A flaming sword is a sword which is glowing with a flame which is produced by some
supernatural
Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...
power. Flaming swords have existed in legends and myths for thousands of years.
In Sumerian mythology, the deity known as
Asaruludu
In Sumerian and Akkadian mythology Asaruludu is one of the Anunnaki. His name is also spelled Namshub, Asarludu, and Asarluhi (). The etymology and meaning of his name are unclear.
Asaruludu served as an exorcist in Sumerian religious rituals.. ...
is "the wielder of the flaming sword" who "ensures the most perfect safety".
Abrahamic sources
According to the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts o ...
, a flaming sword ( he, להט החרב ''lahat chereb'' or literally "flame of the whirling sword" he, להט החרב המתהפכת ''lahaṭ haḥereb hammithappeket'') was entrusted to the
cherub
A cherub (; plural cherubim; he, כְּרוּב ''kərūḇ'', pl. ''kərūḇīm'', likely borrowed from a derived form of akk, 𒅗𒊏𒁍 ''karabu'' "to bless" such as ''karibu'', "one who blesses", a name for the lamassu) is one of the u ...
im by God to guard the gates of
Paradise
In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in paradis ...
after
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors ...
were banished (Genesis 3:24).
[ Scholars have variously interpreted the sword as a weapon of the cherubim, as lightning, as a metaphor, as an independent divine being,]Kabbalah
Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "receiver"). The de ...
, the flaming sword represents the order which the sefirot
Sefirot (; he, סְפִירוֹת, translit=Səfīrōt, Tiberian: '), meaning '' emanations'', are the 10 attributes/emanations in Kabbalah, through which Ein Sof ( The Infinite) reveals itself and continuously creates both the physical realm ...
were created in, also known as “''the path of the flaming sword
The path of the flaming sword (Hebrew: נתיב החרב הבוערת) is a concept in Kabbalah which represents the order which the 10 sefirot were created in.
The path emanates from the Ein Sof, the boundless source of divinity. It begins at Ke ...
.”''
Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism.
Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canoni ...
tradition says that after Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...
was crucified and resurrected, the flaming sword was removed from the Garden of Eden
In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden ( he, גַּן־עֵדֶן, ) or Garden of God (, and גַן־אֱלֹהִים ''gan-Elohim''), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the Bible, biblical paradise described in Book of Genesis, Genes ...
, making it possible for humanity to re-enter Paradise.
Dumah is an angel mentioned in Rabbinical literature and popular in Yiddish folklore. Isaac Bashevis Singer
Isaac Bashevis Singer ( yi, יצחק באַשעװיס זינגער; November 11, 1903 – July 24, 1991) was a Polish-born American Jewish writer who wrote and published first in Yiddish and later translated himself into English with the help ...
's ''Short Friday'' (1964), a collection of stories, mentions Dumah as a "thousand-eyed angel of death, armed with a flaming sword". The sword is otherwise associated with various angels, such as the archangel
Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the hierarchy of angels. The word ''archangel'' itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of other re ...
Uriel
Uriel or Auriel ( he, אוּרִיאֵל ''ʾŪrīʾēl'', " El/God is my flame"; el, Οὐριήλ ''Oúriēl''; cop, ⲟⲩⲣⲓⲏⲗ ''Ouriēl''; it, Uriele; Geʽez and Amharic: or ) is the name of one of the archangels who is menti ...
, Camael
Camael, ( he, חַמּוּאֵל ''Ḥammūʾēl, "''God has warmed") also spelled Chamuel, Khamuel, Camiel, Cameel and Camniel, is the archangel of strength, courage and war in Jewish and Christian angelology.
According to poet Gustav Davids ...
or Jophiel.
Gnosticism
The ancient Gnostic
Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...
codex ''On the Origin of the World
''On the Origin of the World'' is a Gnostic work dealing with creation and the end time. It was found among the texts in what is known as the Nag Hammadi library, in Codex II and Codex XIII, immediately following the ''Reality of the Rulers'' ...
'' predicts that the kings under the archons
''Archon'' ( gr, ἄρχων, árchōn, plural: ἄρχοντες, ''árchontes'') is a Greek word that means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem αρχ-, mean ...
will be drunken from the flaming sword during the end times.
Germanic mythology
In Norse mythology
Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern peri ...
, the weapon wielded by the giant
In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: '' gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...
Surtr
In Norse mythology, Surtr (Old Norse "black"Orchard (1997:154). "the swarthy one",Simek (2007:303–304) Surtur in modern Icelandic), also sometimes written Surt in English, is a jötunn. Surtr is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the ...
is referred to as a "flaming sword" ( non, loganda sverð) by Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of th ...
in ''Gylfaginning
''Gylfaginning'' ( Old Norse: 'The Beguiling of Gylfi' or 'The Deluding of Gylfi'; c. 20,000 words; 13th century Old Norse pronunciation ) is the first part of the 13th century '' Prose Edda'' after the Prologue. The ''Gylfaginning'' deals wi ...
'' 4, '' of the Prose Edda
The ''Prose Edda'', also known as the ''Younger Edda'', ''Snorri's Edda'' ( is, Snorra Edda) or, historically, simply as ''Edda'', is an Old Norse textbook written in Iceland during the early 13th century. The work is often assumed to have been t ...
''.[''Gylf''. 4, ][''Gylf''. 4, : "There is one called Surt that is stationed.. he has a flaming sword". Quoted by , n9.] Snorri immediately afterwards quotes a stanza from his poetic source, (''Völuspá
''Vǫluspá'' (also ''Völuspá'', ''Vǫlospá'' or ''Vǫluspǫ́''; Old Norse: 'Prophecy of the völva, a seeress'; reconstructed Old Norse: ) is the best known poem of the '' Poetic Edda''. It tells the story of the creation of the world an ...
'' 52), where it is stated that Surt has fire with him, and that his sword shines with the "sun of the gods of the slain".[ However, it has been argued that the poem might be stressing the fiery glare of Surtr himself more than the sword. The relevant ]kenning
A kenning ( Icelandic: ) is a figure of speech in the type of circumlocution, a compound that employs figurative language in place of a more concrete single-word noun. Kennings are strongly associated with Old Norse-Icelandic and Old English ...
from the quoted poem, ''svigi lævi'' ("destruction of twigs"), is usually interpreted to mean "fire". However, Henrik Schück
Henrik Schück (2 November 1855 – 3 October 1947) was a Swedish literary historian, university professor and author.
Biography
Johan Henrik Emil Schück was a professor at the Lund University 1890–1898. He was a professor at Uppsala Unive ...
interpreted the kenning as referring to a sword, emending the phrase to ''svigi læva'' to identify it with the sword Lævateinn in '' Fjölsvinnsmál''.[ Snorri paraphrases the strophe of the poem a second time in ''Gylfaginning'' 51, merely saying: "Surt rides first, and before him and after him is burning fire",][''Gylf''. 51, : "Surt will ride in front, and both before behind.."; Cf. p. 54 "After that Surt will fling fire over the earth".], afterwards requoting more extensively around the same strophe (''Völuspá'' 48–56). The possibility that this sword imagery was inspired by Christian writings have been speculated.
Celtic legend
According to the Welsh triads
The Welsh Triads ( cy, Trioedd Ynys Prydein, "Triads of the Island of Britain") are a group of related texts in medieval manuscripts which preserve fragments of Welsh folklore, mythology and traditional history in groups of three. The triad is a ...
, the ''Dyrnwyn'' ('White-Hilt'), one of the Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain
The Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain (Welsh: ''Tri Thlws ar Ddeg Ynys Prydain'') are a series of items in late-medieval Welsh tradition. Lists of the items appear in texts dating to the 15th and 16th centuries.Jones, Mary"Tri Thlws a ...
, is said to be a powerful sword belonging to Rhydderch Hael
Rhydderch Hael ( en, Rhydderch the Generous), Riderch I of Alt Clut, or Rhydderch of Strathclyde, ( ''fl.'' 580 – c. 614) was a ruler of Alt Clut, a Brittonic kingdom in the ''Hen Ogledd'' or "Old North" of Britain. He was one of the most famo ...
, one of the Three Generous Men of Britain.[. ''Tri Thlws ar Ddeg Ynys Brydain'' ('The Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain')]
pp. 240–241
[ ed. and tr. Triad 2 "The Three Generous Men of the Island of Britain" ]
p. 5
and endnote to "Rhyderch Hael m. Tudwal Tutclyt", pp. 505–505. When drawn by a worthy or well-born man, the entire blade would blaze with fire. Rhydderch was never reluctant to hand the weapon to anyone, hence his nickname; ''Hael'' (the Generous), but as soon as the recipients learned of its peculiar properties, they always rejected the sword.[
]
Hindu and Buddhist (Dharmic) sources
The deity Acala
or Achala ( sa, अचल, "The Immovable", ), also known as (, "Immovable Lord") or (, "Noble Immovable Lord"), is a wrathful deity and ''dharmapala'' (protector of the Dharma) prominent in Vajrayana Buddhism and East Asian Buddhism., Jp. r ...
(known as Fudō Myōō in Japan) is depicted in Buddhist art
Buddhist art is visual art produced in the context of Buddhism. It includes depictions of Gautama Buddha and other Buddhas and bodhisattvas, notable Buddhist figures both historical and mythical, narrative scenes from their lives, mandalas, and ...
holding a sword which may or may not be flaming and sometimes described only generically as a or as a , as the pommel of the sword is shaped like a talon-like .
In Hinduism, Kalki (Sanskrit: कल्कि) also called Kalkin or karki, is the prophesied tenth and final incarnation of Hindu God Vishnu to end the Kali Yuga, one of the four periods in the endless cycle of existence (Krita) in Vaishnavism cosmology. The end of Kali Yuga states this will usher in the new epoch of Satya Yuga in the cycle of existence, until the MahaPralaya (the Great Dissolution of the Universe).
Kalki is described in the Puranas as the avatar who rejuvenates existence by ending the darkest and destructive period to remove adharma and ushering in the Satya Yuga, while riding a white horse with a fiery sword. The description and details of Kalki are different among various Puranas.
See also
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