The Mortal Sword, also known as the Soul-Sword, Maellartach, and Angel Blade, is the second of the Mortal Instruments given by Angel Raziel to Jonathan Shadowhunter. It is an important artifact among Shadowhunters.
Description[]
The Soul-Sword is kept by the Silent Brothers in the Silent City, hung on the wall above the Speaking Stars in the Silent Brothers' council chamber.
The Sword is an enormous silver sword, shaped like a typical arming sword from the Middle Ages. It has a straight double-edged blade and a one-handed hilt, made of pure adamas[1], with an elaborate design of outspread wings, emerging from the point where blade meets handle.
According to Clary Fray, the Sword is agonizing to bear. Its weight and coldness, giving the holder a tingling sensation, as if hooks embed their hands onto the sword, contributes to the mental pain truth compulsion it triggers—metaphorically pulling the truth out of someone.
Function[]
The Sword hanging above the council chamber in the Silent City (as seen in The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones).
The Soul-Sword is primarily used to compel Nephilim to tell the truth, mostly during trials. Shadowhunters who wish to have their claims tested and proved may submit themselves to "trial by the Sword," during which a suitable judge, often a Silent Brother, sometimes the Consul or Inquisitor, wields the sword and places it in the hands of the deponent, where it adheres and cannot be removed until the judge wills it.
Downworlders and mundanes cannot be compelled by the Soul-Sword, thus preventing the Sword from becoming used by the Shadowhunters as a general tool for interrogation.[2]
The Sword can also have a dark purpose, if intended. Originally, the alliance of the Soul-Sword is seraphic, its power drawn from Angel Raziel himself. However, Valentine Morgenstern discovered an ancient spell to reverse the alliance from angelic to demonic, through a process called the Ritual of Infernal Conversion, where the Sword is seethed until red-hot and cooled four times in the blood of Downworld children: a child of Lilith, a child of the moon, a child of the night, and a child of the fey. With its demonic alliance, the Sword can be used to summon demons and allows its bearer to have control over them.
History[]
Valentine believed that the Mortal Sword was the "flaming sword" mentioned in the Book of Genesis which the Angel used to drive Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden,[3] though this belief is not shared by other Nephilim.[2] During the Crusades,[2] Raziel granted the weapon to Jonathan Shadowhunter, the first of the Nephilim, as a tool to use in their war against demons.[4]
In 1878, the Sword was used on Charlotte Branwell and Benedict Lightwood during a trial. Charlotte later had Brother Enoch bring it to the London Institute to question Jessamine Lovelace.[5]
In 1903, Elias Carstairs was under arrest and the Sword was used on him to glean any information they could from his expedition into vampire territory that nearly caused a falling out of the Accords. The Sword ended up being useless as he did not remember the incident.[6]
In August 2007, Clary Fray saw the Sword when she came to the Silent City.[7]
Some weeks after, it was stolen by Valentine Morgenstern in his attack of the Silent City with the help of the Greater Demon Agramon, the evening before Jace's trial by the Sword.[3] Valentine stole it for the Ritual of Infernal Conversion, which he was able to successfully perform, allowing him to build an army of demons to summon weeks later at Idris. He also used the Sword to kill Jace and summon Raziel.[8]
The same year, the Sword was used to question Clary, Emma Carstairs, and the five younger Blackthorn children on separate occasions.[1][9]
In September 2012, the Sword was used to question Annabel Blackthorn, who subsequently used it to kill Robert Lightwood and Livvy Blackthorn. It was shattered when Emma struck it with Cortana.[10] Emma and Julian later acquired a version of the sword from Thule, claiming that the Iron Sisters had repaired it and used it to force Horace Dearborn to tell the truth about his involvement with the Unseelie Court and his schemes to gain the position of Consul.[11]
Gallery[]
- See more here
