get weirder. Be my guest.)

Oh, and Curtana isn't blunted, but purposely broken; I believe it was the tip that was removed, but one has to look at the blade to know for sure. (It sits with the Crown Jewels of England right now.)

I suspect that Cortana herself would be only slightly interested in her namesake blade; I know she was originally named for Curtana, as that name is but one of a few attributed to Edward the Confessor's sword. The fact that the Aesir blades are named as such in the UFverse shows that the naming of the Dane blades can be chalked up to either Charlemagne's whimsy to circumstance.

>Oh, and Curtana isn't blunted, but purposely broken

But you repeat yourself.

	Chad Collier Smirking Kilrathi The Captain of the Gravy Train

Blunt: having an obtuse, thick, or dull edge or point; rounded; not sharp.

Break: to smash, split, or divide into parts violently; reduce to pieces or fragments.

Big difference; to use a sword-based example, blunting is to create a dulled edge, while breaking is to pretty much snap it in half.

Curtana is supposed to have its tip snapped off; whether or not she was blunted as well is a moot point because... well, that's one sword who's not gonna see another Crusade anytime soon. :)

>Curtana is supposed to have its tip snapped off;

rendering it...

... wait for it...

... blunt.

--G.
Jesus Christ, you people are going to drive me to drink, and since I take Neurontin that probably wouldn't end well
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Admin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

>Jesus Christ, you people are going to drive me to drink, and since I
>take Neurontin that probably wouldn't end well

*takes a giant step to the side away from Trigger*

SHE DID IT, NOT ME!!!!

>>Jesus Christ, you people are going to drive me to drink, and since I
>>take Neurontin that probably wouldn't end well
>
>
>*takes a giant step to the side away from Trigger*
>
>SHE DID IT, NOT ME!!!!

<Trigger folds her arms and looks mightly annoyed>

Does that mean you took a step too close to Lethosos?

Trigger
could use another drink. Maybe several.

Trigger Argee
trigger_argee@hotmail.com
Manon, Maccadon, Orado, etc.
Denton, never leave home without it.

"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me." - HST

*shakes his head, wonders how people got by without specific terminology*

I may have come across as a pendant, but I do maintain the difference between what can be re-sharpened and what has to be re-forged.

I'm far more interested in the story--internet arguments drive me to drink as well.

Stupid English language.

>I may have come across as a pendant

No, no, you don't at all. We know you're not jewelry.

--
Geoff Depew - Darth Mephron
Haberdasher to Androids, Dark Lord of Sith Tech Support.
"And Remember! Google is your Friend!!"

>I do maintain the difference
>between what can be re-sharpened and what has to be re-forged.

I'm having one of those Jack Aubrey moments wherein a devastatingly clever witticism regarding things lacking a point is hovering just outside my reach, so I guess we'd best just leave the matter where it lies. Besides, Geoff already got to the good part before me. :)

--G.
(Also, I think the word you're wanting to describe a blade that could stand to be sharpened is dull, not blunt.)
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Admin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

>My name is Cortana, of the same steel and temper as Joyeuse and
>Durandal.

So close! Well, I thought Cortana and the Sword of Mercy were the same, so I still would have been wrong.

So storyteller -- what propensity does Cortana have? We all get the Durandal/Excalibur/Grayswandir hisotry, but Cortana's a bit more mysterious. What's so special about her?

yours,
t.

Trigger Argee
trigger_argee@hotmail.com
Manon, Maccadon, Orado, etc.
Denton, never leave home without it.

"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me." - HST

Well, it was forged in Antiquity, and ISO9000 documentation wasn't really big back then.

And then they let Urd handle the storage restocking, and, well.... did you ever wonder why Corwin had to go find it in the first place? First she filed it under 'K' for 'toy'...

--
Geoff Depew - Darth Mephron
Haberdasher to Androids, Dark Lord of Sith Tech Support.
"And Remember! Google is your Friend!!"

>Well, it was forged in Antiquity, and ISO9000 documentation wasn't
>really big back then.
>
>And then they let Urd handle the storage restocking, and, well.... did
>you ever wonder why Corwin had to go find it in the first place?
>First she filed it under 'K' for 'toy'...
>

I don't think 'kid' or 'kinder' were used to mean 'child' in Old Norse, but OK.

... yes, I actually bothered to come up with a way for "'K' for 'toy'" to make sense.

“They planned their campaigns just as you might make a splendid piece of harness. It looks very well; and answers very well; until it gets broken; and then you are done for. Now I made my campaigns of ropes. If anything went wrong, I tied a knot; and went on.”
-- Arthur Wellesley, First Duke of Wellington

>>Well, it was forged in Antiquity, and ISO9000 documentation wasn't
>>really big back then.
>>
>>And then they let Urd handle the storage restocking, and, well.... did
>>you ever wonder why Corwin had to go find it in the first place?
>>First she filed it under 'K' for 'toy'...
>>
>
>I don't think 'kid' or 'kinder' were used to mean 'child' in Old
>Norse, but OK.
>
>... yes, I actually bothered to come up with a way for "'K' for 'toy'"
>to make sense.

It's ok, I think Meph was just tired when he posted that. Everyone knows toys file under 'H.'

	Chad Collier Smirking Kilrathi The Captain of the Gravy Train

Wait, wait, wait.

'H' is for -toys?-

I've been filing triangles under H.

>Wait, wait, wait.
>
>'H' is for -toys?-
>
>I've been filing triangles under H.

I'd wondered where all the metal shavings came from. Couldn't you have at least filed them over a wastebasket?

To semi-quote a certain half-Klingon engineer in the making, 'You people are weird.'

...I'll be over here, snickering uncontrollably. Don't mind me.

---
RCW # X-91873