The 'Sword of Erin' is part of the ceremonial regalia of the Kings (and Queens) of
Cambria. It is called by that name because
St. Erin is the only person to have actually used the sword in battle and for that reason he had his name engraved on the hilt. The origins of the sword are, however,
older. Although she never wielded the sword as a weapon Erin's mother,
St. Olwyn, wore the sword at all times as a symbol of her authority when she acted as general of the Cambrian army in her battles with the
Reavers and
Reetland.
St. Olwyn, however, always referred to the sword as her father's sword which is strange because the teaching
of the Church of St. James is that
St. James never wore a weapon. Indeed when he confronted the so called
'Bloodbeast' he is said to have banished it to Hell with his divine power alone. Other versions of the story are that
an angel appeared with a blazing sword and slew the Bloodbeast for him.
A little known record preserved in the Bardic college, however, tells of an Elvish witness to the incident who said that the angel handed the
sword to St. James who after slaying the Beast with one blow threw it on the ground and never used
it again. This is surely the origin of the sword and why it is so important to the realm. St James,
himself is said to have prophesied that the sword should only be wielded by those pure in heart and ill luck would come to those who were not worthy of it. This
is cited by many as the reason that St. Erin, having become king, changed his ways in order to be
worthy of the sword.
St. Erin's son, Egbert, however, put the sword aside after his coronation and since that date no King
of Cambria has ever wielded it as a weapon although it has been used in every coronation ceremony to symbolise the authority
of the King. It was somewhat of a surprise then when in the present day a sword engraved 'The Sword of Erin' was found shattered at the
bottom of a deep well. Narvi, a Dwarf, however, took the pieces to his friend Marglin, a Dwarven mastersmith working in Pell's Hold, who admitted not only making that
sword as a copy of the original but also shortly afterwards a second copy as well.
The work was commisioned in secret by the old king, Wulfhere, in the dying years of his reign over
twenty years ago.