Varyrian steel - what is it? Valyrian steel sword

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

For several years now, the whole planet has been following the events of the television series "Game of Thrones" with bated breath. Everything is here: beautiful ladies, valiant knights, dragons and even ice zombies. And the most reliable weapon, capable of killing even immortal monsters, is a Valyrian steel sword.

The Magical World of Game of Thrones

All the characters in Game of Thrones (as well as the series of books on which the script is based) live in a fictional fantasy world in an era similar to our Middle Ages. In total, there are four known continents in this world. The most important events take place on one of them - Westeros. There are seven kingdoms here, and in the north of them, a giant ice wall was erected many centuries ago, which, according to legend, should protect the inhabitants of the kingdoms from mythical immortal creatures - the White Walkers. However, no one has seen these monsters for many years, so the Wall now serves as a defense against the wild northern tribes, who do not want to live by the laws of the kingdoms and prefer to raid peaceful farmers and small cities.

Summer and winter in Westeros last for many years. At the beginning of the saga, the ten-year summer ends, and soon a harsh multi-year winter should come. In addition, another war for power is starting on the continent, and there are rumors that the White Walkers have reappeared.

They are gathering armies of ice zombies and preparing to attack the world of the living. But the careless noble families, busy fighting for the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms, do not pay attention to all these rumors, but in vain. After all, none of the living knows how to defeat the immortal evil spirits that are about to attack the inhabitants of Westeros. And although in ancient times people defeated the White Walkers, no one remembers how. There are rumors that it has something to do with dragons, but they were thought to be extinct when the TV series began.

Varyrian steel - what is it?

The legendary type of metal is also associated with dragons, swords from which have been highly valued since ancient times. Only the ancient craftsmen of Valyria held the secret to making this special steel. Hence the name of the metal - Valyrian steel.

In ancient times, swords and other items made from this metal cost a lot of money and were available only to we althy people. At the time of the beginning of the Game of Thrones, the secret of manufacturing had long been lost. The last copies of swords made of this metal were kept by noble noble families and passed down by inheritance. Possession of such a sword has always been very prestigious.

In addition to swords, other products were made from this metal, for example, daggers (Petir hadBaelish), battle axes, regular skinning knives (belonging to the Bolton family), crowns and more.

Origin of Valyrian Steel

Varyrian steel is an artificial material made by human hands. In the nature of Westeros and other continents of the magical world, it does not occur. The ore from which steel was subsequently smelted was mined, according to legend, in the mines of the Fourteen Fires. Then it was tempered and reforged a huge number of times. This process often took years.

Legends of Westeros claimed that Valerian steel was melted in the fire of dragons, and then tempered with the help of ancient spells. With the disappearance of dragons, magic metal was also soon discontinued. Although Valyrian steel could be reforged in remote places (Qohor), the secret of its manufacture has disappeared.

Distinctive features of this metal

Valyrian steel products are incredibly strong yet light and sharp. There is no need to sharpen such swords.

The color of this metal is dark, gray-black, on the surface you can see patterns from numerous forgings, like damask steel.

Also, Valyrian steel is always satin-finished, no matter how much polish it is.

In rare cases, it is possible to achieve a reddish tint from such steel (the reforged Starks ancestral sword has acquired a scarlet hue).

Valyrian steel swords

Most often, swords were made from this "dragon metal", since the properties of Valyrian steel made it very effective in battle. The possession of such a weapon for a knight was a symbol of success and we alth. After the secret of making was lost, there were more than two hundred such swords left in Westeros. At the beginning of the series, many of them were lost.

To get such a sword, the knights either bought them from the impoverished nobles, or went to look for them in the ruins of Valyria. Sometimes the swords were given to the owner after the battle. For example, after the death of Eddard Stark and his son Robb, their ancestral Valyrian steel sword was reforged into two others, one of which went to the owner of the Iron Throne, and the other to Jaime Lannister, and after that to the female knight Brienne.

Feature of the production of Valyrian steel swords

Since the secret of making Valerian steel was lost with the disappearance of the dragons, no new items made from this metal appeared either in Westeros or on other continents. Blacksmiths from Qohor learned how to reforge old swords into new ones, but even they did not succeed in recreating the magic metal.

Believing that Valyrian steel was made so by the magical properties of the dragon flames in which it was forged, the Qohor smiths tried to recreate the magical fire and even made human sacrifices for this, but they did not succeed.

The most famous Valyrian steel swords in Westeros

Although Archmaester Thurgood's list showed that there were about two hundred and twenty-seven "dragonmetal" swords left in Westeros, the reality was far fewer. Almost all known such blades hadproper names.

The most famous swords at the beginning of the saga belonged to noble knights. Among them is Eddard Stark. He had an ancestral sword called Ice. After the death of the hero, he went to his eldest son Robb, and after that he was reforged into two other blades - Widow's Lament and True to the Oath.

The Mormont line had a Valyrian steel sword called Longclaw. As Lord Commander in Castle Black on the Wall, one of the members of this family gave the legendary blade not to his son, but to the Stark bastard, Jon Snow.

The Lannisters had their own magical metal heirloom sword, Lightroar. In olden times it was purchased for a huge amount, but during a campaign in Valyria, one of the Lannisters disappeared along with the owner. All attempts to find him were unsuccessful. Therefore, when the Stark Ice came to Tywin Lannister, he ordered two new family swords of his kind to be made from it.

Many other noble families also had such blades at their disposal: Tarly (Heartbreaker), Harlow (Dusk), Corbei (Forsaken Lady), Drammas (Crimson Rain), Hightowers (Vigilance), Roxtons (Orphans Maker) and others.

There were also legendary Valyrian steel swords that were missing. The most famous among these lost relics are the Targaryen family blades Black Flame (disappeared somewhere outside of Westeros) and the Dark Sister (belonged tolegendary Visenya Targaryen).

Varyrian Steel vs White Walkers

In the entire magical world, there were no better swords than "dragon metal". Due to the incredible lightness of such blades in battle, the hands got tired much less, which often helped to win the fight. However, such a sword had another advantage, which the inhabitants of Westeros simply forgot about for many centuries.

Jon Snow's close friend, Sam Tarly, once found in old books a story about an ancient hero slaying the White Walkers with a "dragon metal" sword. Putting all the facts together, Sam and John theorized that Valyrian steel killed the Walkers, although they never had a chance to test their assumptions in the book of the series.

Meanwhile, in the television series Game of Thrones, the writers gave John a chance to test his assumption: during the battle, only his Longclaw sword did not crumble, but was able to kill one of the White Walkers.

The opinion of scientists about the secret of Valyrian steel

Legendary and ruthless to his heroes, the creator of the world of "Game of Thrones" George Martin said that Valyrian steel is akin to damask steel.

However, according to modern materials scientists, no metal alloy is capable of possessing the properties of "dragon metal". But such advantages are in metal-ceramic alloys. In particular, of the materials currently known to science, Valyrian steel is most similar in its properties to titanium silicon carbide.

The Game of Thrones series celebrated its fifth anniversary in 2015. Despite this "respectable age", he continues to be popular. There is a lot of controversy among fans about the various characters, events, or items in the Game of Thrones television series. Valyrian steel and its incredible properties are often discussed on the forums, and many believe that towards the end of the epic, the secret of this metal will be revealed.