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Magic sword

In mythology, legend or fiction, a magic sword is a sword with magical powers or other supernatural qualities. Renowned swords appear in the folklore of every nation that used swords.

In some traditions, the sword is ascribed no powers of its own. It is famous because it is the hero's sword, or because of its origin, as when a god gives it to the hero. Other swords keep their wielders safe or destroy their enemies. A more localized motif is the sword that has been broken and must be reforged, commonly found in Northern Europe. Such a sword symbolizes the initial defeat and loss of honor of its wielder. Subsequent victory and the restoration of honor is achieved by reforging it, either at the wielder's hand or that of his heir.

History
It is probable that the roots of the sentient weapon myths stem from ancient peoples' belief that sword making and metallurgy was in fact a magical process. Through the fires of the forge (fire was also given spiritual connotations) a lump of earth was transformed into a shiny usable object that could be hammered into many shapes. Extending further from the transformation of ore into metal, the difficulty of actually obtaining a quality blade; which took intense concentration and skill added to its esoteric qualities. While any blacksmith could manufacture a knife or an axehead only a swordsmith could create a high quality sword. The secrets of doing so were jealously guarded as well as formulas for alloys.

The skill necessary to forge a balanced blade - one which is not too brittle or too soft and able to hold a usefully sharp edge - in the age before automated machines, blast furnaces, and the knowledge of molecular chemistry made the creation of a sword seem almost miraculous. A few degrees too hot or too cold within a very limited temperature range, which could only be discerned by the glowing hue of a hot billet, could make or break a sword. A lack of expertise in knowing when and how to apply carbon and flux and quench the blade could ruin weeks of work. Thus the swordsmith almost felt like he was one with his work, giving the process his complete devotion of concentration and thought. This led to the belief that he was actually imbuing the blade with an essence of his spirit. In Japan, the swordsmiths were so concerned with this belief that they would undergo purification rituals and meditation before even attempting to start a new blade, for fear that they might inadvertently create an evil sword.

The Vikings prized their swords above all other things, handing them down from generation to generation and giving them names. The value of the blade was not only determined by its quality but also by how many battles that it was used in. Polynesian people such as the Māori also had comparable reverence for their weapons. They believed a weapon contained a spiritual force called mana and that the weapon held the spirits of its maker, its line of owners and also stole the spirits of those it killed. These weapons where highly prized for their mana and cherished as heirlooms. The Samurai of Japan believed that their swords had their own soul that could possess them. It was not the wielder but their swords that desired to kill; Samurai were just the instrument that the sword used to complete that task. Since most of them were Buddhists (a religion that finds violence and murder abhorent), that train of thought gave them some peace of mind in their killing vocation.

Later, as the concept of demons, spiritual possession, and elementals entered the realm of mythological themes, it was only a natural leap to attribute magical properties of the swords of folklore to indwelling spirits. Magic swords may exhibit various degrees of sentience, from being merely influenced by the wielder to being able to think for itself or even control its owner.

Biblical
The Bible relates in the Book of Genesis how God, seeking to deter Adam and Eve from returning to the Garden of Eden, "placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubim and a flaming sword which turned every way". By some accounts, the Cherubim are replaced with the Archangel Michael, who wields a similar weapon. King David was given the sword of the slain giant Goliath by the priest Ahimelech, to which was attached extra-biblical mythology and traditions. In the Book of Revelation, Jesus is symbolically described wielding a double-edged sword that proceeds out from his mouth, in reference to the "sword of the spirit" which is the "word of truth".

Arthurian
In the legend of King Arthur, the king himself is related to two magical swords, in most variants. The first is the Sword In the Stone. Only Arthur could draw it out, thereby proving that he is the rightful king. In some tales, this is his only sword. In most variants, this sword was then broken, and he receives from The Lady of the Lake a new sword called Excalibur, arguably the most famous of magic swords. Caliburn was the original name of Excalibur. In Welsh legend, Arthur's sword is known as Caledfwlch.

Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain is the first non-Welsh source to speak of the sword. Geoffrey says the sword was forged in Avalon and Latinises the name "Caledfwlch" as Caliburnus. When his influential pseudo-history made it to Continental Europe, writers altered the name further until it finally took on the popular form Excalibur. However, in other variants Excalibur itself is the sword in the stone. It is not clear from the various accounts of the Arthur legend whether Excalibur itself was possessed of magical powers or merely had a magical origin, though its scabbard protected its bearer from physical harm. Many interpretations of the legend appear to endow Excalibur with a cutting strength and durability beyond that of ordinary weapons.

In Wolfram Von Echenbach's Parzival, the eponymous hero is given a sword by the Grail king, Anfortas. Parzival's cousin explains that "“The sword will withstand the first blow unscathed; at the second it will shatter. If you then take it back to the spring, it will become whole again from the flow of the water. You must have the water at the source…If the pieces are not lost and you fit them together properly, as soon as the spring water wets them, the sword will become whole again, the joinings and edges stronger than before.”

Chinese
Ancient Chinese mythology relates the tale of Lü Dongbin, who "slew dragons" with a magic sword and performed "freak feats" with it.

Germanic
In Norse mythology, the god Frey "possessed a magic sword that struck out at Jotuns of its own accord". Many other swords appear in Norse legend in the hands of heroes.

Tyrfing appears in the Hervarar Saga. Svafrlami was the King of Gardariki, and a grandson of the god Odin. He caught the dwarves, Dvalin and Durin, and forced them to forge a sword with a golden hilt that would never miss a stroke, would never rust and would cut through stone and iron as easily as through clothes. The dwarves made the sword, and it shone and gleamed like fire. However, in revenge they cursed it so that it would kill a man every time it was used and that it would be the cause of three great evils. They also cursed it so that it would kill Svafrlami himself. It would cost the life of not only Svafrlami, but also the life of the Swedish hero Hjalmar.

A similar sword to Tyrfing is Dáinsleif, a sword from the legend of the eternal battle Hjaðningavíg, made by the dwarf Dáin. Like Tyrfing, Dainsleif gave wounds that never healed and could not be unsheathed without killing a man. There is also Mistilteinn, a sword from the Hrómundar saga Gripssonar, which could never go blunt and which Hrómund won from the undead witch-king Þrainn. Like Tyrfing, it was taken from a barrow-wight.

The various iterations of the story of the Völsungs include several magic swords. The first magical sword which enters the story is Gram (="wrath"), stuck by Odin into the tree Barnstokkr in the hall of the Völsungs. Only Sigmund could pull it out. This caused considerable envy and conflict. Eventually, Sigmund fought Odin disguised as an old man, and Odin shattered the sword. Sigmund left it for his son Sigurd, who reforged it to kill Fafnir. In the Nibelungenlied, Sîfrit (the Middle High German version of "Siegfried," the equivalent to Norse Sigurd) discarded Gram in exchange for another magic sword, Balmung (= "destruction").

The legendary smith Wayland Smith forged the magic sword Mimung, which appears both in the Anglo-Saxon poem Waldere and in the German/Scandinavian Þiðrekssaga.

Beowulf wielded the sword Hrunting that was according to the poem annealed in venom. The sword was useless against Grendel's Mother. In desperation Beowulf grabbed a giant sword of great age and with it took off the head of the she monster.

Japanese
In Japanese mythology, there is a magical sword called Kusanagi, which was one of the three crown jewels given to the Emperor Jimmu by the goddess Amaterasu. Additionally, the katana forged by Masamune and Muramasa were reputedly of such high quality as to be near-magical. In the case of the Masamune and Muramasa blades, it was believed that some element of the smith's personality was imputed into the blade. These three swords have been used extensively in popular culture since then, especially in the realm of video game RPGs. Despite legends about Nihontō, those three are the most famous. Excellent Japanese swords often received nicknames reflecting their cutting prowess. Also, unlike other magical swords, they exist (or still exist). There is, for example, 10 or 11 blades attributed to Masamune who still exist today, such as Kanze Masamune, Kotegiri Masamune or Musashi Masamune.

Spanish
In Spanish legends, two magic swords belonged to the warrior Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, "El Cid", according to the medieval epical poem "Cantar del mio Cid". The first, "Tizona", had a personality of its own, and its strength varied according to the person who used it. "Colada", too, had power only in the hands of a brave warrior.

France
In the Matter of France, Roland possessed an indestructible sword, Durendal, which he threw into a poisoned stream to prevent its capture. Durendal was one of a set of three swords supposedly forged by Wayland and provided as ransom for a Norse captive, the other two being variously Bishop Turpin's sword Almace, Charlemagne's Joyeuse, or Ogier's sword Curtana.

Other
In the English or Scottish medieval epic poem Greysteil, the hero uses a magic sword 'Egeking' which was made in the Far East. In the Norman Kingdom of Sicily we find 'Mikalis,' the magical sword of King Roger II.

Written fiction

Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene features a golden sword called Chrysaor, the personal weapon of Sir Artegal, the Knight of Justice. The sword was given to him by Astræa, who had been holding it since the days when Zeus had used it to battle the Titans. Because it was "Tempred [ sic ] with Adamant", it was described as being able to cleave through anything.

In Der Ring des Nibelungen, Richard Wagner drew on the legend of Gram for the sword Nothung, belonging to the hero Siegmund and later reforged by his son Siegfried and used by him to kill Fafner. It is finally used by Siegfried to shatter the spear of his grandfather, the God Wotan, thus ending his power.

The hero of Lewis Carroll's poem "Jabberwocky" slays the Jabberwock with a vorpal sword. Although the poem does not define the word "vorpal" (and contains many nonsensical words with no meaning), the term has been adopted in role playing games to describe a sword which possesses a magical ability to decapitate those against whom it is wielded.

In the works of J. R. R. Tolkien such as The Lord of the Rings, many magical swords, usually with powers for good, are wielded by important characters. Gandalf uses his sword Glamdring in his battle with the Balrog, which wields its own sword of flame. Glamdring's sister blade, Orcrist, is buried with Thorin Oakenshield under the Lonely Mountain in The Hobbit. Bilbo, Frodo and Samwise carry the sword Sting. It and Glamdring both glow blue when orcs are near. Aragorn bears the sword Andúril, a potent weapon against the evil of Mordor and a symbol of his right to rule. Turin Turambar, the main character of The Children of H%C3%BArin, wields the sword Gurthang. He eventually kills himself using the sword, which speaks to him before he dies, telling him it will kill him. This story is based on the Finnish hero Kullervo, whose sword also agreed to kill him. In addition, in Farmer Giles of Ham, the protagonist is given and wields a magic sword named Caudimordax which, in the story, is translated to mean "Tailbiter".

Hal Foster's Prince Valiant wields the Singing Sword, which makes its bearer undefeatable if he fights for a good cause.

In Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's Darksword series the Darksword is a sword capable of absorbing magic.

Michael Moorcock created a sinister magic sword in Stormbringer, wielded by Elric of Melniboné. This black sword has the power to suck out the souls of its victims and transfer their energy to its holder. It also appears to have a mind of its own, sometimes striking against its "master's" will. Mercedes Lackey's creation, the sword Need is similarly independent, although along less sinister lines.

The Twelve Swords of Power are the primary plot device in Fred Saberhagen's Books of the Swords.

Lawrence Watt-Evans's The Misenchanted Sword (1985) involves the difficulties of dealing with the sword of the title; the protagonist must kill a man when he draws it, can only kill one, will die if he ever kills a hundred men with it – and will not die without killing them, but will ceaselessly age.

The Blue Sword contains a blue sword, known as Gonturan, that is both a symbol of power (as it can only be used by a damalur-sol, a woman hero), an amplifier of magic and a very sharp sword. It is also a sword with a mind of its own.

In Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time is the sword Callandor, which is actually not a sword, but a powerful sa'angreal shaped as a sword and made out of crystal. It is kept within the Stone of Tear. It can only be taken by the Dragon and is a major sign of his return. Until he takes it the Stone of Tear will never fall to any invaders, but when the sword is taken the Stone is said to fall to the People of the Dragon. It is later revealed that unlike other Sa'angreals it does not have the safety mechanism that prevents a wielder from absorbing too much of the One Power through it.

Terry Goodkind's series is named for its magical weapon, the Sword of Truth. This blade, with the word "Truth" inlaid into the handle, factors into many of the moral decisions made by Richard Rahl, the series' protagonist. The blade, like most magic in the series, is focused on need. The sword's master is referred to as the Seeker of Truth. The Seeker gains the swordmastery of all those that have wielded the blade previously. Many false Seekers have carried the sword, but a true Seeker can only be named by the First Wizard (Rahl is named by his grandfather, Zeddicus Zorander). A true Seeker has the ability to turn the blade white when he kills in compassion and forgiveness. Richard has done this twice. Once, killing the Mord-Sith which captured him in Wizard's First Rule, and again to kill a Sister of the Dark in Stone of Tears.

The eponymous sword from The Sword of Shannara series, by Terry Brooks, has a distinctive pommel in the form of the druidic symbol from the series: a hand holding aloft a torch (similar to the Statue of Liberty). Otherwise it is visually unremarkable, though very well made and unworn. Its ability lies in revealing absolute truth, which can be difficult to bear. The sentiment of the enchantment follows that of the "To thine own self be true..." advice to Laertes. A prospective wielder, upon drawing the blade for the first time, is made to confront all their personal flaws, shortcomings, fears, delusions and morally questionable acts. If the being's psyche cannot deal with the revelations, they might not be permanently harmed, but the blade is unusable to them. However, if they can accept the truth of themselves, though it is still a jarring experience, they come out of it wiser for the self-knowledge. Also, they are able to wield the Sword as both a particularly strong and sharp weapon, and as a harsh mirror of Truth to those touched by the blade. This exposure to reality, like many years of counseling condensed into a moment, can actually destroy anyone "evil" enough, e.g. the Warlock Lord of the same book. It also can reveal illusions and give some protection from magical effects.

Also of note is the Sword Nightblood from the book Warbreaker. Nightblood is a sentient sword which was given a direction when awakened. This direction was to 'destroy evil.' However, being a sword, Nightblood could not judge right and wrong and killed almost indiscriminately. Simply undoing the clasp (which was extraordinarily tempting for one without a pure heart) was enough for nightblood to utterly destroy the one holding it. Nightblood was often recovered by Vasher sticking clean through a man, not even unsheathed. Nightblood, when fully drawn consumed Its user's BioChromatic breaths at an alarming rate, while sending tendrils of darkness out to destroy anything the sword deemed 'evil.' The sword could also telepathically communicate with its wielder, often asking questions such as "Hello, would you like to kill someone today?" or alternatively asking to be unsheathed.

The Harry Potter series of novels by J.K. Rowling features the Sword of Gryffindor, which is used by several of the book's prominent characters. The sword is an indestructible weapon crafted from goblin metal, the properties of which allow the sword to absorb any substance into itself that will make it stronger, in the case of the books, the immensely deadly venom of a basilisk.

In series: The Dancing Gods, by Jack L. Chalker, the protagonist, the barbarian Joe, is given "The last unnamed magical sword in Husaquahr". In order for the sword to bond with Joe, he has to give it a name, preferably something heroic. However Joe names the sword "Irving" after his son. In response to the exclamations concerning his choice of name, he states "...but I like the name Irving". Once bonded, the sword will fight for no other user, and will return to Joe if he calls it.

The Sword of Baldanders is among the swords featured in Akita Yoshinobu's Sorcerous Stabber Orphen series. being used for transforming a Killing Doll into a humanlike body, transformations of males into females and transformations of humans into beasts.

Movies and television
Movies and television across varying genres depict swords with magical qualities.

 * In the Star Wars saga, which employs many themes of classical mythology, the lightsaber can be seen as a science fiction with a mythological analogue of the magic swords of myth. The device appears to defy the laws of modern technology, however studies and experiments by scientists indicate the technology to be possible in the future.  Within the Star Wars universe, lightsabers are made by their wielder as part of the training to become a Jedi knight. During the early development of Star Wars, creator George Lucas called the weapons "lazer swords".
 * In the movie The Golden Blade (1952), the Sword of Damaskus, which can cut anything and makes its wielder invincible, is used by Harun Al-Rashid (Rock Hudson) to free a fairy-tale Baghdad from Jafar, a usurper of the throne.
 * The Masters of the Universe franchise more directly mixes magic and technology, with the titular hero deriving his power from the Power Sword.
 * In the British television series Robin of Sherwood, Robin Hood carries Albion, one of the seven swords of Wayland. The sword's powers include providing visions to its bearer. It cannot hurt its master.
 * The Sword of Omens in the ThunderCats animated series possesses magical powers and the Eye of Thundera in the hilt. Another sword, the Sword of Plun-Darr, was a key element to the plot of certain episodes.
 * In the Samurai Jack animated series, the father of the titular hero gave his son a katana from the gods to defeat the evil Aku. Only this magic katana could harm Aku, although it could not kill him completely. This magic sword would obey only its rightful owner, making it impossible to hurt Jack when his enemy wields it. The sword was forged of the pure spirit of good that humans possess, extracted from Jack's father.
 * In the animated series Thundarr the Barbarian the main character Thundarr wields the lightsaber-like sun sword.
 * In the South Park episode "Make Love, Not Warcraft", the story contains a powerful sword referred to as "The Sword of A Thousand Truths".
 * The Sword of Triton: Blackbeard's sword, later wielded by Hector Barbossa with magical properties that first appears in the 2011 film Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. According to the film's visual guide, the Sword of Triton was forged in the lost city of Atlantis as well as commands and channels unearthly and mystical power that brings dead matter to life. The Pirates of the Caribbean Online website states that the sword was forged by the sea deity Triton himself and that it has passed from one ancient mariner to another until falling into Blackbeard's possession. In On Stranger Tides, Blackbeard uses the sword to ensnare the mutinous crew of the Queen Anne's Revenge by the ship's ropes and unleash Greek fire upon mermaids at Whitecap Bay. It is revealed that Blackbeard attacked the Black Pearl, which led Barbossa to claim Blackbeard's ship and sword. Barbossa used the sword's magical properties to control the wind, as well as the ship's rigging, and sailed the Revenge to Tortuga. In the 2017 sequel Dead Men Tell No Tales, it is revealed that the Black Pearl was trapped in the bottle "five winters" earlier before Barbossa stabs the bottle with the sword, restoring the miniaturized Pearl to its original size. Although it was not clarified onscreen, Terry Rossio's unproduced screenplay for Dead Men Tell No Tales reveals the sword's powers comes from Rhysis, one of the three Pearls of Neptune, which commanded the winds of the sea and was hidden inside the sapphire that was embedded into the hilt of the Sword. The Pearl rules the winds of the ocean, and everything associated with the wind, including the ships at sea, their rigging and sails.
 * In The Librarian, Excalibur, which appears in both the films and the television series, is shown as having been infused with magic by Merlin, giving it the ability to be summoned across vast distances and fight independently of its wielder. The sword primarily serves as a personal trainer and protector of the Library, working alongside Librarian Flynn Carsen, who gives it the nickname "Cal". In the first two episodes of The Librarians ("And The Crown of King Arthur" and "And The Sword In the Stone"), the sword is stolen by the Serpent Brotherhood, who use it to mortally wound Flynn. They then take it to the stone where it was originally forged, combining the two to steal Excalibur's magic and release it into the world. Flynn and his team manage to defeat the Brotherhood, but both he and Excalibur die of their injuries soon after. Cassandra, the Librarian responsible for these events, uses what little magic she can gather to heal them instead of herself. Excalibur makes a final appearance in the episode "And The Final Curtain", where Flynn's Guardian, Eve Baird, receives it from the Lady of the Lake. Flynn then uses it to destroy the staff of Prospero, who is subsequently erased from existence.

Anime

 * In Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest, the main protagonist, Hajime Nagumo, an alchemist crafted Tsumehirameki a magical replica of Kogarasumaru a famous Japanese sword which he gave to his lover Shizuku.
 * The manga and subsequent anime Bleach features several magic swords, called zanpakuto ("soul-cutting swords"). These katana-like weapons are a representation of the power of the Shinigami (called "Soul Reapers" in the English translation) within the Bleach universe, and essentially - "come from within". As such, zanpakuto can grow in strength and power in tandem with its user. These swords are often personified in a humanoid form throughout the series. All zanpakuto have unique and often poetic Japanese names, such as Ichigo Kurosaki's zanpakuto called Zangetsu, which means Moon-Cutter. All zanpakuto have personalities, emotions and feelings of their own, and it is stated that in order to use the true powers of their zanpakuto (bankai, "final release"), the Shinigami wielder must conquer (master) them through training and battle - essentially forcing a part of themselves (their own power) into submission.
 * In Rave Master, Haru's sword, "Decaforce Sword" is a kind of magic sword powered by Rave stones. It is used by Haru to destroy Dark stones.
 * In Naruto, another Japanese manga series, based heavily on traditional folklore themes, the legendary grasscutter Kusanagi-no tsurugi makes an entrance. The sword used to be in the possession of the snake Sannin Orochimaru, as the poisonous blade complements the ninja's affinity to summoned snakes. Its counterpart is said to be the sword Totsuka, a sword wielded by the god Susanoo, capable of sealing everything it touches into a pure state of peaceful entrapment.
 * Gourry Gabriev of the anime and manga The Slayers is a knight who wields the Sword of Light, a sword with a magical blade of pure light.
 * In YuYu Hakusho, Kuwabara Kazuma wields his "spirit power" as a "spirit sword," a lightsaber-like energy blade coming from a wooden handle made from a broken wooden sword tip. His power was later enhanced by a magical handle.
 * In the various Tenchi Muyo! media, the main character, Tenchi Masaki, gains the power of a legendary lightsaber-like weapon that accompanies a pair of energy wings that are his inherent power. Another character, Ryoko, has the ability to create a red energy blade.
 * In the manga and anime videos Ogre Slayer, the main character has no name and is known by the name of his sword, Onikirimaru or ogre-slayer. The sword enables him to track and kill ogres.
 * In InuYasha both the titular character InuYasha and his half-brother Sesshomaru wield magical blades created by their Inugami father's fangs, and there are many other magical swords and weapons in the series mostly gaining power from the energy of the wielder.
 * In the anime and manga Reborn! the 10th Vongola Rain Guardian Takeshi Yamamoto and Varia Rain Guardian Superbi Squalo use a swords. Yamamoto uses Shigure Kintoki which was given to him by his father. Squalo uses Arm-Mounted Sword.
 * In Highschool DxD there exist legendary magic swords of either Divine or Demonic origins, each having supernatural powers and abilities were wielded by historical figures such as King Arthur's Excalibur, Roland's Durandal and Siegfired's Gram.

Video and role-playing games
Video games and fantasy role-playing games feature a great variety of magical armaments, most commonly represented by swords and similar archetypal weapons. These swords are rarely unique, and in many role-playing scenarios, magical weapons are so ubiquitous that the player characters are expected to come into possession of them as a matter of course.

 * The Fire Emblem series regularly features magical swords that can only be used by the main protagonists of a given entry of the series, the most notable of which is called Falchion, a blade forged from a fang from the divine dragon Naga. This sword's properties include the ability to heal its wielder, inflict increased damage against dragons, and kill the final bosses of the games that it has appeared.
 * Heavenly Sword features a sword by the same name wielded by the protagonist Nariko that changes into two chained blades, two short swords or a single two handed sword.
 * The Legend of Zelda games feature many magic swords, the most famous of which is the Master Sword, the legendary Blade of Evil's Bane that has appeared in most of the games in the series since its first appearance in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. The Master Sword was forged by the gods and possesses many mystical abilities such as the power to repel, seal, or smite evil, and protect its user from certain types of magic. The Master Sword can only be wielded by someone with great courage, and Link and his various incarnations usually must prove themselves in order to wield the blade or unlock its true powers. In The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, it is revealed that the Master Sword contains a sentient spirit named Fi whose soul was imparted into the blade by the Goddess Hylia before she gave up her divinity in order to reincarnate into the mortal Princess Zelda.
 * In The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap the Picori Blade is re-forged into the legendary Four Sword, a magical blade that can allow its user to split into four copies.
 * In The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, the ultimate weapon is the Phantom Sword and in The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks it is the Lokomo Sword.
 * The Legacy of Kain series features a powerful blade called Soul Reaver, which is used to devour souls of its victims.
 * In the Soul series, the plot focuses on two magic weapons: an evil, soul-devouring sword named Soul Edge and its holy counterpart, Soul Calibur.
 * The "Blades of Chaos" are a pair of divine blades forged in the fire of Hades in God of War. The series also contains the Blade of Artemis and the Blade of Olympus. Both are divine weapons used by gods to defeat the Titans in the Titanomachy.
 * In the Prince of Persia trilogy, there is a blade called the Dagger of Time, which gives its wielder many time-based powers.
 * In Riviera: The Promised Land, the lead character, Ein, wields a sword called the Einherjar, in exchange of losing his wings. The sword is called by other in-game characters as a Diviner, or a weapon owned by Grim Angels, capable of vanquishing demons.
 * In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and for the Switch remake, the secondary antagonist of the game is Exor, a magical sword that is part of the Smithy gang, which destroys the Star Road and lands into Bowser’s Castle, blasting Mario, Bowser, and Princess Peach away.
 * In SaGa Frontier, Sun Sword is the strongest sword in the game made of the energy of the sun and is only available to use by the player by using Light Magic to summon it.
 * The Ultima series features many magical swords, the most notable and powerful being the Black Sword, which contains the powers of a demon.
 * In Grand Chase, the weapon of Ronan's 4th job is called Tyrfing. Named after the Norse Mythology sword Tyrfing.
 * In Warcraft III, Frostmourne is the Lich King's sword used to steal Prince Arthas' soul.
 * In The Elder Scrolls series it is possible to find, and create, enchanted swords that do magical damage, absorb attributes and even capture an enemy's soul. Some of the unique artifacts common to several games take the shape of swords. The most notable is Umbra, which has a soul of its own and over time takes over the personality of its wielder.
 * In Final Fantasy XI almost every legendary sword listed is an obtainable weapon from Excalibur to Joyeuse.

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Argus Panoptes

Argus or Argos Panoptes (Ἄργος Πανόπτης, "All-seeing Argos") is a many-eyed giant in Greek mythology.

Mythology

Argus Panoptes (Ἄργος Πανόπτης) was the guardian of the heifer-nymph Io and the son of Arestor. According to Asclepiades, Argus Panoptes was a son of Inachus, and according to Cercops he was a son of Argus and Ismene, daughter of Asopus. Acusilaus says that he was earth-born (authochthon), born from Gaia. Probably Mycene (in another version the son of Gaia ) was a primordial giant whose epithet Panoptes, "all-seeing", led to his being described with multiple, often one hundred eyes. The epithet Panoptes was applied to the god of the Sun, Helios, and was taken up as an epithet by Zeus, Zeus Panoptes. "In a way," Walter Burkert observes, "the power and order of Argos the city are embodied in Argos the neatherd, lord of the herd and lord of the land, whose name itself is the name of the land." The epithet Panoptes, reflecting his mythic role, set by Hera as a very effective watchman of Io, was described in a fragment of a lost poem Aigimios, attributed to Hesiod:

"And set a watcher upon her, great and strong Argus, who with four eyes looks every way. And the goddess stirred in him unwearying strength: sleep never fell upon his eyes; but he kept sure watch always."

In the 5th century and later, Argus' wakeful alertness was explained for an increasingly literal culture as his having so many eyes that only a few of the eyes would sleep at a time: there were always eyes still awake. In the 2nd century AD Pausanias noted at Argos, in the temple of Zeus Larissaios, an archaic image of Zeus with a third eye in the center of his forehead, allegedly Priam's Zeus Herkeios purloined from Troy.

Argus was Hera's servant. His great service to the Olympian pantheon was to slay the chthonic serpent-legged monster Echidna as she slept in her cave. Hera's defining task for Argus was to guard the white heifer Io from Zeus, who was attracted to her, keeping her chained to the sacred olive tree at the Argive Heraion. She required someone who had at least a hundred eyes spread out, always watching in all directions, someone who would stay awake despite being asleep. Argos was meant to be the perfect guardian. She charged him to "Tether this cow safely to an olive-tree at Nemea". Hera knew that the heifer was in reality Io, one of the many nymphs Zeus was coupling with to establish a new order. To free Io, Zeus had Argus slain by Hermes. The messenger of the Olympian gods, disguised as a shepherd, first put all of Argus' eyes asleep with spoken charms, then slew him. Some versions say that Hermes used his wand to close Argus' eyes permanently, while other versions say that Hermes simply hurled a stone at Argus. Either way, Argus' death was the first stain of bloodshed among the new generation of gods. After beheading Argus, Hermes acquired the epithet Argeiphontes or “Argus-slayer”.

The sacrifice of Argus liberated Io and allowed her to wander the earth, although tormented by a gadfly sent by Hera, until she reached the Ionian Sea, named after her, from where she swam to Egypt and gave birth to a love child of Zeus, according to some versions of the myth.

According to Ovid, Argus had a hundred eyes. Hera had Argus' hundred eyes preserved forever in a peacock's tail so as to immortalise her faithful watchman. In another version, Hera transformed the whole of Argus into a peacock.

The myth makes the closest connection of Argus, the neatherd, with the bull. According to the mythographer Apollodorus, Argus, "being exceedingly strong ... killed the bull that ravaged Arcadia and clad himself in its hide".

Eponyms
Argus Panoptes is referenced in the scientific names of at least eight animals, each of which bears a pattern of eye spots: reptiles Cnemaspis argus, Eremias argus, Sibon argus, Sphaerodactylus argus, and the Argus monitor Varanus panoptes; the pheasant Argusianus argus; the fish Cephalopholis argus and the cowry Arestorides argus.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Argus Panoptes


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Talk:Perth, Ontario

Untitled
In reference to the "Mammoth Cheese" issue, although the town of Perth is home to a reproduction of the Mammoth Cheese and often bills it's self as the home of the Mammoth Cheese it was really more of a meeting point for several producers of cheese. The cheese comprising the Mammoth Cheese was actually made in no less than 12 different places and pressed together in Perth. (http://globalgenealogy.com/LCGS/articles/A-CHEESE.HTM). Dubkor (talk) 07:10, 8 September 2010 (UTC)

Added the http://shop-heritage-perth.com link: this is the latest Downtown Heritage Perth Business Improvement Area site to promote the downtown area.

I added Daniel Daverne to the list of notable people in Perth - he was the first secretary/storeskeeper in 1816 - being appointed from Kingston to take over this position in Perth. Somebody name Zaxby immediately removed this before I could add anything more saying I need am authoritative reference. I am not sure what reference would do. I have produced a documentary on Daniel Daverne (http://DanielDaverne.com) - and can refer to documents in the National Archives of Canada, the Canadian Conservation Institute who restored the recently discovered copy book of Daniel Daverne (1816 - 1818), acticles from CCI discussing the restoration, the restored journal itself in the Perth Museum, but what one would be authoritative? and how exactly would I "reference" them in an authoratative manner. As to whether or not he was a victim of a conspiracy (that I put in the note ) I can refer to hundreds of documents from the 1800's in the hands of the Daverne relatives on the farm he purchased for his parents in 1815 - but would these be considered authoratative. How would I refere to them. I could refer to a history book - not yet published that documents the conspiracy.... but this is history unfolding. However, it is a historical fact that Daniel Daverne is the secretary/storeskeeper in Perth in 1816 - which is all I put in the entry on Perth. I am curious as to the method for so quickly deleting my entry - I didn't even have time to see it before it was gone. Hugh Chatfield (talk) 02:55, 17 August 2009 (UTC)

Somebody removed the reference to the Mammoth Cheese saying it wasn't produced in Perth. That's news to Perth. Perhaps there is confusion because a web search will uncover several "mammoth cheeses" each claiming to be the biggest. However refer to these PDFs from the town of Perth. Seems pretty clear to me the mammoth cheese was produced in the rail yards in Perth.

http://www.town.perth.on.ca/files/%7BE5595F9A-D494-4618-8850-AF8FCEBE96F2%7DMammoth%20Cheese%20Press%20Release%202008.pdf

http://www.town.perth.on.ca/files/%7B23F58C8F-0414-438E-8C41-7639D2FE5041%7DMAMMOTH%20CHEESE.pdf

There are photographs of the cheese underway to chicago from Perth with the Perth Town band in attendance. There is a last piece of this cheese on display in the Perth Museum. There is a new monument to the Mammoth cheese just erected in the Tay Basin in Perth. Whoever deleted the reference was wrong.Hugh Chatfield (talk) 03:11, 17 August 2009 (UTC)

I finally found an authoritative reference to the issue of Perth's "Mammoth Cheese":  Journal of Dairy Sciences, Vol 43 No.12 pp1871-1877 - Mammoth Cheese - G. M Trout - U of Michigan.Hugh Chatfield (talk) 01:07, 14 September 2009 (UTC)

The text "This town was the site of the last fatal duel in Canada. Robert Lyon, a law student, was killed on June 13, 1833 after fighting over a woman with a former friend, John Wilson. John Wilson was then tried and hanged for murder." is incorrect. John Wilson was not hanged for murder. Will find an authoritative reference for this.Hugh Chatfield (talk) 00:00, 26 April 2010 (UTC)

Dead link to downtown merchant brochure
I presume that http://www.urbanmarket.com/all-about-perth/Merchants.html will eventually be a replacement for the dead link to a PDF, but it's just a placeholder at the moment. —Eric S. Smith (talk) 21:23, 12 October 2009 (UTC)

Old Burying Ground
The Perth text states that the burying ground in there is the oldest in Canada, yet it is a matter of record that the Old Burying Ground in Halifax Nova Scotia dates to 1749. I believe that significantly predates the one in Perth 20:45, 25 January 2012 (UTC)Burns MacDonald, 1/25/2012 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.86.141.133 (talk)

Advertisement notice
I have cleaned up the Attractions section and removed items that did not seem notable. This leaves a paragraph on companies that are notable as the oldest in various categories as well as paragraphs that do not reference commercial entities. Removing Advert notice. Nutster (talk) 01:53, 31 August 2012 (UTC)

title: Talk:Perth, Ontario


title: User:Tuxthepenguin6


text:
User talk:Mark Shew

Welcome!

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title: User talk:Mark Shew


text:
Category:Universities and colleges affiliated with the Church of the Nazarene

Universities and colleges affiliated with the Church of the Nazarene.


text:
Khambhat

Khambhat, also known as Cambay, is a city and the surrounding urban agglomeration in Anand district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It was once an important trading center, but its harbour gradually silted up, and the maritime trade moved to Surat. Khambat lies on an alluvial plain at the north end of the Gulf of Khambhat, noted for the extreme rise and fall of its tides, which can vary as much as thirty feet in the vicinity of Khambat. Khambat is known for its halvasan sweet, sutarfeni, akik stone and kites (patang), and for sources of oil and gas.

Khambat is perhaps the only place in India where the Harappan craft of agate bead making is found in the living tradition. Surprisingly Khambat has no stone deposits; the craft has survived mainly through acquiring stones from the Rajpipla hills, about 200 km away from the city. In the folklore of Khambat, the beginning of the craft is attributed to Baba Ghor, a 1500 AD saint from Ethiopia (Habash) who had led a large contingent of Muslims (Siddi) to settle in the city. However, in the archaeological record the origin of the craft can be traced to nearby Lothal, a Harappan outpost that flourished about 4000 years ago.

Origin of name
Some people believe that the City of Khambat may be the Camanes of Ptolemy. James Tod believed that the name comes from the Sanskrit Khambavati or 'City of the Pillar'.

Variants of name

 * Cambay

Historical

 * Cambaet of Marco Polo
 * Cambaia of Duarte Barbosa
 * Cambeth of Marino Sanudo
 * Trambavati of Tod
 * Kambáya
 * Combea
 * Quambaya
 * Camanes of Ptolemy

History
Cambay was formerly a flourishing city, the seat of an extensive trade, and celebrated for its manufactures of silk, chintz and gold stuffs. The Arab traveler al-Mas'udi visited the city in 915 AD, describing it as a very successful port; it was mentioned in 1293 by Marco Polo, who, calling it Cambaet, noted it as a busy port. He mentions that the city had its own king. Indigo and fine buckram were particular products of the region, but much cotton and leather was exported through Cambay. In the early 1340s, the Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta remarked on its impressive architecture and cosmopolitan population. "'Cambay is one of the most beautiful cities as regards the artistic architecture of its houses and the construction of its mosques. The reason is that the majority of its inhabitants are foreign merchants, who continually build there beautiful houses and wonderful mosques -- an achievement in which they endeavour to surpass each other.'"An Italian traveler, Marino Sanudo, said that Cambeth was one of India's main two ocean ports. Another Italian, visiting in about 1440, Niccolò de' Conti, mentions that the walls of the city were twelve miles in circumference. The Kothi gateway traditionally believed to be constructed by an English factory is in fact a 14th-century gate, probably dating to the 1330s, of Tughluq era.

The Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa visited the city, which he calls Cambaia, in the early sixteenth century. His description of the city is very full. He states:

"'Entering by Guindarim [Gandhar port, Bharuch], which is within on the river, there is a great and fair city called Cambaia in which dwell both 'mouros' [Muslims] and 'gentios' [Hindus]. Therein are many fair houses, very lofty, with windows and roofed with tiles in our manner, well laid out with streets and fine open places, and great buildings of stone and mortar.' (translation of )"He describes the city as very busy and affluent, with merchants coming frequently by sea from the world around. Duarte Barbosa also noted that many ships from the Kingdom of Cambaya sailed to the Sultanate of Mogadishu in the Horn of Africa with cloths and spices for which they in return received gold, wax and ivory.

Owing principally to the gradually increasing difficulty of access by water by the silting up of the gulf, its commerce has long since fallen away, and the City became poor and dilapidated. The spring tides rise upwards of 30 ft (10 m) and in a channel usually so shallow that it is a serious danger to shipping. By 1900, the trade was chiefly confined to the export of cotton. The City was celebrated for its manufacture of agate and carnelian ornaments, of reputation, principally in China.

The houses in many instances are built of stone (a circumstance which indicates the former wealth of the city, as the material had to be brought from a very considerable distance); and remains of a brick wall, three miles (five km) in circumference, which formerly surrounded the City, enclose four large reservoirs of good water and three bazaars. To the southeast there are very extensive ruins of subterranean temples and other buildings half-buried in the sand by which the ancient City was overwhelmed. These temples belong to the Jains and contain two massive statues of their deities: one black, the other white. The principal one, as the inscription intimates, is Pariswanath or Parswanath, carved in the reign of the emperor Akbar; the black one has the date of 1651 inscribed.

A few members of Shia community settled in Khambhat during 18th century from Iran. Among these the most known was Nawab Mohammed Jaffar Ali Khan Najamesani and his son Nawab Yavar Ali khan Najamesani. Nawab Yavar Ali khan Najamesani ruled 84 villages when he was crowned as a Nawab. Nawab Yavar Ali Khan was titled Sarkar Sahab (Governing Prince), because he was able to maintain peace and unity. The name Cambay to Khambhat was also given by Nawab Yavar Ali Khan during Pre-independence period. Nawab Yavar Ali Khan died in July 1996. His family still lives in Khambhat.

Hub of mercantile activity
The traders and the merchants reached here from across the world. Cambay was known for its cotton and silk cloths. Cambay was one of India's most active trade center since the 14th century (Source: Ibn Battuta). After 200 years, Duarte Barbosa described Cambay as an important commercial center with carpets, and other textile goods in Mughal established industries.

Cambay cloth
Cambay was famous for its cloth manufacturing and trading activities. There were certain coarse cotton cloths which were called Cambay cloth. For instance, the checked cloths. There are records of extensive trading of Gujarati Cambay cloth.

Princely State of Cambay
Khambat was the capital of Cambay State, a princely state of British India. It was the only state in the Kaira Agency of the Gujarat division of the Bombay Presidency. It had an area of 350 sqmi. It was founded in 1730, at the time of the dismemberment of the Mughal Empire. The Nawabs of Cambay were descendants of Mumin Khan, the last of the Mughal governors of Gujarat, who in 1742 defeated his brother-in-law Nizam Khan, governor of Khambhat, and established himself there.

The sport of cricket in India was first played in Cambay State in 1721.

In 1780 Cambay was taken by the army of general Goddard Richards, but it was restored to the Marathas in 1783. Finally it was ceded to the British by the Peshwa under the treaty of 1803. The state was provided with a railway in 1901.

Geography and Climate
Khambhat is at 22.3°N, 72.62°W. It has an average elevation of 8 metres.

Khambhat has warm and humid climate. It is located on the plains. The land on which Khambhat sits is the silt deposited by the Mahi River, so Khambhat has very fertile, wet coastal alluvial soil. The area south of Khambhat is muddy wetlands and then coast line comes. Normally April to June is summer. From July, it rains until September. It has a muggy climate for most of the year except winters. Sometimes Khambhat receives heavy rain, and surrounding areas get affected from floods in the Mahi River. Mid November to January is winter, which results in essentially mild cold during the nights and early mornings with warm noons. Maximum average temperatures are 25 to 30 C and minimum average temperatures are 10 to 12 C. Summer average maxima are 38 C and minima around 22 C. In summer, high winds are common. Khambhat coast's tides are among the highest in the world at up to 35 feet.

Demographics
As of 2011 India census, Khambhat had a population of 201,964. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Khambhat has an average literacy rate of 73%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 78%, and female literacy is 67%. In Khambhat, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Economy
In the 14th and 15th centuries, Khambhat was well known for Muslim gravestones carved in marble which were exported to various locations along the Indian Ocean rim, including Southeast Asia.

Many here are in the agate business, diamond cutting-polishing & colored stone business (mainly ruby), and have shops which sell eatables and household products. Kite making is another important business in the City among few particular communities. Fishing and salt harvesting are other businesses some particular communities are occupied with.

Railway
Khambhat is connected with Anand by Railway Line. Total 8 trains depart per day for Anand.

Road
Khambhat is connected with Tarapur, Dharmaj, Vataman, Petlad, Nadiad, Anand, undel and Dali by Regional roads.

Schools

 * Adarsh Saraswati Vidhya Mandir, NAGRA
 * Bits Education High School
 * Chachaldeep Vidyavihar, NANAKALODRA
 * Dr. J.B. Patel Primary School, ALING
 * Harsh Balvatika, NANAKALODRA
 * Jalsan High School, JALSAN
 * Kendriya Vidyalaya ONGC (CBSE)
 * Lok Jagruti High School
 * M.T. High School
 * Madhavlal Shah High School
 * Metpur High School
 * N.A. Patel Shishuvidhyalay, NANAKALODRA
 * RC Mission School
 * S.B. Vakil Primary School (English Medium)
 * S.D. Kapadiya High School
 * Shree S.K. Vaghela High School
 * Shree S.Z. Vaghela High School (Science + Common Stream)
 * Smt. B.C.J. High School, JALUNDH, PIPLOI
 * Smt. K.M.J. Patel High School, SAYAMA (Arts + Commerce Stream)
 * St Xavier's High School (Science + Common Stream)
 * Supath High School
 * Vatsalya International School

Colleges

 * L.B. Rao Institute of Pharmaceutical Education
 * Nav Jagruti Arts & Commerce College for Women
 * R.P. Arts, K.B. Commerce & B.C.J. Science College
 * Shri M N College of Pharmacy
 * Smt. B.C.J. College of Education
 * Vatsalya Institute of Nursing

Tourism

 * Babu Shah Baba
 * Dariyai Uttarayana (Organized on first Sunday after Uttarayana at Seashore)
 * Jain Derasar
 * Jami Masjid
 * Saiyed Miran Ali and Wali
 * Sikotar Mata Mandir, Ralaj
 * Swaminarayan Mandir
 * Neja

Marine archeology
In May 2001, India's Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Science and Technology division, Murli Manohar Joshi, announced that the ruins of an ancient civilization had been discovered off the coast of Gujarat, in the Gulf of Khambhat. The site was discovered by NIOT while they performed routine pollution studies using SONAR, and was described as an area of regularly spaced geometric structures. It is located 20 km from the Gujarat coast, spans 9 km, and can be found at a depth of 30–40 meters. In his announcement, Joshi represented the site as an urban settlement that pre-dates the Indus Valley civilization. However, these claims were made without the backing of any experts and have since been debunked by prominent archaeologists.

title: Khambhat


text:
The Fat Duck

The Fat Duck is a fine dining restaurant in Bray, Berkshire, England, owned by the chef Heston Blumenthal. Housed in a 16th-century building, the Fat Duck opened on 16 August 1995. Although it originally served food similar to a French bistro, it soon acquired a reputation for precision and innovation, and has been at the forefront of many modern culinary developments, such as food pairing, flavour encapsulation and multi-sensory cooking.

The number of staff in the kitchen increased from four when the Fat Duck first opened to 42, resulting in a ratio of one kitchen staff member per customer. The Fat Duck gained its first Michelin star in 1999, its second in 2002 and its third in 2004, making it one of eight restaurants in the United Kingdom to earn three Michelin stars. In 2005, the World's 50 Best Restaurants named the Fat Duck the best restaurant in the world. It lost its stars in 2016 when it closed for renovation, but regained all three the following year.

The Fat Duck is known for its tasting menu featuring dishes such as nitro-scrambled egg and bacon ice cream, an Alice in Wonderland-inspired mock turtle soup involving a bouillon packet made up to look like a fob watch dissolved in tea, and a dish called Sound of the Sea which includes an audio element. It has an associated laboratory where Blumenthal and his team develop new dish concepts. In 2009, the Fat Duck suffered from the largest norovirus outbreak ever documented at a restaurant, with more than 400 diners falling ill.

History
The Fat Duck is located in a 16th-century cottage that was modified in the 19th and 20th centuries. It was previously a pub, the Ringers. The building was Grade II listed by English Heritage on 2 May 1989.

The Fat Duck opened in 1995, staffed only by Blumenthal and a dishwasher. It served meals in the style of a French bistro, such as lemon tarts and steak and chips. Blumenthal said that science had already begun to influence the cooking at this stage, as already on the menu were his triple-cooked chips, which were developed to stop the potato from going soft. Blumenthal sold his house, his car and many of his possessions to avoid bankruptcy.

1999—2005: Michelin stars
After four years, the Fat Duck was awarded its first Michelin star in the 1999 list. Blumenthal worked with the physics professor Peter Barham of the University of Bristol, and developed a menu of dishes through experimentation such as slow-cooked lamb which avoids shocking the fibres in the meat and causing them to seize. By 2000, techniques were being used such as cooking vegetables in mineral water after discovering that the levels of calcium in tap water causes their discolouration, and freezing cuttlefish to break down the molecules and increase their tenderness. In 2001, the Fat Duck was awarded a second Michelin star and was named restaurant of the year by the Automobile Association. In 2002, Blumenthal opened a second restaurant in Bray, the Riverside Brasserie, selling many of the Fat Duck's earlier dishes at reduced prices.

In 2004, the Fat Duck became the third restaurant in the UK to receive three Michelin stars, after the Waterside Inn, also in Bray, and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in London. It was the fastest that a restaurant had gone from one to three stars in the UK. At the time he received his third star, Blumenthal said it was the closest he had been to bankruptcy, with enough money only to cover the following week's staff wages. Immediately after receiving the third star, the Fat Duck began receiving hundreds of phone calls seeking reservations a day. Blumenthal hired Tony Baker as managing director to help deal with the demand.

In the same year, the Fat Duck was ranked second in the world behind the French Laundry by the World's 50 Best Restaurants. It also received the title of Square Meal BMW Best UK Restaurant 2004. That year, food and safety officers found "borderline" levels of listeria in the foie gras and expressed concern that "no core temperatures of the meat are taken". The Daily Telegraph reported that the Fat Duck dealt with the problem and introduced "stringent procedures."

In 2005, the World's 50 Best Restaurants named the Fat Duck the best restaurant in the world. At the first Front of House Awards in 2007, it won the awards for Overall Service and Front Desk of the Year. As of 2007, the Fat Duck employed 32 chefs, with a weekly wage bill of around £35,000. It seated 46 people for lunch and dinner six days a week, with an average spend of around £175 per head and an annual turnover of more than £4 million. Additional income came from books and television. In 2008, Blumenthal published The Big Fat Duck Cookbook.

2009: Norovirus outbreak
On 27 February 2009, Blumenthal closed the Fat Duck temporarily after a number of customers reported feeling unwell at different times. By 3 March the source of the outbreak was still unclear but sabotage had been ruled out. A spokesman for the restaurant said "All this leads us to believe that it [the health scare] has not come from the restaurant and we expect to be given the all clear." On 6 March it was reported that 400 people had stated they had felt unwell after eating at the restaurant.

The restaurant reopened on 12 March 2009. The cause of the illness was later given by the Health Protection Agency as norovirus, which was thought to originate from oysters which had been harvested from beds contaminated with sewage. The virus was spread further after being contracted by staff members. The restaurant was criticised for its cleaning methods and its slow response to the incident. Complaints of illness from customers totalled 529. It was the largest norovirus outbreak ever documented at a restaurant.

2012: Deaths of senior staff
On 19 November 2012, Jorge Ivan Arango Herrera and Carl Magnus Lindgren, two senior members of staff, were killed on Chai Wan Road, Hong Kong, in a traffic accident when their taxi was hit by two buses. They died along with the taxi driver, Wong Kim-chung. A further 56 people were injured in the accident. Blumenthal had been in Hong Kong and was travelling in a separate cab at the time of the crash.

2014: Relocation to Australia
On 31 March 2014, Blumenthal announced he would be closing the Fat Duck for renovations for six months and temporarily relocating it with its entire team to Crown Towers, Melbourne, Australia. During those six months, the Australian restaurant was also named the Fat Duck, after which it was renamed after Blumenthal's London restaurant Dinner by Heston Blumenthal. This was the second restaurant with that name, Blumenthal's sixth restaurant and his first restaurant outside of Britain. This temporary closure of the Bray location made the Fat Duck ineligible for assessment for the 2016 Michelin Guide, thus losing its three-starred status. It regained the stars the following year.

Facilities
The Fat Duck has 14 tables and can seat 42 diners. It has a high proportion of chefs working, 42, equating to one chef per diner. Much of the menu is developed by experimentation: for example, the egg and bacon ice cream came about following Blumenthal investigating the principles of "flavour encapsulation". A research laboratory where Blumenthal and his team develop dishes is two doors away opposite the Hind's Head pub, which he also owns. It was where the majority of the laboratory scenes for the television series Heston Blumenthal: In Search of Perfection were filmed. The lab equipment includes a centrifuge which is used to make chocolate wine, and a vacuum oven. The restaurant takes reservations up to two months in advance, and it was receiving some 30,000 calls for reservations per day, although that figure also included people who could not get through and were redialling.

Menu
Blumenthal was inspired as a teenager by trips to the Michelin-starred restaurants in France and the work of Harold McGee. McGee's work in particular led him to question traditional cooking techniques and approaches which resulted in combinations which may at first appear unusual. Blumenthal incorporates psychology and the perception of diners into his dishes, explaining, "For example, eat sardine on toast sorbet for the first time, confusion will reign as the brain will be trying to tell the palate to expect a dessert and you will therefore be tasting more sweetness than actually exists." The Fat Duck serves a tasting menu.

Dishes served include palate cleansers made of vodka and green tea, frozen in liquid nitrogen, a snail porridge described by one food critic as "infamous", and ice creams of both crab, and egg and bacon, each of which drew media attention. The mock turtle soup has an Alice in Wonderland theme, whereby a fob watch formed of freeze-dried beef stock covered with gold leaf is dropped into a teacup by a waiter, who pours a beef stock "tea" poured over it that dissolves the gold and the watch. A plate of ox tongue and vegetables is served alongside to place into the soup. Toast sandwiches, developed for an appearance on Heston's Feasts, are served as a side dish. Dishes are served with additional sensory inputs, such as "Sounds of the Sea", a plate of seafood served with a seafood foam on top of a "beach" of tapioca, breadcrumbs and eel. Alongside the dish, diners are given an iPod to listen to crashing waves whilst they eat. Other sensory components include "the smell of the Black Forest" that accompanies a kirsch ice cream.

In 2023, the Fat Duck introduced its 12-dish Sensorium menu, which the Times said was more conventional and "dials down the trickery and sleights of hand". It incorporates new seasonal dishes alongside previous dishes such as the Sound of Sea and A Walk in the Woods ("an edible forest floor of mushrooms, blackberries and beetroot").

Reception
Ben Rogers reviewed the Fat Duck for The Independent in 1996, before it had gained any Michelin Stars awards. He discovered that Blumenthal was cooking foie gras in sherry to give it a nutty flavour, but Rogers was not sure if this was warranted. He praised a jambonneau of duck, but found the monkfish rubbery. He described the menu as "awkwardly written, badly punctuated, and at points quite impenetrable". After the Fat Duck received its first Michelin star, David Fingleton visited it for The Spectator in 1999, and wrote that the experience was "beyond reproach; unsullied pleasure from start to finish".

In 2001, Terry Durack reviewed the Fat Duck for The Independent. He was initially hesitant, expecting tricks straight away, but was surprised to find a bowl of normal green olives on the table as he arrived. He did not enjoy a mustard ice cream in a red cabbage gazpacho soup, but described the restaurant as "great" and gave it a score of 17 out of 20. In 2004, following the third Michelin star, Jan Moir of The Daily Telegraph gave it a negative review, saying that "while many of the flavours are politely interesting, the relentless pappy textures of mousses and foams and creams and poached meats really begins to grate". She also found it overpriced, calling it the "Fat Profit".

Matthew Fort reviewed the Fat Duck for The Guardian in 2005, and wrote that "there is no doubt that the Fat Duck is a great restaurant and Heston Blumenthal the most original and remarkable chef this country has ever produced". In The Times, A. A. Gill recommended that people should "eat here at least once to find out what is really going on in your mouth". Also in 2005, the German critic Wolfram Siebeck visited the restaurant and complained of the delays in service and of several of the dishes. He described the mustard ice cream in a red cabbage gazpacho soup as a "fart of nothingness". The chef Nico Ladenis said, "Someone who makes egg and bacon ice cream is hailed a genius. If you vomit and make ice cream out of it, are you a star?" Tony Naylor of The Guardian enjoyed his trip in 2008. He defended the price, likening the occasional purchase of an exceptional meal to spending on entertainment or hobbies. In 2012, Fodor's described the Fat Duck as "extraordinary" and "one of the best restaurants in the country", and Frommer's gave it three stars, grading it "exceptional".

In 2005, the Fat Duck was ranked first on the list of the World's 50 Best Restaurants. After spending 11 years on the list, it dropped to 73rd. It has been ranked second-best on numerous occasions, first behind the French Laundry and then behind El Bulli. In 2012, it was ranked 13th. In 2009, the Fat Duck was the only restaurant to be given a top score of ten out of ten in the Good Food Guide. The editor of the guide, Elizabeth Carter, wrote: "It's extremely rare that a restaurant cooks perfectly on a consistent basis, but we've had so many superlative reports that we're delighted to recognise the Fat Duck as the best restaurant in Britain." It retained that score through to the 2013 edition. In 2010, it was named the Best UK Restaurant in the Quintessentially Awards, a scheme run by the Quintessentially Group.

Gill reviewed the Fat Duck again in 2016, and gave the food five out of five and the atmosphere four. He wrote: "There is not another restaurant anywhere doing anything remotely this brave or this daft. It is so out there, it has left the food section altogether. This is what rocking, unmediated genius tastes like. Hidden under the big top of it all is still some of the finest food in the world." Reviewing the Fat Duck for the Times in 2023, Tony Turnbull wrote that the menu had become more conventional, with better results: "By messing less with our brains, Blumenthal allows us to focus more on the complexities and multi-tiered flavour of the dishes, faultlessly executed by the head chef Edward Cooke. There we were thinking it was all about the conjuring show, when in fact — who knew? — it was just about putting delicious things in our mouths." Turnbull said his meal was the best of his three visits.

title: The Fat Duck


text:
User:Philnat

Here is what I did: All day I sat and wept In a green park At land’s end. Sat To wait amidst the stones, The tributes to war-dead, Where millions pass alive, Laughing and passing. The Descendants. On holiday.

Here is what I saw: Red tongues wriggling From open mouths and In to stony slabs; Blue water pouring Out from granite heads and In to breathing hearts, Back and forth and never One drop spilt.

There is where I sat Until the time had come. Until the waiting passed. Until the cups were full. Until the poppies bloomed To button the war-deads’ eyes.

--Philnat 00:14, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC)--Philnat 00:14, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC) The poppies made me sleep. The laughter made me weep. The waiting made me well."

title: User:Philnat


text: User talk:68.44.215.3

title: User talk:68.44.215.3


text:
User talk:CQJ/Russell Tribunal

Discussion of the Issues
The Russell Tribunal dispute mainly dealt with proper placement of content. Nobs filed an advocacy request on the AMA Request page, and I picked up the case and started working with it. He and I had several conversations back and forth via e-mail, and I jumped in and started to read the actual article, diffs, and talk space and made an attempt to explain the different views at hand. The main issue of contention was whether or not Nobs' content, relating to Gulag Archipelago author Solzhenitzyn's comments to Bertrand Russell, was appropriately placed within the article. I ended up almost getting into it with the other disputant, -Rob, but brought it all home on good terms. Nobs and I figured that an RfC would be the best route to go:

''The primary question at hand is upon request of nobs, who wishes to accomplish the following: Nobs believes that the entire Tribunal page needs to be reviewed, including external links. Nobs' primary intent is to make all contemporaneous information for the Russell Tribunal to be made available to the reader to that they may draw their own conclusions. Thus, a request for other users to read and comment on the discussion and the article is being requested.''

Resolution
The RfC did not produce the fruit that we felt it might. Both users backed out of editing the article, sadly enough, and it remains in its revised and final form to this day The case was resolved at 2325 EST 15 May 2005. No further action is anticipated at this time and the case is being moved out of the active AMA docket.

title: User talk:CQJ/Russell Tribunal


text:
User:Rand08

Deletions
Articles need to be encyclopedic and the person needs to be notable. The articles you have been posting do not appear to be either. They get removed by an administrator who actually is the only one who can delete the article.

If you think that the person really meets the criteria, you need to show that in the material that you post. It can be a stub, but it also needs to be able to show everyone that it belongs. If you have more information, you will avoid a speedy delete, but you are likely to have your page up for a VfD if it does not appear to be notable or encyclopedic. Vegaswikian 00:17, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC)

title: User:Rand08


text: User talk:82.41.124.102

title: User talk:82.41.124.102


text:
Oscar Bjornson

Oscar Ferdinand Bjornson (February 14, 1906 in Glenboro, Manitoba – August 13, 1972) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served as a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1959 to 1969.

The son of Magnus Bjornson, Bjornson was educated at the Kelvin Technical High School, and worked as an accountant and service manager. In 1925, he married Idella Moland. He was an officer of Lavoie Motors Ltd. in Lac du Bonnet. Bjornson served for fifteen years with Ford Motor Company of Canada, and Ford Motor Company of India. During World War 2, he served as a technical adviser to the government of India.

He was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the 1959 provincial election, defeating Liberal-Progressive John Ateah by 85 votes in Lac du Bonnet. He was re-elected over Ateah by a greater margin in the 1962 election, and defeated Liberal James Desilets by 80 votes in the 1966 election. He served as a backbench supporter of Premiers Dufferin Roblin and Walter Weir during his time in office.

Bjornson did not run for re-election in the 1969 election, after redistribution significantly changed the Lac du Bonnet riding.

He died in Calgary, Alberta and was buried in Lac du Bonnet.

title: Oscar Bjornson