Understanding the site’s namesake is a part of our journey, the name Of Blades and Kings was derived from Bilbo’s poem in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, which you’ve seen throughout the website. The last bit of the poem…
Renewed shall be the blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.
…that speaks to me. It’s a reminder for me that now matter how bad things will get, something good is on the horizon. Life obviously doesn’t work so eloquently as Tolkien’s works but through tragedy hope can arise, the broken can be mended, and the crownless again shall be king. The entire poem follows that same message, and for me, it lights a fire in my heart.
Therefore, I was inspired to create a name that paid homage to this poem. As we get further into our goals, we’ll be talking about many blades, kings, characters, and stories throughout the fantasy and science fiction genres. While we were developing names for this site, Of Blades and Kings stuck, mainly due to the fact that blades and kings are foundations for great fantasy epics: Aragorn and Andúril, King Arthur and Excalibur, Bilbo and Sting, Beowulf and Hrunting, Elendil and Narsil, the Sword of Martin the Warrior from Redwall, Anakin Skywalker’s Lightsaber, Eragon and Brisingr, Link and the Master Sword, the Sword of Gryffindor, Sora and the Keyblade, Ned Stark and Ice, Jon Snow and Longclaw, and Arya Stark and Needle. Blades and kings have a history of being paired together.
Thank you for your time and remember, not all those who wander are lost, the crownless again shall be king.
– The Wandering One
Of Blades and Kings 