Sword Magic

[Stranger]

Hmm. What do your Barbarians do with their dead? If they burn honoured warriors in a bonfire, they could perhaps use the ashes to imbue swords with magical powers. It would be a limited resource, obviously, and maybe only certain warriors' ashes would be powerful enough to be used on weapons. Or the Barbarians could have a funerary ritual that makes them powerful. It would be a great insult for a Barbarian to be denied proper death rites in that case.

 

[SeverinR]

That actually happened in reality. In times before the process of steel hardening was discovered you can imagine the legends that come from this event. When the people discover the sword was actually harder and kept its sharpness longer after the glowing execution.

Does not suprise me.


As others have said, blood does not have to be evil. The sword draws blood every time it is used. Killing a human just for the sword would be evil. But using the blood of a fresh killed animal would not be evil.
Traditionally blood magic is evil, but explain to the reader why this one isn't.

in my world: One magic uses blood from the caster, it is not evil, it is magic to attract a loyal pet(D&D's find familiar spell)
the blood shows the attracted animal the caster will sacrifice for them. (and a meat eater might be attracted by the smell)

 

[fete67]

Hmm I like the ashes idea, like have a family sword that is imbued with your family's ashes after every wielder dies.

 

[Reaver]

Perhaps the barbarian's swords can be inhabited by the spirit of an ancestor? Possibly increasing their strength and skill, warning them of impending danger...the possibilities are endless.

 

[Grizzly Bear]

Blood vs Runes

I am working on a series where my hero / heroine has to assemble & re-assemble a sword made from multiple blades; 3 pairs total. Each sword balances out the other in the pair.

The swords were made using a combination of magic from either a Dwarf (fire), Gnome (arcane or undead), Elf (Earth), Giants (frost or water), Human (air / time), runes from makers as well as the ancient runes of a specific dragon clan PLUS a drop of Dragon's blood sealed by by the dragon to the blade. Each blade alone would have allowed the user to gain a significant advantage, but combined with a blade created by the gods it is the only thing that can destroy a goddess.

The Dragon's blood causes the Runes on the blade to come alive when used by the Chosen One. They also call out to one person, and only one person. No one else can wield the sword.

That idea might work for you as well.

 

[Matthew Bishop]

There are certain cultures that, historically, have relied on unusually decadent or decorative swords for combat, believing that the sword absorbs the power of a vanquished enemy. The power can be spiritual, religious, physical, mental-- it depends on the culture and the time period. In some cases soldiers would use certain items-- even something like a feather-- that could absorb and retain this power. It is an interesting idea. It only pertains to important soldiers, of course, as this sort of weapon takes a lot more effort to create, and the number of weapons is generally more important, even if a society does firmly believe in the absorbing power of certain swords.

I have heard of other weapons being believed to have had similar powers, but it is usually swords, for some reason or another.

 

[S.T. Ockenner]

I agree with the people saying that they should dip them in their dead family member's blood. It wouldn't be evil at all since the person was already dead.

 

[Saigonnus]

Something druidic or shamanic could work too for the scenario, depends of course how you are depicting barbarians in your story. Energy of stone might be infused into the blade for added strength, or wood for added flexibility. In volcanic places, the energy of the lava can be used to make blades that burn as they cut. Arctic tribes might trade their frost blades for something more useful for them. I can see the possibilities being nearly endless.