Coolest weapon from literature?

[HellHound]

I *was* going to send this to you in email, Tsyr, to avoid hijacking the thread (but you don't have an email link active in your profile).

So...

RANT ON BROTHER!

 

[Furn_Darkside]

Whoa, easy there. I love Elric, I just don't think Moorcock's books are in the same league as Tolkien's ficitonal mythology.

Heh, well, even if that is true, Tolkien is not near Moorcock's ability to hold an audiance or even keep a solid pacing throughout the book.



FD

 

[Furn_Darkside]

As for the coolest weapon from literature-

I have to go comic books-

1) Captain America's shield

or

2) The Infinity Gauntlet

FD

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Comparing Tolkien and Moorcock isn't a good comparison. Are the Elric stories in the same league as Lord of the Rings? Nope. But Moorcock wrote Elric as a reaction against Conan and his ilk, not Tolkien's work. So a comparison between Elric and Conan would be more appropriate - and I'll give the nod to Robert Howard in this. His writing just seems more dynamic to me.

That doesn't mean Moorcock is crap. He's one of my favorite writers. I happen to like the Corum series more than Elric, by the way.

 

[Garmorn]

I'm gonna go with one probably most people aren't terribly familiar with... Need. Need was cool. Good backstory, good personality, good character development. And yes, I am talking about a sword here

Yea, better back story and characterzation then lots of Main characters have.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

I know it's not from literature, but I've always thought that the Sharps rifle from Quigley Down Under was a very cool, interesting weapon.

 

[Arkham]

Tolkein, bah, upstart!

If you want to talk the first modern fantasy
authors you need to go back to Lord Dunsany and William Morris.

But back on topic, I'll put a vote in
for Sacnoth. A blade carved from the
spine of a steel dragon which could
only be slain by _starvation_!

From Dunsany's "The Fortress Unvanquishable Save for Sacnoth"

 

[Utrecht]

Tsyr, Did you mean Ice from The Song of Ice and Fire books? Was it even magic or just a really well crafted sword? I am not sure.

Well, Ice was made of Valarian Steel, so it is certainly masterwork - Perhaps a +1 with Keen on it. But with Martin's world being so low magic, it is hard to tell.

 

[ForceUser]

What "league" are we talking about? In my view, Moorcock's book is equal in value and weight to Tolkien... they are both fantasy literature, both fairly "adult" fantasy literature at that (Not as in the BovD way, but as in they are a bit above most FR novels). I don't see Tolkien's work as being "better literature" or "above" Moorcock, or for that matter George R.R. Martin or Robert Jordan.

Understand that this, for me, is a raw nerve. I'm in college and most of my classes focus on english, either composition or literature... And I get so infernaly sick of literary elitism in that environment. All the time I'm being told to "not waste my time" with that "fantasy trash", that it isn't "true literature", that I will "never really get a true feel for the english language from that tripe" and other such nonsense.

In the college environment, at least around here, if you're not reading Shakespeare (whom I love), the saga of Gilgamesh, Dante, or any of the other "classics", or if it's not some neo-post-modern-existential-realist craptastic book, as far as the "elite" care, you might as well be reading "See Spot Run" books.

And I do _NOT_ want to see that here, or amongst gamers in general. To say that a book isn't in the same "league" as another book is a bold statement; don't make it unless you're prepared to get people mad at you.

And I am just a touch tired of the diefication of Tolkien and the elevation of his works to the status of Holy Writ. Tolkien is good, yes. But Tolkien is not a god. If I had a dime for every book review I've read or heard that started out with something like "Well, it was OK, but it was sure no Tolkien." or something like that... well, I would have a heck of a lot of dimes. Tolkien put a lot of effort into his works, no question. But when it comes down to it, I don't really care if we can trace the lineage of the family of whoever, or if the elven language has no verbs (It does, just saying)... I'm interested in the story he wrote. And, frankly, Tolkien is not the best STORY I've ever read in fantasy. Good? Yeah. First? Pretty much, yeah, at least of what we consider "modern fantasy". Are many aspects of later literature based off Tolkien? Yeah, no question. But is Tolkien, as a storyteller, untouchable? No, not as far as I'm concerned.

/rant off

Rebuttal, short and sweet: I'm not a fancy college kid. I know what I like, though, and while Moorcock is great, to me he's on the level with Terry Brooks and Piers Anthony. Which is to say, pulp fantasy.

 

[Mystic Eye]

It's a toss up, I guess. I've always figured it was probably a +1 sword or therabouts, but it could just be masterwork. But, then, I didn't say it had to be magical, just named. I was just using magic weapons as examples.

Yeah, if it is non-magical it does not hold up (in power) to the others. It sounds like a very cool looking masterwork sword to me. Magic is so low key in that series it is hard to say sometimes if something is magic or not.