What is a Fantasy Sword?

Have you ever thought of being able to hold the legendary blade of King Aragorn of Gondor in your hands? Perhaps you’ve longed for Conan the Barbarian’s sword or the one Harry Potter used to slay the Basilisk. Fortunately, you don’t have to just lust after these fictional or fantasy sword types. They’re available from many vendors and are recreated from the fantasies spun in movies or books.

A fantasy sword is essentially a sword inspired by a particular fantasy film, book or sometimes even video game or cartoon. Sometimes the swords are made from cartoons, especially Japanese ones, which are called Anime swords instead. Usually, a fantasy sword is meant to be looked at or displayed and held very carefully.

These are collectibles rather than weapons; they aren’t suited to combat of any kind and most of them don’t have sharp blades. This doesn’t mean you can’t accidentally hurt someone if you start swinging around a fantasy sword. Think of them more as decoration than weapons.

Typically the most common fantasy sword types are those based on very popular films, and you’ll find many companies that offer various swords. They will range in price from less than a hundred US Dollars (USD) to over several hundred USD. Price often depends on the materials use to make the sword and types of extra decorations or details that are either expensive and/or time consuming.

Sometimes people categorize fantasy swords in different ways. They’ll refer to movie swords as “movie swords,” and simply call anything not based on a fantasy work, myth or on history, as a fantasy sword. This can be complicated if you’re trying to search for a specific sword from a film. To aid you in your search, simply look up the type of sword you want. For instance a search to find Aragorn’s sword, Anduril, will reveal lots of companies that make and sell various versions of this sword.

Of course, the other type of fantasy sword that is popular is made for kids, usually out of plastic. These may come with knight costumes or be sold alone, and they might be part of merchandising for a favorite film. There are plenty of simple plastic fantasy swords that aren’t based on a particular fantasy invention. These may make wonderful toys in imaginative play, but children should also be enjoined not to swing these toys at each other.