The Swordsman of Fantasy 

In medieval fantasy settings, and even futuristic fantasy worlds, writers lean toward swords or sword-like weapons as a favored choice. As writers, it's important to convey realistic detail so readers see the sword in their mind's eye, feel it and know how to use it. Fantasy writers must learn how to verbally swing, slash, jab, jump, gyrate, tumble and roll through the acrobatics necessary to avoid the blade of an enemy while engaging the rules of honor that dictate honorable swordsmen behavior. (What is honorable may change from one world to the next.)

Fantasy Character Skills

Equip fantasy characters with needed skills and resources to make the plot work. Swords make interesting weapons; the fight becomes personal—face-to-face. Samurai swordsmen prized their swords, how does your character feel? Does his sword hold sentimental, spiritual, mystical or superstitious value? Did the character inherit it, earn it, buy it or find it?

Samurai also carried a smaller sword thrust through their belts. Defensive strategy positioned this smaller sword with the cutting edge upward. This allowed swordsmen to deliver a swift, lethal blow from scabbard to target in one move. When the enemy pins your character into a tight situation, what avenue of escape have you created? What skill sets does your character have to fall back on? Research history for interesting techniques, mixing and matching skills to create a unique warrior type character (even a reluctant warrior).

How do soldiers or military characters move about your fantasy world? Do they ride steeds? March in rows? Travel in an underground tunnel system? Roman soldiers traveled on foot. Each one carried a short sword, a dagger, a spear and a shield. Soldiers' backpacks included provisions like cooking pots, bedding and enough food to last up to three days. How do your characters survive in the field? Do they travel in troops or is your character a lone wolf? Does almost everyone carry a sword or is that reserved for an elect group?

In the realm you've created, who fights and why? Is every character equal? Is slavery permitted? Is war a military function? In ancient Rome, slaves captured in battle could sometimes earn freedom by fighting wild animals in the arena as gladiators.

Training Your Fantasy Character to Fight

Train fantasy characters to fight (even if it is by default). What does your character need to know? Training techniques followed by squires in medieval times make a useful how to for preparing your fantasy character for battle. Squires practiced sword against a pell (a wooden post or tree trunk). This ancient training device served as a target. One training technique required practice with weapons double the weight of those use in combat.  This built muscle. Time spent one on one with a tree trunk also provided plenty of thinking time and introspection.

Training time for fantasy characters develops the appeal, integrity and charm of the protagonist or the opposite where the antagonist is involved. They change not only physically but psychologically, learning that they are someone different than when the training began.

Consider the time Luke Skywalker (Star Wars) trained under the revered Jedi Master, Yoda, on the swamp planet Dagobah. The weather and wildlife made for an arduous training site, but through it viewers learned and grew with Luke Skywalker. Luke leaves the planet pondering future possibilities as he sorts out visions and magical powers available to fight the Dark Side. Through this training, viewers understand the fantasy technology enough to comprehend how lightsabers work, that Luke's technique still needs honing and to recognize those fighting on the Dark Side and that the path of a Jedi is difficult. His training added to tension and conflict within the plot.

Another medieval training event included putting. Today we are most familiar with the shot put event. Putting requires throwing in a pushing motion. Squires practiced throwing big stones--the stone put. It increased strength and stamina. Writers can take an event like this and make it their own. The Jedi accomplish this feat with their minds. Depending on culture and technology, the throw can include objects and rules that work to move the plot along.

Don't limit training to these two events. Do some research.

Well Rounded Characters

Develop characters with strengths and weaknesses. No one is proficient at everything. A squire's training covered everything from code of conduct to social skills including courtly etiquette, dancing and jousting. They practiced fighting with sword and buckler, learned acrobatics, fighting with a quarterstaff and how to operate siege weaponry.

Each aspect of training offers room for the plot and characters to take new direction. A character full of self-confidence on the practice field may feel shy and even timid on the dance floor. As a whole, the sum of experience should take your character from boy to man, girl to woman or man to changed man and so on. The process engages the reader, make them care, and keeps them reading to learn what happens next.

Swords in Fantasy

In fantasies like The Sword and the Stone by T. H. White, Arthur went through this maturing process. The sword plays an integral role within the plot when the king dies without an heir. The prophetic blade found thrust through an anvil on a stone in London bears an inscription that presents the central theme of the story. "Whoso Pulleth Out the Sword of the Stone and Anvil, is Rightwise King Born of All England."

In fantasy, the sword itself can take on a role almost as if it is a character. In T. J. Glenn's Warrior Priest, crystal swords grown magically from the blood of the warrior make the weapon uniquely part of the warrior. Swords grown from blood crystal connect with the owner almost as if it is part of their body.

In Star Wars, the sword-like lightsaber forms a blade-like shaft of pure energy. It hums, shimmers and can cut through almost anything in the hands of a Jedi. The magical element of the Force allows the Jedi to predict and deflect incoming blaster fire. The color of the energy forming the blade tells viewers whether the energy is from the Dark Side or the Force.

Crafting a Fantasy Sword

Fantasy writers involving a sword as a significant part of the story line must make the weapon unique and interesting. In medieval times, the sword served as the knight's main weapon. Is the sword in your story the main weapon or a treasure sought? Consider what the fantasy sword can do, what it can't do, and what your character knows and needs to learn.

Here's a bit of detail to consider as you fashion a sword on the anvil of imagination. Double-edged swords bore a groove called a fuller that runs the length of the blade making it lighter. Decorative handles also worked as counter weights making the sword easier to handle. However, if your character is fighting futuristic armor plated foes, more pointed swords make for better thrusting through gaps between the plates.

Historically, sword handles included decorative details like fish-tails, fig-shapes, and other unique-shaped pommels. Take an element unique to your fantasy world and incorporate it in the sword—stamp it with the maker's mark. As you design the sword handle, think of your character's fighting style. Handles for one-handed swords were shorter, whereas swords built for two hands added enough length to be gripped by two hands.