<B>Balmung</b> was a magical sword used by Odin, who, in all his incredible wisdom, plunged it into the sacred oak tree Branstock and declared that he who could pull it out would be destined to be victorious in all his future business endeavors (war). Incidentally, it was Sigmund, the youngest of the Volsung princes, who managed to pull it out, completing the whole King Arthur parallel.

<b>Blutgang</b>, meaning "blood fetcher," was the sword wielded by the Norse giant Heime.

<b>Dainslef</b> was a sword from Norse mythology that, once drawn, required bloodshed.

<b>Durandal</b> was Roland's very unbreakable, very forged-by-fairies weapon in the Medieval epic, Song of Roland. It could cleave men in two easily, which is really something you're going to want your sword to do when you're the central character of a Medieval epic. Its golden hilt reportedly hid four sacred relics--the tooth of Peter the Apostle, the blood of St. Basil, strands of hair from St. Denis, and a piece of garment worn by the Virgin Mary. Good stuff.

<b>Gram</b> isn't remembered for being a great sword so much as it is remembered for being wielded by great men. Odin first gave it to Sigmund, who passed it on to Sigurd, who was the legendary hero of Norse mythology's Volsung Saga. Its name means "grief," if you were wondering.

<b>Hrunting</b> was the sword given to Beowulf by Unferth to slay Grendel's mom in that other epic poem, Beowulf. Unfortunately, it turned out to be completely useless, but Beowulf killed Ma Grendel anyway and then was nice enough not to tell Unferth about how badly his sword sucked.

<b>Joyeuse</b>, a.k.a. the Fusberta Joyosa, was Charlemagne's sword in the Song of Roland. Like Durandal, its golden hilt hid a sacred relic--this time, the tip of the Lance of Longinus, which pierced Jesus Christ's side after he had been crucified at Golgotha.

<b>Kusanagi</b> is to Japan what Excalibur is to Britain. The whole story can be found <a href="http://kusanagi.wikiverse.org/">here</a>, but the basic idea is that the god Susano found the sword inside the body of this nasty eight-headed serpent he was killing. It was never used until generations later, after it had passed through other people's hands, but when it was, it was discovered that the wind would adhere to the direction in which it was slashed, which, in addition to being awesome, was helpful in spreading fires against one's enemies. It remained as a treasure of the Imperial family until the twelfth century or so, where it was lost to the sea along with the two other Imperial Treasures of Japan as part of a mass seppuku.

<b>Laevateinn</b> was the sword that Surt the fire giant was supposed to use at Ragnarök, the Norse End of All Things.

<b>Nosada</b> is also known as Izumi no Kami Kanesada, which was also the name of the guy who forged it. Like Masamune, this sword this guy made is fairly legendary, and was apparently used by Hijikata Toshizou, who is kind of a badass in nineteenth century Japanese history.

An <b>Osafune</b> is any sword forged by Bizen Osafune, another revered swordsmith, this one from the early twelfth century--"the Kamakura Period" if you want to sound cultured.

<b>Tyrfing</b> is a cursed sword forged by dwarves in Norse mythology, the idea behind the curse being similar to that of Dainslef in that, once the sword is drawn, it can't be sheathed until a man has been killed by it.

The <b>Vorpal Blade</b> is the sword mentioned in the poem Jabberwocky, which itself is an aspect of Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, by Lewis Carroll. The Vorpal Blade is notable for being the only sword that goes "snicker-snack."

<b>Yasutsuna</b> was the product of the swordsmith (yes, just one more) Yasutsuna. His best model was known as the Dojigiri, or "Monster Cutter."