Highlights
- Game of Thrones features a variety of finely crafted swords, including Valyrian steel blades like Jon Snow's Longclaw and House Stark's Ice.
- Valyrian steel greatswords are large and demand two-handed use, while bastard swords are lighter and can be wielded with one or two hands.
- Longswords are the most commonly wielded swords and can be reforged into smaller swords, like Tywin Lannister did with Ice, creating two Valyrian steel longswords.
Warfare and weapons in HBO's Game of Thrones are inspired by the medieval era. As such, the show features numerous finely crafted Valyrian steel blades. Game of Thrones' most memorable swords are Jon Snow's Longclaw, House Stark's Ice, and House Tarly's Heartsbane.
Apart from these, Game of Thrones also features swords fashioned out of castle-forged steel. King Joffrey Baratheon's Hearteater, and Arya Stark's smallsword, Needle are a few examples of castle-forged steel blades made by talented blacksmiths of Westeros. Ultimately, all the Thrones' swords are of different sizes and weights and are designed for either one-handed or two-handed use.
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Greatswords
Greatswords, as the name suggests are large, and demand two-handed use. House Stark's ancestral blade, Ice, House Tarly's heirloom, Heartsbane, and the lost Lannister regalia, Brightroar are a few examples of Valyrian steel greatswords in the lore. The metal - Valyrian steel was forged in the land of Old Valyria before the Doom. Valyrian steel swords are known for distinctive rippled patterns, and anyone with decent knowledge of swords in Game of Thrones can easily tell the metal from castle-forged steel. The fact remains that after the Doom, forging Valyrian steel became a lost art and per the events of Thrones, there weren't enough Valyrian steel swords in Westeros to fight the Night King and the Army of the Dead.
Family heirloom greatswords aren't always fashioned out of Valyrian steel, and House Dayne's Dawn is the biggest example in that direction. Last wielded by Ser Arthur Dayne, the lore says that Dawn was forged from the remains of a fallen star. Unlike Ice, Heartsbane, or Brightroar, Dawn was wielded by a member of House Dayne who proved himself worthy of the blade. The Valyrian steel greatswords and longswords are extremely sharp and do not require honing. Greatswords are the largest of all in the world of Game of Thrones, and quite obviously, longer and heavier than the rest. Tywin Lannister had Ice reforged into two longswords because he found the original weapon "absurdly large," and rightly so, as Theon Greyjoy helped Ned Stark to draw Ice from the scabbard in Game of Thrones season 1, episode 1 "Winter Is Coming."
Bastard Swords
Also known as a hand-and-a-halfer, a bastard sword lies between a greatsword and a longsword. House Mormont's heirloom, the Valyrian steel bastard sword, Longclaw is the most famous of all bastard swords in Game of Thrones lore. The House held on to Longclaw for five hundred years, and the last Mormont to carry it was Lord Commander Jeor, also known as the Old Bear. He bestowed Longclaw upon his promising personal steward at Castle Black, Jon Snow because his heir, Jorah brought dishonor upon the family by selling poachers into slavery and was subsequently exiled from Westeros. Jorah did however leave Longclaw behind. Before gifting the sword to Jon, Jeor had Longclaw's bear pommel replaced with a direwolf as the mark of the young warrior's Stark heritage. The honorable Jon put Longclaw to good use.
A fine swordsman, Jon would hold Longclaw's grip, and move around on the battlefield with great physical agility. He wielded Longclaw in the Great Ranging expedition, the Battle of Castle Black, the Massacre at Hardhome, the Battle of the Bastards, the Battle of Winterfell, and the Battle of King's Landing. Bastard swords have a long grip, therefore they can be wielded by two hands, but since they are lighter than greatswords, they can also be wielded by one hand.
Longswords
Longswords or one-handed swords come after bastard swords and are the most commonly wielded by Westerosi knights. The lore says that longswords typically clock at 3 feet and 4 inches, but the size of the sword may vary from wielder to wielder. As seen in Game of Thrones, Tywin Lannister was easily able to reforge two smaller Valyrian steel swords out of the greatsword, Ice.
After losing his sword hand, Jaime Lannister trained with Bronn in order to wield the freshly reforged Valyrian steel longsword. He ended up re-gifting the longsword to Brienne of Tarth, and she named it Oathkeeper.
Smallswords
Arya Stark's Needle is a smallsword in HBO's Game of Thrones. Her half-brother, Jon (in reality, cousin) has the skinny weapon made especially for her because of her fascination with swords, warfare, and warriors. He gifts her the smallsword before he sets off for the Wall, and she to King's Landing:
I had the blacksmith make it for you special. It won't hack a man's head off, but it can poke him full of holes if you're quick enough.
Jon also gives Arya the first lesson in swordplay:
Stick 'em with the pointy end.
Mikken, the blacksmith of Winterfell makes the smallsword for Arya, and Jon thinks it is suited to Arya's stature. Arya gets agile with time and holds on to Needle until the very end of her Game of Thrones journey.