The Sword of Horus

[b1soul]

Before the Talon and Worldbreaker, Horus wielded a fairly utilitarian power sword, perhaps a two-hander

 

Do we know any info about it beyond artwork? Does it have a name? Was it lost? Or does Horus simply prefer the Talon and Worldbreaker combo? Who gave Horus the latter two?

 

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn%3AANd9GcSPzyr0sx1MgWn6QIDxCoOhnEqtM0H6_n9b-Q&usqp=CAU

 

[Sandlemad]

I don't think it's ever been named or given any real detail. Horus carrying a sword through the crusade has been mentioned a few times but we don't even know that it was always the same sword, especially given each primarch having a small museum's worth of weaponry they could draw on.

 

Possibly one of them was a gift from Ferrus? Or the Emperor, he had a thing for giving each primarch a weapon upon rediscovery. I think a sword broke during the Gorro Hollowing. I'd imagine it was either repaired or replaced for the Ullanor campaign. After he got Worldbreaker whatever sword he used probably just went back on the shelf.

 

Worldbreaker was a gift to go with the title of Warmaster. The talon seems to have been built by Kelbor Hal and accompanied the suit of TDA he built for Horus to seal their pact, but Betrayal says that it "has long been Horus's favourite weapon" and mentions the possibility that it was a pre-imperial relic from the depths of Cthonia. I think there might have been another source about that but it's not coming to mind.

[lokkorex]

Worldbreaker was definitely a gift from the Emperor, forged by his own hand.

[Marshal Loss]

The sword is never named. Worldbreaker was forged by the Emperor to acknowledge his status as Warmaster & the Talon is most likely a pre-Imperial relic. There are contradictory sources on the latter which go back to the introduction of Abaddon in 2nd edition 40k. Originally Horus used two lightning claws, a decision made by AS because the implied savagery contrasted nicely with the sword-wielding Emperor; only one of these talons was ever claimed by Abaddon after the original Warmaster's death. Now of course Horus only has one talon. Considering we have concrete sources showing Horus using the Talon before he is given the Serpent's Scales (his infamous suit of terminator armour, and which an irritatingly large proportion of pre-heresy artwork incorrectly depicts him wearing in green or white. as above) I tend to lean towards the Talon being a DAoT relic which may or may not have been modified by the Dark Mechanicum. There are sources that say it was forged for him by the Dark Mechanicum but chronologically these make little sense.

 

Vengeful Spirit also backs up my belief that it is a pre-Imperial relic:

 

 

Horus shucked his taloned gauntlet, slamming shells into the breech of the inbuilt bolters. He often spoke of the murder-haruspex of Cthonia that led him to the weapon in an arming chamber of a long-dead warlord. That wasn’t entirely accurate, but the truth was for Horus alone. The gauntlet’s baroque craftsmanship was unmatched, and though Horus had been little more than a callow youth at the time, the gauntlet fitted his blood-scabbed hand as though fashioned just for him.

 

The "as though fashioned for him" nicely links up with modern 40k sources (e.g. the BL profile on Abaddon) that describes the Talon as being "made for a Primarch".

[Deadass]

I distinctly remember Horus' power sword being described as a gift from Ferrus Manus in either Horus Rising or False Gods. I think it's in the second book, while he fights Eugen Temba, but I'm not 100% certain.

[Marshal Loss]

False Gods. It is described as having a golden blade & was forged by Ferrus Manus to commemorate his investiture as Warmaster, but the weapon is not named.

[Sandlemad]

 

Vengeful Spirit also backs up my belief that it is a pre-Imperial relic:

 

Horus shucked his taloned gauntlet, slamming shells into the breech of the inbuilt bolters. He often spoke of the murder-haruspex of Cthonia that led him to the weapon in an arming chamber of a long-dead warlord. That wasn’t entirely accurate, but the truth was for Horus alone. The gauntlet’s baroque craftsmanship was unmatched, and though Horus had been little more than a callow youth at the time, the gauntlet fitted his blood-scabbed hand as though fashioned just for him.

 

The "as though fashioned for him" nicely links up with modern 40k sources (e.g. the BL profile on Abaddon) that describes the Talon as being "made for a Primarch".

 

That's the one, I was searching my kindle for "murder-priest" and getting nothing. Interesting that Horus keeping quiet about the exact details of its source it leaves it even more open-ended than "mysterious DAoT artefact".

 

RE: Ferrus's sword, that makes it clear that it was a different weapon to the one(s) Horus used during the great crusade. Poor chap, his gift really got shown up by his dad's, even if Horus used it in False Gods.

[b1soul]

I never thought a sword really suited Horus, but it is a nice contrast to his famous, more "savage" gear

[Tyrannicide]

Seems to be a reoccurring theme. I was shocked to find out Abaddon’s epic sword had no name or special rules, as well.