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Sword of State

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Revision as of 19:56, 22 October 2016 by David.cormier (talk | contribs) (Added Steffan's quote)

The Sword of State is named Justice; its scabbard is named Mercy. It was made by Master Tearlach the Profane "when rocks were soft".

Inscribed upon it is the motto: "Iustitia regina virtutem" In English: "Justice, the queen of virtues"

To quote Steffan ap Cenydd of Silverwing

The several versions of the coronation service for King Kenric and Queen Avelina were based, as closely as I could manage, on the actual service of the time of Æthelraed II ("the Unready"), 978 CE as I recall. That includes a "formula" known as "Accipe Gladium" when the king is presented with with a sword. In planning the version for their 3rd coronation, the question came of the Sword of State's name came up. I suggested "Conscience" as the ultimate impetus toward just and right behavior, but someone suggested that the sword had a name, and that it was "Justice". Whether or not that was actually true, we all liked it. And I thought it would be cool to evoke the classic symmetry of justice and mercy, so I decided the scabbard should be the Scabbard of Mercy, and I tweaked St. Dunstan's words a bit from the original resulting in this:

"My Lord King, receive this sword, whose name is Justice, clad in the sheath of Mercy, with which you may be able to resist and throw down all your enemies and all the adversaries of Right and Truth, to defend the kingdom entrusted to you, and to protect the lands of the East through the aid of your loyal fyrdmen. May you ever thus draw Justice from Mercy."