Kusanagi: The Sacred Sword of Myth, Magic, and History

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The sword of Kusanagi, the storied sword that completes the Imperial Regalia of Japan, is the stuff of ancient history and timeless legends abound by gods, monsters, and the few mortals who dared wield its piercing magic. But is the sword of Kusanagi, its very existence, part of real-life history? Or is this most storied blade fashioned only from tall tales forged brilliantly into an enduring legend? For us to arrive at answers, we must first take our journey back to a much, much earlier point in time. 

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The Imperial Regalia: The Three Great Treasures of Japan

The Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, or grass-cutting sword, makes one of the three Imperial Regalia, The Great Treasures of Japan. Along with the Kusanagi sword, the other Regalia objects consist of The Regalia Mirror Yata-no-Kagami and the Regalia Jewel Yasakani-no-Magatama. The Imperial Regalia is said to embody the three primary virtues central to the ancient and now modern Japanese society.  While the Yasakani Jewel embodies benevolence, and the Yata Mirror represents wisdom, the Kusanagi Sword is the very embodiment of valor. 

Ever since the 7th century, the presentation of The Regalia Objects to the Emperor by a priest has been an essential element to the enthronement ceremony. The enthronement ceremony is a highly private tradition in which only the emperor and selected priests have the privilege of actually laying their eyes on the sacred treasures. Two of the three treasures, the Yasakani Jewel and the Kusanagi Sword, were last seen in 1989 during the enthronement ceremony of Emperor Akihito. 

Before it was known as the Kusanagi, the sacred sword carried a different name—Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi, which translates to Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven. The legendary sword’s origin is one that extends to an equally legendary battle that went down between the Storm God Susanoo and the eight-headed serpent Yamata-no-Orochi. 

Once in time, according to ancient Japanese lore, there existed a fearsome eight-headed serpent named Yamata-no-Orochi.  For the longest time, the monster-serpent wreaked havoc to the province of Izumo, while it terrorized the province’s ruling Ashinazuchi family. The ruling family had nine daughters, and the serpent having devoured eight of them, was coming for the last Ashinazuchi daughter. Not wanting to lose another daughter, the head of the family sought the help of the then exiled Storm God Susanoo.  

Upon hearing the story, the Storm God Susanoo wasted no time and tracked down and attacked the eight-headed beast. His valiant efforts, however, were in vain. Orochi proved to be a formidable beast, and the Storm God was ultimately forced to retreat. Although defeated at the moment, Susanoo wasted no time as he started to devise his next plan of attack against the serpent Orochi. 

Susanoo’s plan was as cunning as it was simple. The Storm God planned on getting each of Orochi’s eight heads drunk. And so, the Storm God Susanoo went on with the preparations. He had arranged eight giant bowls of sake, Japanese rice wine, to lure out the eight-headed serpent. Orochi took the bait and fell for the trap. 

Intoxicated and asleep, the beast was defenseless when Susanoo attacked, ferociously decapitating each of Orochi’s eight heads. To make certain that Orochi was unable to regenerate and return, Susanoo with his sword chopped off the serpent’s tails. Olden stories have it that it is in one of the Orochi’s tails that Susanoo recovered a second sword, the legendary sword which at the moment he named Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi, or Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven. 

Yamato Takeru: The First Kusanagi Swordsman

The Sun God Susanoo did not keep custody of the Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi for very long. Although a god, Susanoo was banished from heaven because of a long-standing quarrel with his sister Ameterasu, Goddess of the Sun. Wanting to make peace with Ameterasu, Susanoo gifted the Sword of Gathering Clouds to her as a peace offering thus ending his long exile. 

Entire generations have come and gone. And many generations soon after, the Sword of Gathering Clouds changed hands once more when the Sun Goddess Ameterasu presented the sword to the great warrior Yamato Takeru, the son of Emperor Keiko—the 12th Emperor of Japan. It was in the hands of Takeru that the sword claimed its present name. It was also in the hands of the great warrior that the Kusanagi extended its existence deep into the imperial line of Japan. 

According to the legend, Takeru first discovered of the sword’s magic during a hunting expedition when a rival warlord lured him onto an open grassland. The warlord had his men shoot flaming arrows, thus setting the grass ablaze, and trapping Takeru in the fiery landscape. 

Moments away from burning to his death, Yamato Takeru drew the Sword of Gathering Clouds. With a series of wild swings, he used it to cut down the grass and clear a path that he can use to escape. Olden stories tell that it was during Takeru’s desperate attempt to escape the fiery grassland that he first discovered the Kusanagi’s magical ability to control the wind. Taking advantage of its new found magic, Takeru used the Sword of Gathering Clouds to gain control of the wind and sweep the great big fire across the landscape to the direction of the rival warlord and his men. 

Celebrating his victory over the treacherous warlord and commemorating his narrow escape from death, Takeru changed the name of the sword from Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven to Grass Cutting Sword—The Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi. At that moment Yamato Takeru became the first man to wield the legendary Kusanagi sword. And since then, the Kusanagi bestowed upon its wielder the supreme power to be most powerful ruler in all of Japan. It is for this very reason that the Kusanagi sword, along with other Regalia Objects, are presented in the enthronement ceremony when a new Japanese Emperor assumes power.  

Historical Accounts of the Kusanagi

The earliest mention of the Kusanagi sword appeared in the ancient Japanese text, Kojiki. However, since Kojiki is a collection of Japanese myths, the text in it describing the existence of the Kusanagi is regarded less as a historical account and more as a work of early Japanese fiction. 

The first reliable historical mention of the sword is found in the Nihonshoki. Although parts of this book consist of mythological stories, the Nihonshoki prominently contains sections that recorded real-life historical events that were contemporary to its writing. In the Nihonshoki, it was the written that the Kusanagi was removed from the Imperial Palace in Nara in 668 AD after the sword was suspected to cause Emperor Tenmu’s ill health. Having been removed from the Imperial Palace, the Kusanagi was the sent to the Atsuta Shrine to be safeguarded by Shinto priests. 

Originally built 1900 years ago, the Atsuta Shrine is among the most prominent places of worship from the time of ancient Japan. As the Atsuta Shine underwent major repairs during the Edo period, the Great Grand Shinto priest Matsuoka Masanao claimed that he was able to witness the legendary blade in the flesh. Upon describing the sword, Matsuoka detailed what became the most popular account of the Kusanagi: 

 “A stone box was in the wooden box of length 150 cm, a red earth had been stuffed into a gap, a cored camphor tree log like a box shape was seen in the stone box, and gold was laid out, the sword was placed on it. A red earth was also stuffed between the stone box and the camphor tree box. The sword was about 84 cm long, shaped like calamus, the middle of the sword had a thickness, and from the grip, about 18cm is like a fish spine, fashioned in a white metallic color, and well maintained.” 

Almost immediately after witnessing the Kusanagi, the Great Grand Priest Matsuoka was banished from the Shrine, while several Shinto priests died strange deaths. 

The Tale of the Heike

After the sword’s possession by Yamato Takeru, there are few other stories that make prominent mention of past whereabouts of the Kusanagi. In The Tale of the Heike, a 14th-century collection of Japanese epic oral poetry, the Kusanagi sword is said to have been lost at sea following the defeat of the Kusanagi owners Heike clan and the child emperor Antoku in the Naval Battle of Dan-no-Ura. 

In the story, the Emperor's grandmother upon gathering the news of their clan’s defeat led the Emperor and his men to commit suicide by jumping into the waters. It was said that the emperor’s grandmother took with her two of the Three Sacred Treasures—the Regalia Jewel Yasakani-no-Magatama, and the Regalia Sword Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi. The Regalia Mirror, meanwhile, stayed with a lady servant. 

Stories tell that while the Regalia Jewel was salvaged in its casket floating at sea, the Kusanagi Sword was lost forever to the great waters.  The historical reliability of this account, however, is regarded as questionable as the Tale of Heike was written 200 years well after the actual Battle of Dan-no-Ura took place. In those 200 years, more than a few replicas of the Three Sacred Treasures were made and lost when rival members of the royal family soldiered their way into power. It is widely thought that the Imperial Regalia lost in the Battle of Dan-no-Ura were mere replicas, as the original Regalia Objects remained tucked away in the Atsuta Shrine. 

The Kusanagi Today

Today, it is believed that the Kusanagi sword remains safeguarded, as it was in the ancient times, well within the walls of the Atsuta Shrine in Nagoya. The sword’s last known appearance in modern history was when it was presented to Emperor Akihito, along with the Regalia Jewel, in his enthronement ceremony in 1989. And even then both imperial objects remained practically unseen as both were shrouded in packages.  

Whether or not the Kusanagi, and the rest of the Imperial Regalia, still exist in their original incarnations can only be the subject of wild and probably endless speculations. Perhaps the only thing that holds some semblance of certainty is that these ancient, sacred relics—part-myth and part-history in their very existence—have shaped Japan in the most real way imaginable. 
 

Ancient Viking Sword Used Technology From The Future: The Ulfberht Viking Sword

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The Vikings are often portrayed as crude people that should be feared, but in reality, they left behind an important legacy that has resounded throughout history. Among them are the mysterious Uflberht swords – medieval weapons of warfare which were considered to be very advanced for its time. These ancient artifacts have puzzled archaeologists for years, with many wondering about the identity of the people who made them and how the Vikings managed to forge such weapons thousands of years ahead of the technology that would have made creating them possible.

What Are Ulfberht Swords?

The Ulfberht swords are a group of medieval swords found in Europe, and are dated between the 9th and the 11th centuries. These weapons are at the transitional point between the Viking sword and the high medieval knightly sword. They are also considered to be the starting point of the high medieval tradition of inscribing sword blades.  

The blades were inlaid with the inscription of the Ulfberht name and two crosses (+VLFBERHT+), with the name “Ulfberht” believed to be a Frankish personal name that became the basis of a trademark of sorts and was also used by multiple bladesmiths for several centuries. This made the Ulfberht like a medieval luxury brand for swords, as they were of such high quality that some people consider these blades as almost mystical.

Thousands of Ulfberht swords were found across Europe, and most of them were found in rivers or were excavated from Viking burials across Europe and Scandinavia. However, only around 170 swords are proven to be authentic Ulfberht swords. They have been buried for centuries, making these found artifacts only shadows of the ancient masterpieces of weaponry that they once were.

Who Made the Ulfberht Swords?

The Ulfberht swords dominated the battlefield across different parts of Europe. These weapons were attributed to the Vikings and were used by many nations from about 800 to 1100 AD. They were only used by a few select warriors at the time as they were a masterpiece built from pure steel. After this period, the swords disappeared in Europe for at least a thousand years before weapons of this quality surfaced again around the 18th

Why these medieval swords have the inscription of Ulfberht continue to be an enigma until now as the name does not appear in written texts that existed around that time. The fact that the Ulfberht swords appear for over two hundred years is proof that they were not forged by a single craftsman. The name “Ulfberht” could have been the name of the location these weapons were produced, but it could also have been inscribed to the blades as proof of its authenticity. These premium-grade swords were so well-known in European battlefields at the time that hundreds – and maybe even thousands - of imitations of these swords were made, and even these knock-offs were of very good quality as well.

The crosses found in the inscriptions on the Ulfberht swords could suggest that these weapons have a connection with the Roman Catholic Church. This makes sense since the church dominated the Frankish Empire and was also a major producer and dealer of weapons during that time. It was also the practice by bishops and abbots to place the Greek cross before names, so it may also be possible that the Ulfberht name could have been the name of a bishop, abbot or even a monastery. However, many researchers also believe that Ulfberht was one of the most ancient trademarks, serving as sign of high quality weaponry.

Composition & Quality of the Ulfberht Swords

What makes the Ulfberht blades so special is the fact that these blades’ metal was comparable to the strength and quality of modern steel. Most Viking blades and the blades in the rest of Europe made at the time were composed of low-quality steel that could shatter like glass. This is the reason why it is such an enigma how the Ulfberht swords were so advanced when medieval blacksmiths in Europe have yet to possess the knowledge and technology to make weapons as strong, as light and as flexible as the blades that were widely made and could only have existed several centuries later.

To create a sword in the same quality as the Ulfberht blades, the inclusion and distribution of carbon is key. If a sword’s carbon content is not controlled to just the right amount, the sword will either be too soft or too brittle. However, with just the right amount of carbon, this element can significantly strengthen the blade. In fact, the carbon content of Ulfberht swords is about three times higher than that of the bladed weapons around the same time.

Also, in the process of forging iron, the ore has to be liquefied so that the blacksmith could remove the metal’s impurities known as “slag.” To make the ore’s liquefication possible, it must be heated to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit, which is what is done in modern times. However, what’s interesting about this is that medieval blacksmiths in Europe could not make slag-free steel because their fires were not hot enough to completely liquefy the iron. Instead, in the Viking era, carbon could mainly be introduced through coal in the fire, and the only way to remove the slag from the metal was to just try to hammer out the impurities with every strike.

Theories About the Origins of the Ulfberht Swords

According to the research of Dr. Alan Williams, a consultant archaeometallurgist at the Wallace Collection, who analyzed the Ulfberht swords, the metal used in these ancient weapons is known today as crucible steel. Crucible steel is created by meting iron along with other materials mixed in a crucible and then pouring that molten metal into a mold.

At the time that the Ulfbehrt swords were produced, no one in Europe knew how to melt iron at extreme temperatures for centuries. Crucible steel was not even around the continent until the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century. So, how did the Vikings manage to forge blades that required this advanced technology around a thousand years earlier?

The Vikings were not just excellent and fearless warriors, they were also advanced in a lot of ways so much so that they were also known to be highly skilled traders and navigators. Many artifacts discovered in modern-day Scandinavia have originated from Asia, India and several Eastern parts of the world, which led many experts to believe that the Vikings have managed to somehow reach continents as distant as the Americas and Asia.

Asia was home to the greatest swordsmiths who forged the greatest swords in human history, and one of them incudes the Damascus steel, which was determined to have similar compositions to the metal content of the Ulfberht swords. This has led to one theory that the Ulfberht swords originated from modern-day Iran. Researchers suggest that the Viking acquired the materials they needed to make the Ulfberht swords by trading with merchants back when the Volga Trade route was opened around the same time.

However, another theory suggests that the Ulfberht blades had nothing to do with the steel forged in the Middle East. According to Robert Lehmann, a chemist at the Institute for Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Hannover, the material of the Ulfberht sword they found in 2012 in the Weser River in northwestern Germany does not come from the East. The sword’s blade has a high manganese content while its guard was made from iron with a high arsenic content, both of which suggest that the materials used to make the sword were European in origin. Lehmann traced the origin of the sword to a site in the Taunus region, located north of Frankfurt, Germany – a region where some monasteries were known to have created weapons at the time. It is important to note, however, that the Ulfberht name has not been found in the records of these weapon-making monasteries in the area.

While we may have taken several steps closer to unraveling the mystery behind the Ulfberht swords, it is still a glaring fact that we do not have all the knowledge there is to know about this ancient artifact from the Vikings. Nevertheless, we can say for certain that the Ulfberht swords are important testaments to the legacy that the Vikings have left behind as fearless warriors and as a military force to be reckoned with during what has become known as the Viking age. These special swords also serve as proof of the painstaking lengths taken by great swordsmiths of the time to forge weapons of impressive quality that even modern swordsmiths admit to be a very complicated task though they possess the knowledge and technology that weapon makers of the Viking era did not.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulfberht_swords
http://www.ancient-origins.net/artifacts-ancient-technology/step-closer-mysterious-origin-viking-sword-ulfberht-002455?nopaging=1
http://www.ancientpages.com/2014/02/11/unravelling-mystery-ulfberht-sword-ancient-viking-artifact-far-ahead-time/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2878512/The-mystery-magical-superstrong-Viking-sword-Researchers-close-supermonks-believed-forged-weapons.html
http://ancientexplorers.com/blog/ulfberht-the-sword-made-with-tech-from-the-future/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1134288-a-step-closer-to-the-mysterious-origin-of-the-viking-sword-ulfberht/
http://www.hexapolis.com/2015/05/11/the-curious-case-of-ulfberht-the-viking-sword-with-seemingly-futuristic-technology/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikings