Swords, Media, and Fantasy

One of the items that has fascinated me the most throughout my life would have to be a sword. I have neither a favorite brand of blade nor a favorite country of origin as it less the hunk of metal itself but the intent and style behind it that fascinates me. For me, my fascination is less about the swords themselves and more about the many fantasies and ideas behind “the sword” and the “life of the sword.”

We see a lot of “heroes” in the entertainment media who, with a sword, a gun, their fists, of even just their wits, strike down their malevolent adversaries and stand for what they believe in. While I enjoy watching a gun-man or a modern hero save the day, I always found the sword to the most fascinating. With it, warriors use their own strength and skill to strike down bandits, killers, orcs, and dragons alike.

With swords, axes, and spears of many shapes and sizes, there are many fascinating combat styles and ways of battling. It is somehow beautiful to see a master swordsman of one form or another tear down his or her opponents with waves, twists, and strikes in the various outlets of visual entertainment. Even more so, it is fascinating thinking about the mind of one of these “warriors,” what it must be like to wield a weapon and fight in battle or war, the courage they strength they must have in the trials they face, and what it must be like to take responsibility for their enormous and dangerous power.

It is odd how these characters do violent, brutal things, completely different from anything we do in normal society, and yet they are somehow role models for youth around the world. Looking at my fascination and people’s fascination in general with men who kill and objects used for killing for an objective perspective, it is very sick and depraved.

We cheer as our “heroes” wield their “mighty weapons” and brutally murder other thinking, living beings. In this sense, my fascination with swords and fantasy is rather cruel but for those of us who buy into these stories and ideas, I don’t think that blood lust is the focus.

Rather than enjoy the deaths of the villains in these stories as we marvel while a swordsman cuts a swath through his or her enemies, I think the marvel is based on the stimulation we get from seeing the astounding skill of the swordsman and of the shocking image of a villain being cut down faster and more precisely than the eye can see. My fascination is rather hedonistic in this way, marveling at a stimulating object to show me something beyond the peaceful life I live every day.

The psychology of “the lifestyle of the sword” also fascinates me. I often day dream about what it would be like to be in one battle or another, what it would be like to be a skilled swordsman fighting, what types of bravery and strength would be necessary to face the challenges I see in my entertainment.

These are situations I’d never truly wish to be in of course, but the idea of being a swordsman and being “strong” like the characters I see always appealed to me. Again, my appreciation of the swordsman in entertainment is hedonistic in many ways.

Yet, even in real life I still desire to know how to use a sword and how to fight. I imagine that there would be reassurance in knowing how to fight and physically defend my ideals. There is also that innate competitive spirit in me that wants to use my body to its fullest against someone else and prove to myself that I’m strong.

As a little kid I used to find long, straight sticks and imagine I was wielding a blade, but in the end it never gave me the feelings of strength I got from the media. Even when I was old enough to own a sword myself I still didn’t get the feelings I got from fantasy because I could never wield a real weapon and hurt someone. In the end, the swords I own are iron bars, killing tools I will almost certainly never brandish or feel at ease with.

This is the difference between fantasy and reality. I have always loved to entertain the ideas behind the sword in my mind but I know that to engage in the same feelings in real life would absolutely wrong. I’ll always enjoy thinking about and viewing swordsmen in the media though, and maybe someday I’ll take a class and learn how to use a sword and spar in friendly competition.