The creation of fantasy weapons -or at least their naming-is largely based on psychological reasons. The purpose was to strengthen the confidence of the wielder in his weapon, or the weapon itself through different means. Thor, the Viking god of war, is distinctive only because of his hammer, Mjolnir. The sword Excalibur was King Arthur's primary weapon and symbol of royalty. Without it, he cannot be England's rightful heir to the throne after Uther Pendragon, his father. In Asia, any Japanese family's claim to the royal throne is bolstered by possession of the Imperial Regalia which includes the sword Kusanagi.
To make them supernatural and the wielder invincible, the weapons are endowed with magical or extraordinary powers either actually or in legends. Roland has the indestructible Durendal as his most cherished war companion. The sword Dyrnwyn of Welsh legends was said to flame up with fire when used by worthy warriors, but consumes the wielder with fire is he uses it for evil purposes. The Irish legends have Fragarach, owned by the god of the seas, a sword that can smite medieval armour or any kind, no matter how impenetrable the armor is by any other sword or weapon.
In the more modern times, two fantasy world war weapons may be the Me262 'Schwalbe' or the Me163 'Komet', and the 'Paris Gun' which was often confused with the 'Big Bertha'. The Messerschmitt 262 Swallow was the first jetfighter to see air combat and bring down an enemy plane around mid-1944 (in contrast to the British Gloster Meteor which was assigned combat roles only in late 1944). The Swallow began combat operations in the middle of 1944, and one 262 damaged a Mosquito in 26 July as the jetplane's first combat win. In contrast, the Meteor scored its first wins when it downed two V1 weapons on August 4, 1944. The rocket-armed Komet, a jetplane faster than the Swallow, saw limited role in the air war and did not figure prominently in it.
Meantime, the Paris Gun (Paris-Geschtz) was a long-barrel siege gun used to pound Paris, 120 kilometers away, in World War 1. It was meant as a psychological weapon to scare Parisians into evacuating the city or ceasing resistance to the German military advance. Perhaps the gun was successful, because the Parisians thought they were being bombarded by a new kind of Zeppelin dirigible since no sound was heard prior to the fall of the projectiles. On the other hand, Paris was not evacuated by civilians, and the German Army failed to occupy the city.
Fantasy weapons are by definition the fanciful or fantastic, or at least thought to be so. They are imbued with extraordinary powers or capabilities by the user, enough to become superior to comparable ones. Legend, fictional or real, fantasy weapons serve to bolster the confidence of the wielder, inspire the nation or group, and create a hero figure which aspiring minds can identify with. In stories and books, heroes using such weapons are usually triumphant or come to a tragic, romantic end such as Roland, but in real life, fantastic weapons most times fail to achieve the lofty purposes they were made for.
To make them supernatural and the wielder invincible, the weapons are endowed with magical or extraordinary powers either actually or in legends. Roland has the indestructible Durendal as his most cherished war companion. The sword Dyrnwyn of Welsh legends was said to flame up with fire when used by worthy warriors, but consumes the wielder with fire is he uses it for evil purposes. The Irish legends have Fragarach, owned by the god of the seas, a sword that can smite medieval armour or any kind, no matter how impenetrable the armor is by any other sword or weapon.
In the more modern times, two fantasy world war weapons may be the Me262 'Schwalbe' or the Me163 'Komet', and the 'Paris Gun' which was often confused with the 'Big Bertha'. The Messerschmitt 262 Swallow was the first jetfighter to see air combat and bring down an enemy plane around mid-1944 (in contrast to the British Gloster Meteor which was assigned combat roles only in late 1944). The Swallow began combat operations in the middle of 1944, and one 262 damaged a Mosquito in 26 July as the jetplane's first combat win. In contrast, the Meteor scored its first wins when it downed two V1 weapons on August 4, 1944. The rocket-armed Komet, a jetplane faster than the Swallow, saw limited role in the air war and did not figure prominently in it.
Meantime, the Paris Gun (Paris-Geschtz) was a long-barrel siege gun used to pound Paris, 120 kilometers away, in World War 1. It was meant as a psychological weapon to scare Parisians into evacuating the city or ceasing resistance to the German military advance. Perhaps the gun was successful, because the Parisians thought they were being bombarded by a new kind of Zeppelin dirigible since no sound was heard prior to the fall of the projectiles. On the other hand, Paris was not evacuated by civilians, and the German Army failed to occupy the city.
Fantasy weapons are by definition the fanciful or fantastic, or at least thought to be so. They are imbued with extraordinary powers or capabilities by the user, enough to become superior to comparable ones. Legend, fictional or real, fantasy weapons serve to bolster the confidence of the wielder, inspire the nation or group, and create a hero figure which aspiring minds can identify with. In stories and books, heroes using such weapons are usually triumphant or come to a tragic, romantic end such as Roland, but in real life, fantastic weapons most times fail to achieve the lofty purposes they were made for.
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