The Mysterious Swordsmith
The Mysterious Swordsmith
The King needed to save his Kingdom
The Kingdom of Ewig in Germany three thousand years ago was under attack. King Heldenhaft had to protect his people and his land. The Kingdom was divided, with the small tribes fighting among themselves for power. He needed to rally his people to fight this new enemy, which he had never met before.
King Heldenhaft was returning from battle, injured after his army was defeated. His horse was killed and so was his General. The valiant King, who was well-built and athletic, was weakened after receiving a fatal wound to his chest. He managed to walk with difficulty through the dark forest. He was weak and he could still hear the battle taking place. In the darkness, he saw the light in a small cottage. He lost consciousness as he struggled to keep his eyes open as the wound on his chest was excruciating.
When King Heldenhaft awoke from sleep, it was bright outside. He was lying in bed and his wounds were bandaged and he could move his limbs. He could hear the sound of metal being forged outside the cottage. The King who did not look like a king but a wounded soldier, got off the bed and walked out of the cottage. He saw a tall bearded Swordsmith forging a large bronze sword in his forge with a hammer.
The man looked at King Heldenhaft and nodded. He kept banging the sword. After an hour of hammering the metal, that was shining in the sunlight, he put it into the large trough. He went to have his meal, which consisted of a wild boar roasted over a spit and fruits, and vegetables. The Swordsmith invited King Heldenhaft to join him for a meal.
“How long have I been sleeping, my wounds have healed,” said Heldenhaft.
“You were asleep for sixteen days,” said Alexius, the Swordsmith.
“I am better now and need to leave to go back to my home and family,” said Heldenhaft, not revealing that he was a King and that his family were killed when his castle was attacked.
“As a King, you need to lead your people. Your swords are weak and cannot defeat the enemy soldiers who have come from beyond the stars.”
“But, how did you know I am a King?”, asked Heldenhaft taken aback.
“You spoke about saving your people, in your fevered state of mind. “
“How can I save my Kingdom and people, when the enemy has come from another world?”
“I have a special sword, made for you,” said the swordsmith pointing to the trough, of water, where the shiny new bronze sword, with the ornate handle, was resting.
“One sword will not win this battle”.
“I have fifty swords stored in a cave in the forest. You can get your soldiers to collect them,” said the swordsmith, as he drew a map on a piece of animal skin, with a piece of coal, that he removed from the pit where the pig was roasting.
The next morning, King Heldenhaft left the cottage of the Swordsmith. He thanked the man and said that he would return to pay him in gold for the fifty swords that he would collect from the cave in the forest.
Two days later, the King went to the Swordsmith’s cave and found fifty shiny glistening swords. Every soldier collected a sword and there were two hundred soldiers. These were more than the King expected to find.
The King defeated his enemy with the power of those new swords he had received from the swordsmith. Every sword seemed to possess some strange power to kill the enemy in the shortest period. The alien warriors died on the battlefield and it was one battle that they did not win, as the primitive army of King Heldenhaft claimed victory.
King Heldenhaft went to the dark forest to find and reward the swordsmith for saving his life and for helping him to defeat his fierce enemies, from beyond the stars. The cottage was empty. The forge was cold and looked as if it was not used for a long period of time. The man did exist of that he was sure or he thought he was sure and had not imagined the whole incident.
As a memorial to the Swordsmith and his gift of that fine shiny bronze sword, he had the sword stuck into a rock. On his death, King Heldenhaft requested that he be buried beside the sword so that he could carry it with him into the afterlife. It would lead him to victory over all the evil forces he would meet on the other side.
Three thousand years later, the shining bronze sword with an ornate handle was discovered by archaeologists. They would never know the story behind the sword, but they would know that it played a crucial part in human history. The sword helped a mortal King to defeat an extraterrestrial army of warriors, with the help of a mysterious Swordsmith.
Writer’s Note: This story was inspired by a news article about a shiny bronze sword, that could be about three thousand years old, which was excavated recently in Germany.
An ancient sword discovered in Germany was so well preserved it looked brand new
