Greatest sword women

[Ed Chan]

How...disturbing. Hehe.
How about Roger, the Stan Lee Experience?

[Smith, J.]

only found one joke on my search for who roger was and it didnt look that funny.

[Sam Barris]

Ok, as it has been pointed out, Eowyn is from Lord of the Rings. Her claim to fame is that she slew the Lord of the Nazgul, also known as the Witch King of Angmar... with a sword, no less. I wasn't too impressed with how she was portrayed in film. She was much cooler in the book.

Penthesilea entered the Trojan War after the death of Hektor, which leaves her out of the Iliad, but she's mentioned in at least one battlefield flashback in the Aeneid. Achilleus fell in love with her as he was killing her, and was really sad about it afterwards. By all accounts, she was an excellent fighter.

I hope this clears up any confusion.

[Ed Chan]

Roger's no joke. He's a straight-shooter.

Eowyn in the films could have used more attention to her role as a shield maiden. She seemed a bit wishy washy. Don't forget Merry's help!

[Smith, J.]

how is the elf one spelled and how does it sound?

[Sam Barris]

Eowyn wasn't an elf, she was human. It's spelled exactly how I spelled it. It's pronounced kind of like eh-ah-win, with the ah being the understated syllable.

You might just read the books. They're very good.

[Smith, J.]

exactly how its spelt?

[Smith, J.]

so whats the liv talor elf?

i thought erwin looked kinda clumsy with a sword in lotr especial right after she says "i'm no man"

i understand the books are mostly writen from a theological standpoint. is that so?

[Sam Barris]

Liv Tyler's character was named Arwen. Also spelled just like that.

And yeah, that's one of many reasons why I liked her better in the books. IMHO, Peter Jackson messed up a lot of things about a lot of characters. Arwen, for example, was not a swordswoman, or swordswo'elf, if you prefer.

But drawing the thread back to the topic, there was a real-life female pirate captain named Grace O'Malley during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. I'll try to do more digging and see if there are any interesting tidbits about her floating around. And then there's always Jean D'arc. Unless this was just about fantasy women...

[Kirstin Wright]

There's also a whole bunch of Valkyries to consider!
I don't have their names to hand right now, but such is my contribution.

[Sam Barris]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valkyrie

There are quite a few...

[Andreas Volk]

OK - Tomoe did not make it to mainstream movies (not that I'm aware of) and she isn't that "pure fantasy either"
... more a legend with maybe "some truth" in between ...
But i liked her adaptation in "the Golden Naginata" the only book by Jessica Salmonson I've ever read .. think it
was a trilogy.

here what wiki has to tell about Tomoe

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomoe_Gozen

edited: if this is a "redhead sword women only" thread - please ignore my comment - I doubt that Tomoe had red hair

[Andreas Volk]

One description of a "sword woman" that did really capture me is "Brienne of Tarth" in George R.R. Martins
"Song of Ice and Fire" series.
... for several reasons ...

The lands of "westeros" are extremely "medieval" in their culture including the female / male role model.
In that world Martin created a female knight who doesn't disrupt this "male society".
Brienne neither seems "out of place" nor does she destroy the concept of the world and its social structure.

The second reason is that she is one of the few female warriors who isn't "drop dead gorgeous" ... so she isn't there
to satisfy "standard" fantasies

... and she is one of the few "true knights" in that story. With stubborn loyality she sticks to here promises and oaths, even
if those will cost her life - while most of the other knights are selfish.

Andreas

[Smith, J.]

i dont see this as a fictional only thread, however, the first post didn't say joan of arc, instead, it said a few fictional charicters (i can really only guess, i've no idea who those names belonged to. they could be real for all i know.) it said only "greatest sword woman." a fictional charicter could be that as they would have inspired women to greatness and men to....... you know damn well

but nothing says swords, cutlery, and weaponz, better than conan. this girl is the clear winner.

sandahl bregman who starred as valeria, the queen of thieves.

The second reason is that she is one of the few female warriors who isn't "drop dead gorgeous" ... so she isn't there
to satisfy "standard" fantasies

you forgot this girl. personaly i think she's kinda ugly. ugly is great too!

[Andreas Volk]

well, beauty lives in the eye of the beholder

... you forgot this girl. personaly i think she's kinda ugly. ugly is great too!

if your comment did refer to the character portrayed by Sandahl Bergman i thought quite different
when watching the movie first ... and i even do think so when watching it now.
But that is based very personal preferences ... as you already pointed out

regards

Andreas

[Smith, J.]

sexiest swords woman thread is located here i've just found. i was wondering why the emphasis changed slightly. two different topics in two different forum sub sects. perhaps there should be a "sexually driven posts" sub sect. or some variation there of

[Grace M.]

As a female who aspires to being a swordswoman, Keladry of Mindelan (Protector of the Small by Tamora Pierce) once fueled my pre-teen mind as someone to admire the heck out of. Unlike other of Pierce's characters, Kel doesn't have magic and has to get by on strength alone in a world mostly governed by males.

And what about Mulan? A kid's movie, but still one of my favourites. Mulan is a wholesome and strong character, who kicks butt with a sword.

[Smith, J.]

oh yeah i likes that movie. wasnt eddy murphy in that as the flying donkey or something?

[Lee Cordochorea]

Eddie Murphy gave voice to Mushu the Dragon in Mulan. He did the donky in Shrek.

Since we've slid into TV and motion pictures in our quest for great (whether sexy or not) fictional swordswomen, how about Emma Peel? (Either version?)

[Arnold Beever]

I am surprised that none of our English cousings have nominated Boudica (sp?) Queen of the Celts.

She really kicked Roman **s a few centuries ago. She brought all the waring tribes together and led a revolt against the Romans.

A real warrior.

Arnold B

[M.C.Allen]

Anglica Huston, Ice Pirates
Stupid Rapier Tricks
Cool (in every way) Character

[Smith, J.]

i dunno. didnt she have a chastity droid or something? how humiliating is that?

[Laurie Wise]

Sometime back I wrote an essay if there were "Warrior Women" back in Viking times (or pre Viking Age) for a PC game site. The upshot was there was some evidence, maybe. Some women's graves were found with swords in them without evidence of male skeletons. It makes you wonder about those old stories.

Here is an abstract of what I wrote that does fit the subject of this thread:

In the 13th Century, the Danish scholar and cleric, Saxo Grammaticus, wrote of such legendary warrior women in his "History of the Danes" and used many references known to him while recounting them from Denmark's pagan past. Although he disapproved of women acting in this way and characteristically, most of his "warrior women" ended in some kind of defeat. Like many a churchman, he saw only one possible role for women, still his recounting show a sort of national pride. He opens his discussions this way:

"There were once women in Denmark who dressed themselves to look like men and spent almost every minute cultivating soldier's skills; they did not want the sinews of their valor to lose tautness and be infected by self-indulgence. Loathing a dainty style of living, they would harden body and mind with toil and endurance, rejecting the fickle pliancy of girls and compelling their womanish spirits to act with a virile ruthlessness. They courted military celebrity so earnestly that you would have guessed they unsexed themselves. Those especially who had forceful personalities or were tall and elegant embarked on this way of life. As if they were forgetful of their true selves they put toughness before allure, aimed at conflicts instead of kisses, tasted blood, not lips, sought the clash of arms rather than the arm's embrace, fitted to weapons hands which should have been weaving, desired not the couch but the kill, and those they could have appeased with looks they attack with lances". (Books 1-9)

Well, I did say he certainly disapproved of them. But from this opening, we learn of "Sela, a warring amazon and accomplished pirate" and of "Lathgertha, a skilled female fighter, who bore a man's temper in a girl's body; with locks flowing loose over her shoulders she would do battle n the forefront of the valiant warriors." She also became the companion of, then wife to and finally divorced from, the famous Viking hero Ragnar Lodbrok and yet still came to his aid in battle when:"....With a measure of vitality at odds with her tender frame, roused the mettle of the faltering soldiery by a splendid exhibition of bravery. She flew round the rear of the unprepared enemy in a circling maneuver and carried the panic which had been felt by the allies into the camp of their adversaries".

In the Battle of Bravoll, we learn of Hetha (Heid) and Visna (Visma), "whose female bodies Nature had endowed with manly courage', and Vebiorg (Vebjorg), "instilled with the same spirit" who led armies of men on the Danish side, with Hetha in charge of the Harald Wartooth's right flank and Visna as his standard bearer. Visna and Vebjorg are killed in the battle, but Hetha survives to be given part of Denmark to rule under King Hring (Wartooth's nephew). There are others mentioned like Rusila who, "had frequent clashes with her brother Thrond for the throne of Norway" and had "set her sights on nothing less than the sovereignty of Denmark." She eventually succumbs to the Danish king, despite a series of military successes.

In another story is a princess Alvild whose mother had poisoned her mind about her suitor, Prince Alf, and goes running off and: "changed into man's clothing and from being a highly virtuous maiden began to lead the life of a savage pirate. Many girls of the same persuasion had enrolled in her company by the time she chanced to arrive at a spot where a band of pirates were mourning the loss of their leader, who had been killed fighting. Because of her beauty she was elected the pirate chief and performed feats beyond a woman's courage." She and Alf finally do meet up in battle and he compelled her to change back and become his wife. Later she had a daughter by him named Gurith. Later, Gurith follows in her mother's footsteps by taking part in a battle herself with less effect.

Saxo's later Books (10-16) deal with more contemporary history and the only women mentioned there are the mothers, sisters, wives, concubines and daughters of Danish and other kings. Although his "History" is written in Latin and might have been influenced, to some extent, by Classical "Amazon" models, he drew much of his material from native Scandinavian sources and makes notes, especially in his preface, the "diligence of the men in Iceland" and composed a large part of his work by copying their narratives. Many of his tales in the first nine books have parallels in Old Norse literature.

From another source (Saga of Hervor and King Heidrek the Wise) is written about the Battle of Dunheildi. Hervor, the sister of King Angantyr, led an army out from her burgh against a large army led by Hlod. "When Hervor saw that her men fell she became exceedingly angry, and slew six men and horses to the right and left. She was more like a lion than a man to look at. Were a man ever so valiant to meet her, he found his death"

She finally died fighting and was buried with honors on a mound by the leader of the attackers.

"Shield Maidens" and "Valkyries" tend to get confused. Valkyries take the slain back to Odin (in some references, they take half to Odin and the other half to Freya's Folkvanger hall.) Although portrayed with weapons, they never use them. Shield Maidens are said to ride with them and do use weapons sometimes. Mostly act as teachers and guides to the heroes. Sigrun to Helgi Hundingsbana for example. Sigdrifa to Sigmund is another.

As it is, we only have tales, Sagas and other sources to point the way. But in these are the kernels of truth that myths are based on.

[Smith, J.]

valkeries were more caporialy known as the carrion eating crow dont forget.

not sure if that made them great or rather fearsom.

[Laurie Wise]

In one drapa, they are described as weaving a tapestry made of human entrails on a loom made from bones and skulls during a battle in Ireland.

They could be fearsome.