So you want to name a gish class…

[Fifth Element]

It's something of a D&D-ism in and of itself that a wizardly character wouldn't just use a sword. At least provided they needed one (in many stories, being a wielder of magic is all the power you need, or else it isn't but it is socially powerful enough that you have henchmen to do your fighting for you). This leads to my basic issue -- compound words are a pain, but they really are appropriate. A wizard who also fights (with non-wizard abilities) is a two-concept characterization.

Absolutely. D&D very often does tend to get bogged down by its sacred cows. D&D wizards don't reflect fiction or mythology or folklore, because they're their own thing. They're wargaming cannons reskinned into fantasy units, then morphed into fantasy characters.

 

[Willie the Duck]

A sorcerer could also be a great swordsmen. Elric and Kane are classic examples of such characters, and they are always called sorcerers.
You never really see that with characters called wizards.

Excepting Gandalf* as the OP mentions. That said, I think part of this is that there aren't that many characters previous to D&D that are consistently called wizards. The next most iconic magic user in my mind (other than the witches/wizardesses of Oz, mentioned above) is Merlin, and wikipedia even calls him a 'magic man' as opposed to wizard (also, when I searched google for 'wizard wikipedia,' it sends me to 'Magician (fantasy)'). Prospero, and Cugel fit the D&D disctinction--gaining their powers through study as opposed to bloodlin, pacts, or ill-defined means, but even they aren't actually called wizard. I'm thinking it could be that there are roughly the same proportion of sword-wielding wizards and sorcerers, but the later term as a whole are simply more prevalent.
*yes, everyone who is about to jump in, he's an angel/Maiar. Good job, thank you. I would posit that he's an angel cosplaying as a wizard, and the people of Middle Earth recognize him as a wizard who uses a sword, so he fits for the OP purpose.

 

[Yora]

(Gandalf is a shapechanged solar anyway... )

 

[CleverNickName]

Well, I think you're wise to avoid compound terms like "spell sword," since Hexblade is a thing already. (That's the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of "a swordsman who can use magic.")

Honestly, I'd probably just give a Sorcerer some better weapon and armor proficiencies.

 

[jdrakeh]

For me, the word "Warlock" embodies "sword-wielding magic-user" (as does the 5e class to some degree).

 

[Gammadoodler]

Are all compounds off limits? Got stuff like shadowdancers bladeweavers, etc. where the name suggests a style. Alternatively maybe something like dervish or skald?

 

[DeviousQuail]

Are all compounds off limits? Got stuff like shadowdancers bladeweavers, etc. where the name suggests a style. Alternatively maybe something like dervish?

Dervish reminds me of my Guild Wars days. Scythe wielding mystic warriors that can change into avatars of the gods. What's not to love?

 

[GreyLord]

Sword Wielding Magic User you say???

Jedi...or Sith.

You choose.

Something less Space Opera???

How about a Warlock? They were feared by the lay Church, pursued by the Clergy, and Thought to be the Male version of a Witch...and plenty of them (the Male Warlocks) used swords in stories as well as many other types of weapons.

That's a tale that goes back at least a few centuries to the 16th century if not earlier.

Prior to that we had the Asiatic Hordes, that had their Sword Wielding Generals who also wove powerful magics (probably more akin to gunpowder and things like that appearing to the ignorant masses of the West...but hey) in fireballs and explosions against those who opposed them. So...Warlords? Generals?

Sorcerers...didn't really use weapons from what I recall. They were more...drug users? They would sniff fumes or other things to see visions and futures and other sorts of magical enchantments. Not Highly viewed upon by the early Christians and Judaic peoples. They were actually rather condemned in their writings. Normally not sword wielders anciently...more like...druggies...visionaries...and dealers of the unseen.

You had the Paladins (most famous from Charlemagne's Paladins who were sort of like the Apostles...but in relation to Charlemagne), but they didn't really have much magic. They were more Holy Knights to the Holy Roman Emperor, and much of their stories are that of legends and myths (sort of like King Arthur and his knights of the round table, but a little bit more substantial as we have actual historical facts, or at least evidence of who and what Charlemagne and his court was).

 

[aramis erak]

Warrior-Mage or Warlock are the ones that evoke the image for me.
Due to prior games, Sorcerer for me evokes demon-binding summoners.

 

[Jack Daniel]

Are all compounds off limits? Got stuff like shadowdancers bladeweavers, etc. where the name suggests a style.

Pretty much. To lend a bit more context to the project, I'm reworking a game with a very simple class system. Four base classes, each of which can promote into either of two sub-classes. So I want to keep the names very archetypical; I don't want to use any silly-sounding nounverber compounds at all (because I personally and intensely dislike them); and for the sake of keeping the rules of the game concise and the various elements easy to abbreviate, I'm not letting any two classes or sub-classes start with the same letter.

So right at the moment, the base classes are called Fighter, Rogue, Healer, and Mage. The sub-classes (for the time being) are called Knight and Assassin (from Fighter), Corsair and Outlaw (from Rogue), Priest and Templar (from Healer), and Wizard and Sorcerer (from Mage). Each is intended to be a bit of a dichotomy of specialization: for example, the Priest will emphasize healing magic vs. the Templar having more melee skills; and right now, I'm leaning to the Wizard being the analogous arcane magic specialist vs. the Sorcerer being the more melee-oriented arcane type.

"Dervish" isn't a bad alternative, although I do tend to associate that word more with clergy.