I bought that cursed Atlantean sword off Craig's list, it's true the damned thing is cursed. It keeps yelling at me in a thick Austrian accent to, " GET TO THA CHOPPA!"
A gun on display: should be deactivated, what if a visitor brings his 100 years old ammo and some missing parts, assembles it and starts shooting people?! A sword on display: totally safe, can be handed over to edgy teenagers
You need a lot more skill to properly use a sword than a gun. More likely the worst the edgy teenager can do is damaging a historical piece or cry for help after he cuts himself accidentaly.
@@ОлегКозлов-ю9т most skilled swordsman also train other martial arts for the love of combat. There's a good chance your getting tossed to the ground and having the sword removed from your possession lol
If you want to go on a killing spree in a museum, a fire extinguisher would be just as effective as a sword. Probably more so, since sword would draw more attention.
"You can't just give her that, it's not safe!" "It's a sword. They're not meant to be safe." "She's a child!" "It's educational." "What if she cut herself!?" "That will be an important lesson."
Sword requires human blood to be spilled before it can be sheathed. Wielder: Does not sheath it, just throws it on the ground and leaves until he actually needs to kill someone. Sword: O-O
Cursed/possessed weapons are an interesting topic that few people do research and explain the details of Cursed weapons , amazing work as always, (to be honest I'd love to see a part two of this one, good job)
Fun fact, the ban did not affect only one smith, but the entire school of muramasa including each generation. The only ones that somewhat got away with it were his other apprentices who often signed Masashige or Masazane. As for Muramasa himself, his style was a mix of different schools. His first master, and most important one was Heianjo Nagayoshi, from the Yamashiro school. After that, he travelled to Mino, learned there, and then to Suruga where he learned with the Shimada school who made swords based on the Soshu school. This mix of different techniques made Muramasa's Sengo school very unique to the period. Actually, he never learned from Masamune. Masamune worked in the Kamakura period, hundreds of years before Muramasa was working.
I collect antique Japanese swords. In my meager collection, I own an unsigned Sengo Muramasa sword. I don’t believe in haunted or damned swords, of course. … Still, something funny happened to me on the very first time I drew it from its sheath. I expected the sword to be maybe an inch longer and, of course, it fell out of the scabbard and unto my wrist, slashing me with its tip. Not very deep, just grazed me. Still, to this day, I bear a scar. Of course, never happened to me again, but I thought it was a funny incident to tell.
"I was cut by a sword whose creator notoriously made bloodthirsty weapons, but I don't believe in curses. It was a total coincidence!" Oh buddy, you are 100% cursed now. Talking like a dad in Act 1 of a horror movie.
Oh what a surprise, a blade that is famed for having bad juju caused you to accidentally get nicked by it when you drew it. Just like the legend says. I hereby declare this as an Object Class: Safe. Special Containment Proceedures: Keep it in its sheath. If you must remove it for whatever reason, make sure you carefully split the skin so that it is no deeper then a paper cut. This disables the anomalious property allowing you to safely handle it until you draw it again. Apply a bandaid afterwards.
my favorite story surrounding the Muramasa was him trying to prove to his mentor Masamune that his swords were the greatest, so they flagged down a passing monk and asked him to be the judge, they each provided a sword of their name sake to the monk and he dipped each blade into a near by flowing river, the Muramasa split a leaf flowing down the stream in half effortlessly while another leaf turned out of the Masamune's path (or got stuck to the side) and from that the monk declared Masamune's sword was superior for showing the trait of compassion and mercy while Muramasa's was aimless in its destruction and this caused Muramasa to go into deep denial and continue producing sword with bitter resentment which carried his malice and gained the infamous reputation it gained. *update* people are telling me this didn't happen because theres a 100 or so years gap in between when these two were alive, thats a shame that this likely isn't true, but most legends arn't and its the nature of how their told is what makes them hold up, regardless if their factually not true, after all this is a story like the kind you'd tell around a camp fire to kids.
The version I heard is that Muramasa's sword cut ANYTHING that made contact with it. Inuding a log, a fish, and a drifting stone. Where as they "Passed though" Masamune's blade uharmed. Implying that Masamune's blade wouldn't strike down the innocent.
Yeh another funfact is that masamune lived 200years before muramasa was born. masamune must have Been the worlds oldest man when muramasa was his aprentice
And that's why you can't let monks do quality control. If an item is supposed to be good at one thing only, while the other does the opposite, then the answer of which is better is very obvious. Long story short, Muramasa should have went into the knife making business. Nobody b*tches about knifes being sharp in the kitchen.
The Tyrfing from Fire Emblem does grant Sigurd great strength and resistance to magic. (Spoilers ahead!) However, Sigurd also loses almost everyone he cares for after shortly receiving the weapon.
Which is funny, because great strength and magic resistance are traits of Hervor, Tyrfing’s greatest wielder from the saga, but those are her own personal traits rather than anything the sword granted her.
@@pwnorbepwned Funnily enough Seliph who ends up becoming Tyrfing’s greatest wielder, has a great strength growth, and the 2nd best non Braggi magic defense growth.
The satanic sword story just sounds like the standard ghost story BS. She was swinging the sword at people and yet he was quietly informed by someone else that this should be dealt with after all of that was over. Surely someone would have said something before she got to crouch into a corner.
Yeah, Fire Emblem's use of mythological/folklore/etc. names is functionally just an easy source of names for stuff in games that need a lot of names for stuff. It's rare and very lucky for a character or weapon from the series to actually have a meaningful connection to the thing it's a reference to. To take an example from Genealogy of the Holy War, the same game that used Tyrfing, there is both a spear called Gae Bolg and a playable character named after Cu Chulainn in the game. However, Chulainn (or Holyn, to those who incessantly cling to fan translations) is a Myrmidon, which in Fire Emblem terms means he uses swords and _only_ swords, and the Gae Bolg is instead exclusive to a character named Quan and his firstborn daughter Altena.
Absolutely killing it this October! Loved the more narrative approach for the two historical examples. The second part with the modern ones, on the other hand, was hilarious
"It was claimed that it is an satanistic ritual sword, used to murder hundreds of people, but in reality, it is something much scarier and much more dangerous... a shitty wall hanger"
To be fair I probably would not want an executioner sword or sacrificial dagger that I knew was used if only because being a good bit superstitious myself I would be afraid of the soles of the dead hanging on that weapon I don’t want to invite ghosts in to my house
I was not expecting this level of depth! That was really cool! It's interesting to see how scary stories from back then compare to scary stories of today's day and age! Also, that costume/makeup was 10/10! No joke!
Tyrfing sounded familiar right away--it inspired the titular evil sword of a fantasy novel called "The Broken Sword." Really good overlooked novel; it's basically grimdark Lord of the Rings (it even came out the same year).
You were previously asking for viewer feedback on what format of videos are most engaging, so I just wanted to share that I love the style of this video. Tight scripting and editing makes this feel like awesome content the whole way through! Having your face on camera the whole way through works well too, rather than cutting away to full screen photos. Great stuff
While history says that Masamune stopped making swords almost 150 years before Muramasa started, it seems unlikely that they were really master and student. That said, the myths about them are really interesting. There's a particular story (with many variations) about a contest between the two, where Muramasa believed himself to have surpassed his master, and challenged Masamune to a contest. They each made the best sword they could, and tested them by putting the blade into a gently flowing river. When they were both ready, in my favourite version of the story, Muramasa put his sword into the water first, and it cut every leaf that passed. But it wasn't just cutting the leaves that happened upon the blade, every leaf the river was carrying was pulled in to be cut by it. Masamune's sword did the opposite, with leaves turning away from the blade edge before they got close, and the sword didn't cut a single one. Of course, Muramasa claimed victory, belittling his master's sword for failing to cut a single leaf. From the other side of the river, a monk who had been watching declared that Masamune was the winner, because the student's blade cared only for destruction, while the blade the master had forged knew better than to cut when it didn't need to.
Amazing, Skall! TH-cam would *NOT* be the same without you. You really helped get me into history (which is p.m my main interest these days), HEMA and historical weapons in general. You made me laugh, you made me pissed off, you made me frustrated at you, and I love you!
Arngrim while a footnote in the Legend of Tyrfing, was praised and called the father of berserkers. Likely because he was one of the first to use the weapon and not loose himself to it. Which is pretty badass by Norse standards.
I have something similar in a story I'm writing (or mostly thinking about writing). It's a pair of swords that induce rage and insanity, respectively, in their wielder, and one of few who can remain calm while wielding them is a berserker. Another is someone who already suffers from bouts of insanity.
Some extra details about Hervor, the viking woman from the Tyrfing story. She was the daughter by blood of Angantyr, and she tried to take it from his grave because it was her birthright. Angantyr didn’t die alone either; all 11 of his brothers died in the same fight and they were all buried together with Tyrfing on the isle of Samsø. Their spirits guarded the sword to keep it out of the world of the living, casting spells of fire and lightning to ward off thieves. Hervor didn’t simply take it from one ghost despite a warning, she insulted the spirits of her father and uncles for their cowardice in a pages-long poem before evading their magic through sheer acrobatic skill and took Tyrfing by force. She is also one of the only one of its wielders to have not fulfilled any of the evil deeds of the curse, and is considered the only one to have truly mastered Tyrfing, tactically only drawing it when she knew it would kill her enemy, and causing the curse to augment her lethality in battle. She did not ever suffer because of her wielding it. Heck, killing that guy who almost drew it before he could kill an innocent person was not only a pragmatic decision on her part that spared innocent blood, but her future husband saw the whole thing and still asked her to marry him years later. It did end up getting her son killed, but that was when her other son was wielding it, not her, and she only bequeathed the sword to him officially after he was banished for murdering his brother. She also only rarely dressed as a man to make traveling by sea easier, taking up her uncle’s name of Hjorvard. Most who knew her knew she was a woman named Hervor; unstoppable in battle even before she wielded Tyrfing. There is another tale about a valkyrie named Hervor, and there has been some speculation that these are the same person, but there is no connecting thread between them, like a story about how she became a valkyrie after giving up Tyrfing. She doesn’t exist in modern popular culture, and it’s a damn shame, especially since her sword appears every so often in medieval style JRPGs and the like. Though, she was the inspiration behind Eowyn in Lord of the Rings, and her tale of taking Tyrfing from the the ghosts of her family at their barrow is mirrored in the hobbits earning magic swords after overcoming the barrow wight. (Book only, not in the movie.) As for the third evil deed of Tyrfing, one interpretation I’ve heard is that it was indeed the murder of a prince that started that war, and that the fulfillment of all three evil deeds and the death of Svafrlami caused the curse to be broken, including the part that made its wielders murder people. Edit: One more thing I like about Hervor as a character is she fully embraces both classically masculine and feminine traits, defying the notion that one must lack in one to have the other. She’s a badass warrior, brags and boasts, and is constantly competing with others to prove her strength and wits, but she’s also an accomplished dancer, flirts with cute farmboys, and is into knitting.
Not just that, it's also important to note WHO she married. Which was Hofund the son of King Gudmundr--a well known jotun that cropped up in tales here and there, who ruled Glæsisvellir, which was a warriors paradise within Jotunheim, and in Glæsisvellir everyone is rejuvenated back to good health and are young again and no one ever dies. Gudmundr gave Hofund and Hervor his kingdom to rule over as a wedding gift. So, Hervor essentially becomes an immortal queen of warriors within a kingdom of Jotunheim.
@@Apillis124 theoretically then, the valkyrie sharing her name could be named in her honor after that point, if not actually her directly leading warriors to her kingdom personally, right?
@@Apillis124 I knew her husband was a Jotun, but didn’t know his family was such big news. That’s awesome! I like the part of the story where, after claiming Tyrfing, her crew left her behind out of fear of the berserker ghosts, so she sailed off on a small boat and ended up in that kingdom. Just a mortal on a boat, casually sailing into Jotunheim or Valhalla or wherever that kingdom was.
They include a story about Hervor and Tyrfing in Hellblade... but that's the only modern reference I can think of. It'd be amazing to have a TV series or game following her story though.
I know you've had less reach lately, but we still love ya. It brightens some of our days when we rarely enjoy anything anymore. Much love and will always view and like.
So I'm just gonna say this right now, Skall, you're a fantastic storyteller and the costume only adds to it. With that in mind, I thought to maybe suggest an idea for a video series. One in which you discuss and tell old Norse myths and sagas in your "viking" gear, perhaps with a fire crackling in the background. Because I would honestly love to watch it and you have such a passion for history that would make it great. Perhaps you could call it "Chronicles of Yore" and play a character simply known as "The Bard". Maybe you could even talk about tons of other myths and legends that way.
Fun fact: in the scientific community, "ceremonial/ritual use" is shorthand for "I don't fuggin know." If an expert says its potentially for ceremonial or ritual use, they're just saying it was designed really weird.
I find that a lot of cases those items, if they're singular or very rare, are probably just curiosities, and were made because someone had an _idea_ or thought it would be cool.
99.9% chance that craigslist ad was a joke, someone took a picture of their grandma holding a conan sword and thought it would be funny to make that post (could be actually selling the sword but the rest is boloney). Anyways, great video! I actually learned some stuff I didn't know and found it to be quite entertaining.
Even without the stories, this is so good for Halloween Spirit. Nice dressup Skallagrim. Oh, and good stories! Especially the Japanese ones. I didn't know the "sword" names were actually the names of the makers of swords. And some of them so infamous people even went "Must be a ..." when something bad happened.
Dude you rack some nice guttural sounds when you go all scary voice-ish. Nice! By the way, in SOTN the Muramasa sword has a "hidden" ability: not only does it heals you when you spill enemies' blood (like the bloodsucking spell, dunnowhatsitsname) but when it absorbs blood its ATK stat goes up. Don't recall the formula but in the end it was way better to use Masamune (Muramasa gets the flurry attack too once it gets more than 30 ATK stack) because it requires 0 grind to get the special attack and it does a shit ton of damage.
I know it's not a historical/mythological source but i think Gurthang, the sword of Túrin Turambar from JRR Tolkien's legendarium, would be another good example of a cursed blade that brings tragedy to the wielder and anyone around them. Anyways, this video was really cool, great work Skall!
1.) The fashion in this video is on point. The makeup especially! 2.) I don't want to think about how long it took to get the makeup done. It's fantastic, but was probably REALLY tedious to do, and I appreciate the effort added for it!
Happy Halloween Skall. Gotta say, this is one of my favorites of yours already. I had no idea where the names Tyrfing and Muramasa came from, even though I see them constantly in videogames. Keep up the good work and happy Halloween to you and Kara
So now Tyrfing is just an OP sword with no more evil deeds left.....just don't drawn it unless you are in a fight ;p Also how do you NOT NOTICE someone swinging a sword around at people.....kinda feel that would cause just a slight bit of commotion
Tyrfing probably was one of the inspirations for Sikánda, the magic sword from the Neverending Story. It will jump into you hand itself whenever there is danger and will move on its own while your hand is glued to the hilt, it can cut through metal plates and stone, its blade is made out of light and its as light as a feather. Only a person that rode on the Many Coloured Death and ate and drank and bathed in its fire can touch this sword without burning to ashes. But you don't want to try to draw it on your own demand, for an unjust cause. It looses its power and brings great disaster over the whole land.
9:00 well the thing is there was apparently a law making it that if you draw your blade without a proper reason you might be prosecuted and even executed so this may be a result of this.
What about Tancred de'Hauteville of Sicily and the "Excalibur" he's buried with. It was given to him by Richard the Lionheart as part of a ransom/treaty for the release of Richard's sister, and the Lionheart was a very vengeful guy... Funny how the Norman kingdom of Sicily absolutely fell apart...
I once had an atlantean sword (Conan Sword,) and I felt it was best used as a marker for a cherished companion, and so the blade has been guarding my deceased dog friend for around 25 years. One thing to note, it does appear to be stainless. It has served its purpose well, as the dog has not spontaneously risen from its grave.
All my swords get cursed twice. First by me, so they cause unending itchiness to whoever they cut, and secondly by my enemies, especially the ones who survive.
Fantastic costume, Skal! Simon Green writes about cursed blades in his Forest Kingdom series. They're blades with unique power (one goes on fire, one causes anything it cuts to decompose/break apart, one can cause the earth to break apart, etc) but the swords themselves have twisted personalities that immediately want to take over the user's mind. There's a disturbing side story in the series where a sword for hire has the entropy sword, but always refuses to draw it. He ends up doing so more often as the "heroes" investigate a ghost holding that went silent. But each time he does so, it's obvious it's costing him more of his sanity. It's found that there's an Eldritch being living beneath the holding that ends up messing with people's thoughts. As you can imagine, the guy doesn't survive when he has both monstrous entities looking to take him over at the same time. That story/series is actually my first exposure to cursed/twisted swords, and I've loved the concept ever since. So thanks for doing this video!
Saberhagen's Books of Swords were mine. Some would debate the Swords of Power being cursed but for all their utility and immense might even the most benign are risky as Hell and a few are actively pernicious or just random, Coinspinner in particular for the latter. Also, the swords were each forged from and likely contain human souls and have the power and curse to kill gods. They are, in fact, why the world of the Swords has no gods.
Ever heard of the Tomb Effigy of Jean d'Alluye?, french templar knight with a Chinese sword! It's housed in the cloister museum in NYC, very interesting kinda spooky..
Why its spooky? I assume the sword ended up in his hands through trade routes. Maybe in middle east if he was crusading there. Its indeed interesting though he is depicted wearing it, but foreign sword might symbolize many things. Kinda like later in european artwork katana was often in paintings
@@lalli8152 ...I know through the "silk route" and wot not.. I mean mysterious as it's the only known tomb of a early 14 century french templar knight with a Chinese sword. Symbolism indeed...
“Ritual Use” and “Hang It On The Wall Use” are basically the same I would say. I buy that it might have been a “ritual sword” but mostly because that’s actually really very common in occult practice. The most commonly called for tools of the magickal trade in multiple schools of western mysticism are the same ones identified by the Tarot trumps, a sword and a chalice and a pentacle and a wand. So yeah it’s definitely a cheap wall-hanger and possibly meant for swinging around at the ghosts in your basement. Bet it’s not “cursed” though. lol
OK, this is one of the best videos on this channel! First, this guy put on his costume, lenses, fake teeth and paint his hair (or done something similar with it). Second, he redesigns intro and outro (I would like those to stay a while, thank you) to accommodate Halloween mood. Next, he makes a lot of effort to research and make and edit this video (I like the frame). And all of that in nicely decorated appartment (I believe that's regural octobar style of decorations). I really hope the views will go back to 500K+ for every video, this amount of views is sad...
The odd thing is Tyr is one of the more “good” (by modern definitions) Gods who probably wouldn’t be too fond of a cursed blade named after him. At least if I’m remembering things correctly
@@ShadowknightEX as I remember, mystical swords are called “cursed” because of how well made and incredibly powerful the weapon is, tyrfing by itself has definitely earned a reputation to be feared
@@acemarvel1564 Tyrfing had many things that would qualify it as cursed. Being forced to draw human blood, especially that of loved ones is pretty cursed.
@@acemarvel1564 well. Tyr wasn’t exactly “nice.” As you said he was a God of War, much like the majority of the Aesir. But he was also a God of justice. And he wasn’t nice about it. He was moral. Which is a rarity among Gods in general. They are usually “do as I say. Not as I do.” Tyr tended to actually live up to his title however.
I'm so happy that Stormbringer was included! My best friend and I have been fans of Michael Moorcock's work since the '70's. My friend had a Chevy Blazer we named Stormbringer, because it always demanded a blood sacrifice! Seriously! We repaired something on it once, and neither of us bled on it. We were back in it 2 weeks later because it wasn't running right. We both lost some blood that time, and the truck ran great again! muwahaahaaaa
dude that outfit was incredible i've probably watched hundreds of your videos and if you didn't speak here i genuinely wouldn't have known that was you, the dyed hair and contacts are awesome lol
I love the look of your costume and I loved the concept of this episode I think you should try making it as regular of a bit as possible I think it would go far with all your fans and maybe bringing some new ones.
Another fictional cursed blade, almost certainly inspired in part by Tyrfing, is Anglachel/Gurthang from Tolkien’s _The Children of Húrin_. The other origin of the sword is from the sword of Kullervo, but the details added to the sword in the Túrin story (made by the Dark Elf Eöl, given with malice) seem Norse-inspired.
Skal looks like an undertaker that secretly sells illegal melee weapons in his coffins
Playing both sides of the underworlds i see
Or a pummel slingging vampire 😆
"What're ye buyin?"
HE IS THE PHENOM, THE ONE, THE ONLY! *THE UNDERTAKER!!!*
An agent of hela and the valkyries
"He He He, Hello stranger! Wudduya buying?"
I bought that cursed Atlantean sword off Craig's list, it's true the damned thing is cursed. It keeps yelling at me in a thick Austrian accent to, " GET TO THA CHOPPA!"
DOWNUNDA THUNDAAAAA
Funny, mine made me run for governor :)
How much did yours cost?
Mine was $39.99 on ebay
😂😂😂
I think it’s telling you to grab the machete.
More like
"F YOUR FREEDOM!!"
That's praise worthy costume right there. Good work.
I totally didn’t recognize him!
Love that costume, looks really creepy.
Very Robert Zombie.
That's some old-school Robert Dyke vibes. He changed his name, but I can never remember his new surname
What costume
Expecting Skal to break out singing “Dragula” at any moment…
Have you seen those warriors from Hammerfell? They've got cursed swords. Cursed. Swords.
I was about to make that comment myself, but decided to look if someone already plucked that low hanging fruit.
🤣😂🤣😂
@@Huegell Gotta be quick to pluck what's easy to reach.
A gun on display: should be deactivated, what if a visitor brings his 100 years old ammo and some missing parts, assembles it and starts shooting people?!
A sword on display: totally safe, can be handed over to edgy teenagers
You need a lot more skill to properly use a sword than a gun. More likely the worst the edgy teenager can do is damaging a historical piece or cry for help after he cuts himself accidentaly.
@@zakazany1945 im pretty sure I can hurt a skilled swordsperson providing I have a sword and they do not XD
@@ОлегКозлов-ю9т most skilled swordsman also train other martial arts for the love of combat. There's a good chance your getting tossed to the ground and having the sword removed from your possession lol
@@unafflictedgaming most skilled swordsman would use the ultimate technique in that situation. RUN AWAY
If you want to go on a killing spree in a museum, a fire extinguisher would be just as effective as a sword. Probably more so, since sword would draw more attention.
"You can't just give her that, it's not safe!"
"It's a sword. They're not meant to be safe."
"She's a child!"
"It's educational."
"What if she cut herself!?"
"That will be an important lesson."
Deadly truth
🐘🐘🐘🐘
🐢
Ah I see you are a person of culture as well.
The best learnt lessons are the ones carved in your flesh.
The funny part is that in the movie version the person saying it to Death is played by Tony "I have a cunning plan" Robinson.
Sword requires human blood to be spilled before it can be sheathed.
Wielder: Does not sheath it, just throws it on the ground and leaves until he actually needs to kill someone.
Sword: O-O
Cursed/possessed weapons are an interesting topic that few people do research and explain the details of Cursed weapons , amazing work as always, (to be honest I'd love to see a part two of this one, good job)
Me too.
"Didn't separate fact from fiction like we do nower days"
Hmm. Are you sure that majority is doing that nower days?
He must not have ever seen a biopic lol
it's hard to believe that it was EVEN WORSE back then
he never said majority, he said "we", as in "we superior intellects"
bone apple tea
Lol
I had encountered those cursed swords in games but never knew there stories. I’m able to appreciate them more thanks to this!
Fun fact, the ban did not affect only one smith, but the entire school of muramasa including each generation. The only ones that somewhat got away with it were his other apprentices who often signed Masashige or Masazane. As for Muramasa himself, his style was a mix of different schools. His first master, and most important one was Heianjo Nagayoshi, from the Yamashiro school. After that, he travelled to Mino, learned there, and then to Suruga where he learned with the Shimada school who made swords based on the Soshu school. This mix of different techniques made Muramasa's Sengo school very unique to the period. Actually, he never learned from Masamune. Masamune worked in the Kamakura period, hundreds of years before Muramasa was working.
Masamune preceeds Muramasa, too much to have been his tutor. That is part of the myth.
Nice video though
I collect antique Japanese swords. In my meager collection, I own an unsigned Sengo Muramasa sword. I don’t believe in haunted or damned swords, of course.
… Still, something funny happened to me on the very first time I drew it from its sheath. I expected the sword to be maybe an inch longer and, of course, it fell out of the scabbard and unto my wrist, slashing me with its tip. Not very deep, just grazed me. Still, to this day, I bear a scar. Of course, never happened to me again, but I thought it was a funny incident to tell.
"I was cut by a sword whose creator notoriously made bloodthirsty weapons, but I don't believe in curses. It was a total coincidence!" Oh buddy, you are 100% cursed now. Talking like a dad in Act 1 of a horror movie.
I honestly think that sword was just a tiny bit parched... like any living creature it needs sustenance and care... keep it oiled
It has been sated.
Oh what a surprise, a blade that is famed for having bad juju caused you to accidentally get nicked by it when you drew it. Just like the legend says. I hereby declare this as an Object Class: Safe. Special Containment Proceedures: Keep it in its sheath. If you must remove it for whatever reason, make sure you carefully split the skin so that it is no deeper then a paper cut. This disables the anomalious property allowing you to safely handle it until you draw it again. Apply a bandaid afterwards.
@@teenfoeI’m actually pretty sure we already have a Muramasa in containment, can’t remember the number though
I always tried to imagine how Skal would look like in 40 years. Now I know how he would look like in 200 years 🧛♂️
my favorite story surrounding the Muramasa was him trying to prove to his mentor Masamune that his swords were the greatest, so they flagged down a passing monk and asked him to be the judge, they each provided a sword of their name sake to the monk and he dipped each blade into a near by flowing river, the Muramasa split a leaf flowing down the stream in half effortlessly while another leaf turned out of the Masamune's path (or got stuck to the side) and from that the monk declared Masamune's sword was superior for showing the trait of compassion and mercy while Muramasa's was aimless in its destruction and this caused Muramasa to go into deep denial and continue producing sword with bitter resentment which carried his malice and gained the infamous reputation it gained. *update* people are telling me this didn't happen because theres a 100 or so years gap in between when these two were alive, thats a shame that this likely isn't true, but most legends arn't and its the nature of how their told is what makes them hold up, regardless if their factually not true, after all this is a story like the kind you'd tell around a camp fire to kids.
The version I heard is that Muramasa's sword cut ANYTHING that made contact with it. Inuding a log, a fish, and a drifting stone. Where as they "Passed though" Masamune's blade uharmed. Implying that Masamune's blade wouldn't strike down the innocent.
Yeh another funfact is that masamune lived 200years before muramasa was born. masamune must have Been the worlds oldest man when muramasa was his aprentice
And that's why you can't let monks do quality control. If an item is supposed to be good at one thing only, while the other does the opposite, then the answer of which is better is very obvious.
Long story short, Muramasa should have went into the knife making business. Nobody b*tches about knifes being sharp in the kitchen.
@@padalan2504 They would if it cost them a new cutting board or counter top every time they prepare dinner!
@@Foxxie0kun Just cut it on a second magic knife, silly.
The Tyrfing from Fire Emblem does grant Sigurd great strength and resistance to magic. (Spoilers ahead!)
However, Sigurd also loses almost everyone he cares for after shortly receiving the weapon.
Oh shit I never realized that.
Yep. .... saddest fire emblem moment.
He was feeling spicy
Which is funny, because great strength and magic resistance are traits of Hervor, Tyrfing’s greatest wielder from the saga, but those are her own personal traits rather than anything the sword granted her.
@@pwnorbepwned Funnily enough Seliph who ends up becoming Tyrfing’s greatest wielder, has a great strength growth, and the 2nd best non Braggi magic defense growth.
The satanic sword story just sounds like the standard ghost story BS. She was swinging the sword at people and yet he was quietly informed by someone else that this should be dealt with after all of that was over. Surely someone would have said something before she got to crouch into a corner.
Yeah, Fire Emblem's use of mythological/folklore/etc. names is functionally just an easy source of names for stuff in games that need a lot of names for stuff. It's rare and very lucky for a character or weapon from the series to actually have a meaningful connection to the thing it's a reference to.
To take an example from Genealogy of the Holy War, the same game that used Tyrfing, there is both a spear called Gae Bolg and a playable character named after Cu Chulainn in the game. However, Chulainn (or Holyn, to those who incessantly cling to fan translations) is a Myrmidon, which in Fire Emblem terms means he uses swords and _only_ swords, and the Gae Bolg is instead exclusive to a character named Quan and his firstborn daughter Altena.
This is the most effort ive ever seen put into a halloween special. Im genuinely impressed.
Absolutely killing it this October!
Loved the more narrative approach for the two historical examples. The second part with the modern ones, on the other hand, was hilarious
Skal just being progressively more spooky each video of spooktober
"It was claimed that it is an satanistic ritual sword, used to murder hundreds of people, but in reality, it is something much scarier and much more dangerous... a shitty wall hanger"
To be fair I probably would not want an executioner sword or sacrificial dagger that I knew was used if only because being a good bit superstitious myself I would be afraid of the soles of the dead hanging on that weapon I don’t want to invite ghosts in to my house
I was not expecting this level of depth! That was really cool! It's interesting to see how scary stories from back then compare to scary stories of today's day and age! Also, that costume/makeup was 10/10! No joke!
Tyrfing sounded familiar right away--it inspired the titular evil sword of a fantasy novel called "The Broken Sword." Really good overlooked novel; it's basically grimdark Lord of the Rings (it even came out the same year).
Came to the comments looking for this reference. One of my favorite books! Poul Anderson did his research.
Which year?
@@johndododoe1411 1954, I'd assume
@@jaojao1768 I didn't ask you, I was checking the Reverend's knowledge.
I'd probably feel some "strange energy" too if I was in a room with a hundred swords
You were previously asking for viewer feedback on what format of videos are most engaging, so I just wanted to share that I love the style of this video. Tight scripting and editing makes this feel like awesome content the whole way through! Having your face on camera the whole way through works well too, rather than cutting away to full screen photos. Great stuff
While history says that Masamune stopped making swords almost 150 years before Muramasa started, it seems unlikely that they were really master and student. That said, the myths about them are really interesting. There's a particular story (with many variations) about a contest between the two, where Muramasa believed himself to have surpassed his master, and challenged Masamune to a contest. They each made the best sword they could, and tested them by putting the blade into a gently flowing river. When they were both ready, in my favourite version of the story, Muramasa put his sword into the water first, and it cut every leaf that passed. But it wasn't just cutting the leaves that happened upon the blade, every leaf the river was carrying was pulled in to be cut by it. Masamune's sword did the opposite, with leaves turning away from the blade edge before they got close, and the sword didn't cut a single one.
Of course, Muramasa claimed victory, belittling his master's sword for failing to cut a single leaf. From the other side of the river, a monk who had been watching declared that Masamune was the winner, because the student's blade cared only for destruction, while the blade the master had forged knew better than to cut when it didn't need to.
I feel like Bloodborne’s Chikage is the most creative interpretation of a Muramasa, even though it isn’t actually a katana
Amazing, Skall! TH-cam would *NOT* be the same without you. You really helped get me into history (which is p.m my main interest these days), HEMA and historical weapons in general.
You made me laugh, you made me pissed off, you made me frustrated at you, and I love you!
Arngrim while a footnote in the Legend of Tyrfing, was praised and called the father of berserkers. Likely because he was one of the first to use the weapon and not loose himself to it.
Which is pretty badass by Norse standards.
I have something similar in a story I'm writing (or mostly thinking about writing). It's a pair of swords that induce rage and insanity, respectively, in their wielder, and one of few who can remain calm while wielding them is a berserker. Another is someone who already suffers from bouts of insanity.
Got excited when I saw this in my abominations tab.
Nice to see you chilling out of costume for once!
Cheers!
Some extra details about Hervor, the viking woman from the Tyrfing story. She was the daughter by blood of Angantyr, and she tried to take it from his grave because it was her birthright. Angantyr didn’t die alone either; all 11 of his brothers died in the same fight and they were all buried together with Tyrfing on the isle of Samsø.
Their spirits guarded the sword to keep it out of the world of the living, casting spells of fire and lightning to ward off thieves. Hervor didn’t simply take it from one ghost despite a warning, she insulted the spirits of her father and uncles for their cowardice in a pages-long poem before evading their magic through sheer acrobatic skill and took Tyrfing by force.
She is also one of the only one of its wielders to have not fulfilled any of the evil deeds of the curse, and is considered the only one to have truly mastered Tyrfing, tactically only drawing it when she knew it would kill her enemy, and causing the curse to augment her lethality in battle. She did not ever suffer because of her wielding it.
Heck, killing that guy who almost drew it before he could kill an innocent person was not only a pragmatic decision on her part that spared innocent blood, but her future husband saw the whole thing and still asked her to marry him years later. It did end up getting her son killed, but that was when her other son was wielding it, not her, and she only bequeathed the sword to him officially after he was banished for murdering his brother.
She also only rarely dressed as a man to make traveling by sea easier, taking up her uncle’s name of Hjorvard. Most who knew her knew she was a woman named Hervor; unstoppable in battle even before she wielded Tyrfing.
There is another tale about a valkyrie named Hervor, and there has been some speculation that these are the same person, but there is no connecting thread between them, like a story about how she became a valkyrie after giving up Tyrfing.
She doesn’t exist in modern popular culture, and it’s a damn shame, especially since her sword appears every so often in medieval style JRPGs and the like. Though, she was the inspiration behind Eowyn in Lord of the Rings, and her tale of taking Tyrfing from the the ghosts of her family at their barrow is mirrored in the hobbits earning magic swords after overcoming the barrow wight. (Book only, not in the movie.)
As for the third evil deed of Tyrfing, one interpretation I’ve heard is that it was indeed the murder of a prince that started that war, and that the fulfillment of all three evil deeds and the death of Svafrlami caused the curse to be broken, including the part that made its wielders murder people.
Edit: One more thing I like about Hervor as a character is she fully embraces both classically masculine and feminine traits, defying the notion that one must lack in one to have the other. She’s a badass warrior, brags and boasts, and is constantly competing with others to prove her strength and wits, but she’s also an accomplished dancer, flirts with cute farmboys, and is into knitting.
Not just that, it's also important to note WHO she married. Which was Hofund the son of King Gudmundr--a well known jotun that cropped up in tales here and there, who ruled Glæsisvellir, which was a warriors paradise within Jotunheim, and in Glæsisvellir everyone is rejuvenated back to good health and are young again and no one ever dies. Gudmundr gave Hofund and Hervor his kingdom to rule over as a wedding gift. So, Hervor essentially becomes an immortal queen of warriors within a kingdom of Jotunheim.
@@Apillis124 theoretically then, the valkyrie sharing her name could be named in her honor after that point, if not actually her directly leading warriors to her kingdom personally, right?
@@Apillis124 I knew her husband was a Jotun, but didn’t know his family was such big news. That’s awesome! I like the part of the story where, after claiming Tyrfing, her crew left her behind out of fear of the berserker ghosts, so she sailed off on a small boat and ended up in that kingdom. Just a mortal on a boat, casually sailing into Jotunheim or Valhalla or wherever that kingdom was.
Awesome, so i married Hervor. My wife is a little badass.
They include a story about Hervor and Tyrfing in Hellblade... but that's the only modern reference I can think of. It'd be amazing to have a TV series or game following her story though.
Lol, I never knew Muramasa from Ninja Gaiden was named after a real swordsmith. That's such a nice touch.
I know you've had less reach lately, but we still love ya. It brightens some of our days when we rarely enjoy anything anymore. Much love and will always view and like.
So I'm just gonna say this right now, Skall, you're a fantastic storyteller and the costume only adds to it. With that in mind, I thought to maybe suggest an idea for a video series. One in which you discuss and tell old Norse myths and sagas in your "viking" gear, perhaps with a fire crackling in the background. Because I would honestly love to watch it and you have such a passion for history that would make it great.
Perhaps you could call it "Chronicles of Yore" and play a character simply known as "The Bard". Maybe you could even talk about tons of other myths and legends that way.
Would be awkward telling the story of his own descendants like that.
Fun fact: in the scientific community, "ceremonial/ritual use" is shorthand for "I don't fuggin know."
If an expert says its potentially for ceremonial or ritual use, they're just saying it was designed really weird.
I find that a lot of cases those items, if they're singular or very rare, are probably just curiosities, and were made because someone had an _idea_ or thought it would be cool.
99.9% chance that craigslist ad was a joke, someone took a picture of their grandma holding a conan sword and thought it would be funny to make that post (could be actually selling the sword but the rest is boloney).
Anyways, great video! I actually learned some stuff I didn't know and found it to be quite entertaining.
Great job! Loved the lore and history and the glimpse into the ways ancient cursed stories made their way into modern culture
Your Japanese pronunciations, though not perfect are fine! Happy Halloween! Happy to be your Japan consultant (free of charge) if you need one!
I liked your altered opening on this one Skall. Very fitting of the holiday season.
That was an awesome video. Thank you very much! And yes, the costume is great and very inspiring.
Even without the stories, this is so good for Halloween Spirit. Nice dressup Skallagrim.
Oh, and good stories!
Especially the Japanese ones. I didn't know the "sword" names were actually the names of the makers of swords. And some of them so infamous people even went "Must be a ..." when something bad happened.
Dude you rack some nice guttural sounds when you go all scary voice-ish. Nice! By the way, in SOTN the Muramasa sword has a "hidden" ability: not only does it heals you when you spill enemies' blood (like the bloodsucking spell, dunnowhatsitsname) but when it absorbs blood its ATK stat goes up. Don't recall the formula but in the end it was way better to use Masamune (Muramasa gets the flurry attack too once it gets more than 30 ATK stack) because it requires 0 grind to get the special attack and it does a shit ton of damage.
I know it's not a historical/mythological source but i think Gurthang, the sword of Túrin Turambar from JRR Tolkien's legendarium, would be another good example of a cursed blade that brings tragedy to the wielder and anyone around them. Anyways, this video was really cool, great work Skall!
Loved the stories and your costume. Bloody high quality indeed.
This is actually a really interesting topic.
I love delving into mythology like this.
Great storytelling in this video. I’d love to see more myths and tales like this on your channel!
"Sword expert" in that second-to-last one really looked at a wallhanger and went "ceremonial purposes"
This is an absolutely amazing video! I would love to see more haunted mythology and the weapons involved more on here!
1.) The fashion in this video is on point. The makeup especially!
2.) I don't want to think about how long it took to get the makeup done. It's fantastic, but was probably REALLY tedious to do, and I appreciate the effort added for it!
Happy Halloween Skall. Gotta say, this is one of my favorites of yours already. I had no idea where the names Tyrfing and Muramasa came from, even though I see them constantly in videogames.
Keep up the good work and happy Halloween to you and Kara
Love your content my dude! You’re story telling is great and good video production. Can’t wait to see more of your videos.
"People in the past did not seperate fact from fiction the way we like to nowadays"
LOL, that was a good one, always start with a joke!
We absolutely separate fact from fiction nowadays. What we don't do is give a damn about is which is which.
So now Tyrfing is just an OP sword with no more evil deeds left.....just don't drawn it unless you are in a fight ;p
Also how do you NOT NOTICE someone swinging a sword around at people.....kinda feel that would cause just a slight bit of commotion
Tyrfing probably was one of the inspirations for Sikánda, the magic sword from the Neverending Story. It will jump into you hand itself whenever there is danger and will move on its own while your hand is glued to the hilt, it can cut through metal plates and stone, its blade is made out of light and its as light as a feather. Only a person that rode on the Many Coloured Death and ate and drank and bathed in its fire can touch this sword without burning to ashes. But you don't want to try to draw it on your own demand, for an unjust cause. It looses its power and brings great disaster over the whole land.
drugs, lots of drugs were involved on both sides
For that story about the litttle girl, I'll take "Shit that didnt happen" for 500 Alec.
Alternatively, Discard the Sheath. It's never going to rust, anyway.
I think that second was a lie.
Happy Halloween Skall! Thanks as always for the great content! Embrace your Dreams and Protect your Honor!
Loving the edited spooky intro version lol
19:25
_ooOOooOo! The haaauuunted candle!_
i love how you devolved into ranting at the end, lol. classic skal.
i cant decide wich part i liked better, awesome vid, bro!!
I love cursed swords, Tyrfing is the one that always comes to mind first when I think of them.
"How you gonna call Netting Group" better than 2016 Ghostbusters.
Knitting? Maybe they were just intended as an obviously innocent group of witnesses to the evils of this blade.
i loved this, i love how you do the viking lore or theology or whatever you'd call it. I would watch it any day!
OH man, so well done Skall! Keep up the good work :)
I don’t normally leave feedback but this video was done extremely well. Definitely one of my favorites
There is a list of "things Dr bright is no longer allowed to do"
I'm pretty sure making TH-cam video suggestions is on that list!
I always appreciate the ingenuity and the attention for the details Skallagrim!😉
Happy Halloween and keep being the number one!☝🏻👍🏻
great video. Soulstealer from DC comics (the sword welded by the hero katana) also was forged by Muramasa.
9:00 well the thing is there was apparently a law making it that if you draw your blade without a proper reason you might be prosecuted and even executed so this may be a result of this.
What about Tancred de'Hauteville of Sicily and the "Excalibur" he's buried with. It was given to him by Richard the Lionheart as part of a ransom/treaty for the release of Richard's sister, and the Lionheart was a very vengeful guy... Funny how the Norman kingdom of Sicily absolutely fell apart...
I applaud the subtle changes to the intro text, bravo 👏
I once had an atlantean sword (Conan Sword,) and I felt it was best used as a marker for a cherished companion, and so the blade has been guarding my deceased dog friend for around 25 years. One thing to note, it does appear to be stainless. It has served its purpose well, as the dog has not spontaneously risen from its grave.
Spooktastic. Thanks for the great uploads, Skall. Hope you have a great Halloween! 🎃
I just wanted to say here that I appreciate the accuracy of your Old Norse pronunciations.
Very fun video. You look great man.
100 swords collection, the granny is now my role model in life.
All my swords get cursed twice. First by me, so they cause unending itchiness to whoever they cut, and secondly by my enemies, especially the ones who survive.
Sounds like metaphors for power and how it corrupts the wielder
Fantastic costume, Skal!
Simon Green writes about cursed blades in his Forest Kingdom series. They're blades with unique power (one goes on fire, one causes anything it cuts to decompose/break apart, one can cause the earth to break apart, etc) but the swords themselves have twisted personalities that immediately want to take over the user's mind. There's a disturbing side story in the series where a sword for hire has the entropy sword, but always refuses to draw it. He ends up doing so more often as the "heroes" investigate a ghost holding that went silent. But each time he does so, it's obvious it's costing him more of his sanity. It's found that there's an Eldritch being living beneath the holding that ends up messing with people's thoughts. As you can imagine, the guy doesn't survive when he has both monstrous entities looking to take him over at the same time.
That story/series is actually my first exposure to cursed/twisted swords, and I've loved the concept ever since. So thanks for doing this video!
It's not a costume, it's his regular evening attire
Saberhagen's Books of Swords were mine. Some would debate the Swords of Power being cursed but for all their utility and immense might even the most benign are risky as Hell and a few are actively pernicious or just random, Coinspinner in particular for the latter. Also, the swords were each forged from and likely contain human souls and have the power and curse to kill gods. They are, in fact, why the world of the Swords has no gods.
Reminds me of saika... maybe that's what inspired saika?
Ever heard of the Tomb Effigy of Jean d'Alluye?, french templar knight with a Chinese sword! It's housed in the cloister museum in NYC, very interesting kinda spooky..
Why its spooky? I assume the sword ended up in his hands through trade routes. Maybe in middle east if he was crusading there. Its indeed interesting though he is depicted wearing it, but foreign sword might symbolize many things. Kinda like later in european artwork katana was often in paintings
@@lalli8152 ...I know through the "silk route" and wot not..
I mean mysterious as it's the only known tomb of a early 14 century french templar knight with a Chinese sword.
Symbolism indeed...
@@Eblis840 14th century? So could have been imported by the Polo family who traveled to China in the 13th.
The stories were better than expected, nice video.
finally, alternative for cursed gun images
“Ritual Use” and “Hang It On The Wall Use” are basically the same I would say. I buy that it might have been a “ritual sword” but mostly because that’s actually really very common in occult practice. The most commonly called for tools of the magickal trade in multiple schools of western mysticism are the same ones identified by the Tarot trumps, a sword and a chalice and a pentacle and a wand. So yeah it’s definitely a cheap wall-hanger and possibly meant for swinging around at the ghosts in your basement. Bet it’s not “cursed” though. lol
"This is Katana, she watches my back. I advise not getting killed for her her. Her sword traps the souls of her victims"
the sheer pointlessness of that scene never ceases to amuse me
@@marctaco2624 it's like a late introduction of a dnd player. Infact the entire movie is a recreation of a disaster campaign.
@@hawkonroyale431 that is a suprisingly accurate description
@@marctaco2624 And yet she's still my favourite character and the only reason I bothered watching that movie.
@@marctaco2624 Infact I do recommend watching the movie as a dnd campaign. Highly enjoyable that way.
OK, this is one of the best videos on this channel!
First, this guy put on his costume, lenses, fake teeth and paint his hair (or done something similar with it).
Second, he redesigns intro and outro (I would like those to stay a while, thank you) to accommodate Halloween mood.
Next, he makes a lot of effort to research and make and edit this video (I like the frame).
And all of that in nicely decorated appartment (I believe that's regural octobar style of decorations).
I really hope the views will go back to 500K+ for every video, this amount of views is sad...
You know the god you respect is cool when his own weapon is named after him
The odd thing is Tyr is one of the more “good” (by modern definitions) Gods who probably wouldn’t be too fond of a cursed blade named after him. At least if I’m remembering things correctly
@@ShadowknightEX as I remember, mystical swords are called “cursed” because of how well made and incredibly powerful the weapon is, tyrfing by itself has definitely earned a reputation to be feared
@@acemarvel1564 Tyrfing had many things that would qualify it as cursed. Being forced to draw human blood, especially that of loved ones is pretty cursed.
@@ShadowknightEX I understand, someone as nice nice as Tyr might not pick such an overkill weapon, but he is the god of war
@@acemarvel1564 well. Tyr wasn’t exactly “nice.” As you said he was a God of War, much like the majority of the Aesir. But he was also a God of justice. And he wasn’t nice about it. He was moral. Which is a rarity among Gods in general. They are usually “do as I say. Not as I do.” Tyr tended to actually live up to his title however.
Your latest videos have been really good, really liked the topic!
This spooky theme you used is amazing, need more
Wouldn't have clicked on this one if not for Skalls costume! Glad i did, great video.
"It was created for a ritual"... So it must be cerimonial.
Metraton: ...
Mentioning Tyrfing the band and playing one of the cool albums made me like, dude Skallagrim is even cooler than I thought haha.
I haven't heard of them before and I'm looking for them, which album is?
Found this really interesting, would like to see more of this series. 😉👍
"King Svarfrlami, son of Sigrlami, son of Salami". You lost your chance there, Skal.
I'm so happy that Stormbringer was included! My best friend and I have been fans of Michael Moorcock's work since the '70's. My friend had a Chevy Blazer we named Stormbringer, because it always demanded a blood sacrifice! Seriously! We repaired something on it once, and neither of us bled on it. We were back in it 2 weeks later because it wasn't running right. We both lost some blood that time, and the truck ran great again! muwahaahaaaa
your costume sure put me in the mood! But the content was also highly entertaining 😁
As a theatre student we did a play on Tyrfing in high school. It is a really good story.
Låter kul! Uppskattar dina spellistor, för övrigt
@@jaojao1768 Tack så mkt! :)
dude that outfit was incredible i've probably watched hundreds of your videos and if you didn't speak here i genuinely wouldn't have known that was you, the dyed hair and contacts are awesome lol
Very nice look and outfit Skal… :)Love it how you explain your stuff! :3
Appreciate the spooky vid skal! And that was some great spooky attire if i may say so.
I love the look of your costume and I loved the concept of this episode I think you should try making it as regular of a bit as possible I think it would go far with all your fans and maybe bringing some new ones.
Another fictional cursed blade, almost certainly inspired in part by Tyrfing, is Anglachel/Gurthang from Tolkien’s _The Children of Húrin_.
The other origin of the sword is from the sword of Kullervo, but the details added to the sword in the Túrin story (made by the Dark Elf Eöl, given with malice) seem Norse-inspired.
Glad to see a mention of Stormbringer here. The Elric Saga got me back into reading.
I always revisit the story of Tyrfing. Such an epic and dangerous weapon.