Swords of Vaul
The Swords of Vaul, also known as the Blade-Wraiths or as Vaugnh in the Eldar language[6], were the one-hundred mythical blades forged by Vaul, the Eldar smith-god, in his bid to free Isha and Kurnous from the fiery torments of Khaine after they themselves had broken a deal with the war god.[1a]
Contents
History
The War in Heaven
Khaine bargained that he would release Isha and Kurnous if Vaul could produce one hundred perfect blades within a year.[1a] Vaul nearly acheived this task, when Khaine disguised in his aspect as Murekh the Scorpion[3] stung Vaul's hand preventing him from finishing the final blade. To conceal the shortfall, Vaul took an ordinary mortal blade and mixed it among his own works.[1a]
True to the deal Khaine freed Isha and Kurnous, and only after had escaped did Khaine realize Vaul's deception. Roaring with anger, Khaine began a war among the gods.[1a] Vaul finished the final sword, naming it Anaris, and challenged Khaine but was defeated – and in his defeat crippled and chained to his anvil. The great falcon Faolchú spirited the blade to [1b] Eldanesh who himself challenged Khaine and was crushed in his hand, naming the war god Kaela Mensha Khaine the Bloody Handed Khaine and by Asurmen's decree ending the War in Heaven.[1a]
The Birth of Fear
There is an expounding story to that of the War in Heaven known as The Birth of Fear, that tells of the war between Khaine and the soul-destroying C'tan known as Kaelis Ra the Nightbringer. In that version of the tale, Vaul is charged to produce the arms in a window of opportunity created by the infighting caused by Cegorach's deceptions. The smith-god does so in exchange for Kurnous and Isha's release, and the Sword of Vaul, known as the Blade-Wraiths are forged. The hundred swords are distributed among one hundred Eldar heroes.[2]
For seven days and nights the heroes, along with Khaine, fight the Necrontyr in formation, their stamina restored on every strike of their swords except for one: the blade of Lanthrilaq[2] with a jeweled pomel and the sigil of Vaul[5a] was dull and it's use tiring enough that Lanthrilaq broke formation, giving Kaelis Ra the opportunity to strike and slay Lanthrilaq, who dropped his blade,[5a] and one by one slew his compatriots destroying their ninety-nine blades.[5a] It is only through Khaine's faith in the advice of Cegorach that the star-god is defeated, tainting Khaine with the Aspect of the Reaper and dooming the Eldar to fear death, a fear that would become founded after the Fall of the Eldar.[2]
Recent History
The tip of the Blade-Wraith of Lanthrilaq was found it's way to the legendary Harlequin Shadowseer Lavena the Joyful who re-forged it into the blade Vairocanum "The Touch of Death".[5b] The blade was and taken as prize by Azariah Vidya the Seeker of Truth the Great Father of the Blood Ravens after defeating Lavena and ending her Harlequin raids on the Qulus System, although Vidya never wielded the blade instead choosing to intrust it to the Librarians of his Secret Order of Psykana.[5b] Vairocanum was reunited with the remainder of Lanthrilaq's blade on the fabled Harlequin library planet of Arcadia and entrusted to Biel-Tan Farseer Macha who used the blade to cut across space reducing the dimensionality of the Necron fleet which imploded into torrents of fire and then nothingness.[5c]
During the Fall of the Eldar where Khaine was shattered, so too was Anaris the greatest of the Swords of Vaul. Shards of the blade have found themselves into the armouries of the Craftworlds to be reforged into great artefacts.[1c]
Though only rumoured to be one of the Swords of Vaul, the Sword of Wrath – thought lost on a forgotten Crone World but rediscovered unexpectedly by Craftworld Iyanden on the Maiden World of Davinuus in late M41 – is edged with lightning and roars like thunder and exudes fear to enemies who look upon it.[4]
See also
Sources
- 1: Codex: Eldar (6th Edition) (Ebook):
- 2: White Dwarf 273 (UK) - Translations of Pertinent Eldar Myths
- 3: White Dwarf 511 (UK), pg. 81
- 4: Warhammer 40,000: Rites of War Instruction Manual, pg. 88 (last accessed 12/2/2025)
- 5: Dawn of War: Tempest (Novel):
- 6: Eldar Prophecy (Novel) – Appendix
