Flaming sword (mythology)

Painting by Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix of an angel (Camael) expelling Adam and Eve with a flaming sword

A flaming sword is a sword glowing with flame by some supernatural power. Flaming swords have existed in legend and myth for thousands of years.

According to the Bible, a cherub (or the archangel Uriel in some traditions) with a flaming sword was placed by God at the gates of Paradise after Adam and Eve were banished from it (Genesis 3:24).

Eastern Orthodox tradition says that after Jesus was crucified and resurrected, the flaming sword was removed from the Garden of Eden, making it possible for humanity to re-enter Paradise.[1]

A flaming sword with immense destructive power appears in Norse mythology. It is said to be wielded by Surtr, the leader of the giants of Muspelheim.[2]

The sword Acala holds may or may not be flaming and sometimes described only generically as a treasure sword (宝剣 hōken) or as vajra-sword (金剛杵 kongō-ken), which is descriptive of the fact that the pommel of the sword is in the shape of the talon-like vajra (金剛杵 kongō-sho) of one type or another.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Orthodox liturgy of the third Sunday of Lent
  2. ↑ Faulkes (1995:9–10)


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