The Swords of Night and Day
Encyclopedia
David Gemmell
David Andrew Gemmell was a bestselling British author of heroic fantasy. A former journalist and newspaper editor, Gemmell had his first work of fiction published in 1984. He went on to write over thirty novels. Best known for his debut, Legend, Gemmell's works display violence, yet also explore...
, as well as a pair of legendary sword
Sword
A sword is a bladed weapon used primarily for cutting or thrusting. The precise definition of the term varies with the historical epoch or the geographical region under consideration...
s within the book. They also appear in Gemmell's book White Wolf. The book is set 1000 years following the death of Olek Skilgannon.
The novel is an exploration of the future of the Drenai world, focussing heavily on Jiamads (joinings of beast and men honed to fighting perfection). The story also contains a satisfactory ending to Skilganon's original life, including not only his first demise, but that of Jianna, the Witch Queen with whom he was deeply in love.
Both swords are mirror polished and extremely sharp, both having been enchanted by the Old Woman
The Old Woman
The Old Woman known also as Hewla is a fictional antagonist in David Gemmell's White Wolf, the first book of Skilgannon the Damned. Though she is not directly an antagonist to Skilgannon, her manoveurings in the story darken his path...
. The Sword of Day is golden in colour while the Sword of Night is silver. Intended as inferior copies of the legendary Swords of Blood and Fire, they had become infamous in the hands of Skilgannon.
The swords are frequently mentioned throughout the books as curved blades, and on the two UK hardback covers, are depicted as katana
Katana
A Japanese sword, or , is one of the traditional bladed weapons of Japan. There are several types of Japanese swords, according to size, field of application and method of manufacture.-Description:...
s. However, the swords are also described as being scabbard
Scabbard
A scabbard is a sheath for holding a sword, knife, or other large blade. Scabbards have been made of many materials over the millennia, including leather, wood, and metals such as brass or steel.-Types of scabbards:...
ed in a single, curved sheath roughly five feet in length. This would suggest shorter weapons, such as short sabre
Sabre
The sabre or saber is a kind of backsword that usually has a curved, single-edged blade and a rather large hand guard, covering the knuckles of the hand as well as the thumb and forefinger...
s or maybe as they are being depicted as katana they could be kodachi
Kodachi
A , literally translating into "small or short tachi ", is a Japanese sword that is too long to be considered a dagger but too short to be a long sword...
.
The swords, as with all weapons made by the Old Woman, are possessed to a degree, in a similar manner to Snaga, the axe of Druss the Legend. However, rather than a tangible demon, the swords simply drive the wielder to blood lust.
The Swords of Blood and Fire are wielded by Decado in this novel.