Cursed swords rest where steel carries memory, guilt, and consequence. Some were forged with violent intent, others earned their reputation through the people who wielded them, and a few feel cursed simply because history refused to let them rest. What follows is a sharper, more grounded look at fifteen infamous blades. No breathless myth-peddling, just stories that can’t ignore.
Tyrfing
Wielders: Svafrlami, Arngrim, Hervor, Angantyr
Primary sources: Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks, Poetic Edda tradition
Tyrfing’s curse is brutally specific. Once drawn, it must kill someone before it can be sheathed again. King Svafrlami forced dwarves Dvalinn and Durinn to forge it, then paid for that arrogance with his life. Later owners tried to outsmart the curse, which never worked. Hervor famously dug the sword from her father’s grave, ignoring every warning. The blade went on to cause fratricide, betrayal, and dynastic collapse.
A recurring theme in the saga is inevitability. Tyrfing never malfunctions. It does exactly what it promised, which makes it more frightening than a chaotic curse. The lesson is painfully Norse: fate does not care how clever you think you are.
Muramasa
Wielders: Samurai of the Sengoku period, Tokugawa retainers
Primary sources: Edo-period chronicles, Tokugawa clan histories, kabuki folklore
Muramasa swords gained notoriety not because they failed, but because they worked too well. Legends claimed the blades drove their owners toward bloodshed, even turning them against family. Several deaths within the Tokugawa clan were later linked, fairly or not, to Muramasa steel. That association became politically dangerous.
The Tokugawa shogunate discouraged ownership, which only hardened the myth. Once a blade is blamed for paranoia, vendettas, and sudden deaths, the curse becomes self sustaining. A sword does not need magic when fear does the work for it.
Masamune
Wielders: Japanese nobility, shogunal houses
Primary sources: Edo-period sword lore, comparative legends
Masamune swords were said to embody restraint. One famous tale contrasts Masamune and Muramasa blades placed in a stream. Muramasa cut everything that touched it. Masamune harmed nothing unnecessarily. When later owners committed violence with Masamune swords, the disappointment felt moral rather than mystical.
The curse here is expectation. To wield a blade believed to be virtuous is to invite judgment. Fail that test and the sword’s reputation turns against you.
Kusanagi no Tsurugi
Wielders: Yamato Takeru, Japanese emperors
Primary sources: Kojiki (712), Nihon Shoki (720)
Kusanagi first appears as a tool of survival, used to cut grass and escape a fire trap. Over time it became a symbol of imperial legitimacy. Its repeated disappearance from the historical record is what unsettles people most. Fires, wars, and political upheaval follow every mention.
No curse is ever stated outright, yet the sword’s presence seems to demand upheaval. Power that legitimises rulers also exposes them.
Excalibur
Wielder: King Arthur
Primary sources: Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia Regum Britanniae; Vulgate Cycle
Excalibur does not betray Arthur, but it does not save him either. His reign ends in civil war, incest, and betrayal by those closest to him. In many versions, the scabbard is the true source of protection, and its loss seals Arthur’s fate.
As Arthur dies, he orders the sword returned to the Lady of the Lake, as if keeping it would prolong the damage. Excalibur’s curse lies in the cost of kingship. Great power isolates. The blade simply makes that isolation visible.
Anglachel
Wielders: Beleg Strongbow, Túrin Turambar
Primary sources: J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion
Forged from a fallen star, Anglachel is described as having a will. When Túrin renames it Gurthang, Iron of Death, the sword seems to accept the role. It kills friend and foe alike and ultimately speaks to Túrin before he falls upon it.
The curse is explicit. Túrin’s life is defined by tragic decisions, and the sword becomes both witness and executioner. Tolkien uses the blade to explore free will collapsing under fate.
Stormbringer
Wielder: Elric of Melniboné
Primary sources: Michael Moorcock, Elric of Melniboné series
Stormbringer keeps Elric alive by feeding him stolen strength. It also murders his friends, lovers, and allies. Elric hates the sword, yet cannot survive without it. That dependence is the curse.
Michael Moorcock once described Stormbringer as a parasite disguised as a solution. It offers power while hollowing out everything that gives that power meaning.
La Tizona
Wielder: Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, El Cid
Primary sources: Cantar de mio Cid, later Spanish chronicles
La Tizona was said to frighten enemies when wielded by a righteous man, yet bring misfortune to the unworthy. Later owners reported dishonour and loss, reinforcing the idea that the blade judged character.
Whether myth or medieval propaganda, the sword’s curse became a warning about legitimacy. Authority taken without merit never sits comfortably.
Durandal
Wielder: Roland
Primary sources: La Chanson de Roland
As Roland dies at Roncesvalles, he tries to destroy Durandal so it cannot fall into enemy hands. The sword refuses to break. Its survival outlasts its hero, turning glory into relic.
Durandal’s curse is endurance. It preserves memory long after those memories stop being kind.
Skofnung
Wielders: Danish kings
Primary sources: Kormáks saga, Icelandic sagas
Skofnung required ritual handling and healing stones to counter its wounds. Drawn improperly, it was said to bring sickness. Used correctly, it was devastating.
The curse reflects Viking belief systems where power demanded discipline. Mishandled strength always turns inward.
Sword of Goujian
Wielder: King Goujian of Yue
Primary sources: Zuo Zhuan, archaeological discovery (1965)
Buried for centuries and found untarnished, the sword unsettled modern observers. Goujian himself endured humiliation, exile, and obsessive revenge.
The blade’s curse is association. It becomes a symbol of obsession surviving longer than the man who fed it.
Honjo Masamune
Wielders: Tokugawa shoguns
Primary sources: Tokugawa records, post-war occupation documentation
Once the most important sword in Japan, it vanished after being surrendered to occupying forces. Its absence haunts collectors and historians alike.
Some curses are about loss. When a symbol disappears, it leaves unfinished business behind.
Black Sword of Attila
Wielder: Attila the Hun
Primary sources: Priscus, Jordanes
Said to be gifted by a god of war, the sword justified conquest and terror. Attila’s sudden death shortly after its rise into legend sealed its ominous reputation.
The curse here is moral. Destiny becomes an excuse.
Cursed swords endure because they sit where power and consequence collide. Strip away the magic and what remains is still unsettling. Steel remembers who held it, who died by it, and who never quite escaped it.
