Shalamayne

“This blade does not belong to darkness. It was forged by valor.”
“And also... by honor.”

— Varian Wrynn and Varok Saurfang to Anduin Wrynn^[1]

Shalamayne in the Battle for Azeroth cinematic trailer.

Shalamayne is a legendary sword, the result of two night elven blades, Shalla'tor and Ellemayne, that were magically fused. Formerly wielded by Varian Wrynn, King of Stormwind,^[2] it is now carried by his son and successor, Anduin Wrynn.^[3] During Anduin's captivity in the Maw, the Jailer's blacksmiths reforged the sword into the mourneblade Kingsmourne,^[4] which also contained the soul of Arthas Menethil, the former Lich King.^[1] When Anduin freed himself from the Jailer's grasp, he also restored Shalamayne,^[1] however it no longer contains any light in its hilt.

History

Shalla'tor and Ellemayne

Varian's two halves wielding Shalla'tor and Ellemayne.

Shalla'tor and Ellemayne were a pair of magic elven blades forged during the War of the Ancients and wielded by the night elf twins Vor'Illian and Lo'Vellian. In Darnassian, Shalla'tor means "Shadow Render", while Ellemayne means "Reaver".^[5] While Ellemayne had a red gem, Shalla'tor had a blue one instead.^[6]

The blades eventually came into the possession of Lady Jaina Proudmoore. After King Varian Wrynn was split into two people by Onyxia's magic, the two ultimately found each other again and resolved to slay the black dragon. They were granted the night elven blades by Jaina, who aided them in the assault on Onyxia's Lair.^[5]

When Onyxia inadvertently combined the two Varians back into one person, the two blades were merged into a single weapon as well.^[7] This sword became known as Shalamayne,^[2] and its first target was Onyxia, whom the merged Varian slew^[7] and beheaded using his new sword.^[8]

Shalamayne

After Onyxia's death, Varian returned home with Shalamayne at his side and learned to wield the sword with either hand, although one would always be favored over the other. Shalamayne can be split back into Ellemayne and Shalla'tor, the separate blades it comprised.^[9]

Varian used his sword against Warchief Garrosh Hellscream and his Gorehowl during the Ashenvale war.^[10] At the battle for the Broken Shore, Varian split Shalamayne into two to battle the Burning Legion. Upon his death, the split swords were left behind in the sand, their light snuffed out.^[11] Without Varian's touch, the sword lay dormant, awaiting the touch of another to which it would respond.^[12]

When the Armies of Legionfall began their assault on the Broken Shore, Varian's son Anduin Wrynn sneaked out of Stormwind and journeyed to Wrynnfall, the site of his father's demise, where he found Shalamayne.^[3] When he touched the sword, the Light granted him a vision of his father reminding him of a king's duty.^[13] The next moment, when Anduin truly accepted the duties of a king^[12] and reconnected with his purpose and his father's legacy,^[13] light once again began swirling in the right-hand blade he was holding,^[3] only this time with the golden glow of the priest instead of the orange-red hue of the warrior.^[12] Shalamayne thus passed down to Anduin,^[14] making the young king a sword-wielding priest.

During Varok Saurfang's mak'gora against Sylvanas Windrunner at the Battle at the Gates of Orgrimmar, Anduin lent Shalamayne to Saurfang, while Thrall gave him Dra'gora.^[15] After losing Dra'gora, Saurfang separated the sword into Ellemayne and Shalla'tor—something only Varian had done before^[9]—and managed to land a blow and wound Sylvanas' eye.^[15]

Kingsmourne

This section concerns content related to Shadowlands.

"Kingsmourne" redirects here. For the cinematic of the same name, see [60] The First Move.

Kingsmourne in the Dominated Anduin's hand.

After Anduin was captured by the forces of the Jailer and brought to the Maw, he continued wielding Shalamayne^[16] until he was dragged into Torghast, Tower of the Damned. In order to turn Anduin into his servant, the Jailer had his Mawsworn reforge Shalamayne into Kingsmourne,^[4] a mourneblade even greater than Frostmourne.^[17] As the weapon neared completion, the Jailer inserted a blue crystal forged from the soul of Arthas Menethil^[1] into it to serve as the source of the Domination magic that would allow him to control Anduin.^[18] Far away in Oribos, Bolvar Fordragon sensed the creation of the mourneblade in the form of visions of a terrible darkness rising within Torghast.^[19] The Jailer's ally Sylvanas Windrunner tried to convince Anduin to join her and the Jailer willingly,^[20] but when this failed she was forced to Dominate him.^[21]

The Dominated Anduin was forced to use Kingsmourne to collect the covenant sigils required for the Jailer's plan to reach the Sepulcher of the First Ones and remake reality. He was first sent to Elysian Hold with Kingsmourne initially disguised as Shalamayne. He plunged the weapon into the ground to release a shockwave of dark magic that stunned the nearby Paragons before stabbing the Archon herself to extract her sigil.^[22] During the Battle of Ardenweald, he used Kingsmourne to absorb the Winter Queen's sigil from the Heart of the Forest.^[23] During the battle between the Jailer and the Primus in the Runecarver's Oubliette, he used it to extract the Primus' sigil and launch it into the Jailer's waiting hand.^[24]

Kingsmourne is broken and Anduin is freed.

In Zereth Mortis, Anduin used Kingsmourne to Dominate Dausegne, an oracle who then opened the way for Anduin and the Jailer into the Sepulcher of the First Ones.^[25] From some distance away, Jaina Proudmoore felt a "familiar presence"—that of Arthas—in the sword.^[26] Within the Sepulcher of the First Ones, the Jailer forced Anduin to try to waylay the Maw Walkers and their allies. He periodically used Kingsmourne to separate the heroes' souls from their bodies, allowing them to assist Anduin's own struggling soul and restore his willpower, in turn allowing him to manifest the source of his Domination—the Remnant of a Fallen King—from the weapon. At the end of the battle, the Jailer forced Anduin to plunge Kingsmourne into the ground again, enveloping him in smoke^[1] as the mourneblade began pulling his soul into it. As Anduin struggled, the Light granted him a vision^[27] of Shalamayne's previous two wielders, Varian and Saurfang, who reminded him that Shalamayne's legacy was one of valor and honor, not darkness. With their help, Anduin was able to get a firm grip on the sword and split it in half, turning the blade back into Shalla'tor and Ellemayne, releasing what was left of Arthas' fading soul, and freeing Anduin himself from the effects of Domination.^[1] The king subsequently bore the Ellemayne half back with him to Zereth Mortis.^[28]

Shalamayne restored

This section concerns content related to The War Within.

Anduin wielding Shalamayne, bereft of its glow.

The traumatized Anduin kept Shalamayne with him during his self-exile, but kept it hidden and refused to use it out of fear that he'd lose control of himself again. When the village of a family he'd been staying with in Stormsong Valley was attacked by pirates, he reluctantly brought out the sword again and used it to kill the pirates. Afterward, he realized there was no longer any semblance of a glowing orb at the sword's core. He then left the family to answer the call of the Radiant Song.^[29]

Appearance

Shalamayne has a unique narrow edge at the point and a thicker, angled edge further down. The hollow in the lower part of the blade glows like a sun. There is a backward arch at the bottom of the blade, and the hilt is long and slender.^[2] "Much more than a simple weapon", each part of Shalamayne is in harmony despite its origin as two individually powerful blades. It is almost effortless to wield thanks to its perfect balance, and there is little it cannot cut through.^[29]

In Battle for Azeroth, the model of the weapon was re-detailed with refined accents, such as curving swirls down the blade. Though this was likely purely an art update, and its new appearance was included in older content such as Siege of Orgrimmar or Icecrown, it is worth noting that the conceptualization for this version of Shalamayne is referred to as 'Shalamayne Reforged' by Blizzard's art design.^[30]

During its time as Kingsmourne, the sword retained its overall shape, but with sharp spikes jutting out of the blade and with glowing Domination runes running along its length, mirroring the appearance of Frostmourne. In place of its normal light, the hollow near the hilt was filled by the glowing blue remnant of Arthas Menethil's soul.^[1]

Notes and trivia

During his reign, Anduin stored Shalamayne in Stormwind Keep's War Room when it was not in use.^[31]
Shalla'tor and Ellemayne's energy orbs were originally blue and orange respectively.^[7] This was retconned in Legion, where both blades were made identical with red gems and orange orbs. In Battle for Azeroth however, the Reckoning cinematic shows one of the blades having blue gems while the other has red gems.
- In the original version of the Broken Isles loading screen, one of the blades had a blue orb while the other had a red one. This was changed in patch 7.1.0 so that both blades have a red orb in order to match up with the Legion opening cinematic and the in-game Broken Shore cinematic. Senior Art Director Chris Robinson explained that the original discrepancy between the loading screen and the cinematics had been due to different teams using different art references that didn't line up.^[32]
In Wrath of the Lich King, Varian used two swords with the Shalamayne model from patch 3.1.0 until patch 3.3.3, after which he wielded only a single one.
The Anduin-themed murloc pet Finduin wields a weapon using the Shalamayne model.
Before the name "Kingsmourne" was revealed, some fans jokingly referred to the mourneblade created from Shalamayne as "Shalamourne". In their publicized work, Blizzard artists refer to the weapon as simply "Shalamayne" even in its Kingsmourne state.^[33]^[34]^[35]
The name "Shalamayne" may be a reference to the Frankish king Charlemagne who is often regarded as a great king and strategist.
In Heroes of the Storm, Varian uses Shalamayne in different ways depending on talents picked, either holding it in his right hand (default), switching to a two-handed grip (Colossus Smash), splitting it in two (Twin Blades of Fury), or changing it to a smaller blade and equipping a shield (Taunt). Also in Heroes of the Storm, Anduin carries Shalamayne on his back but doesn't fight directly with it.
The Rallying Blade, a rare paladin weapon in the Whispers of the Old Gods expansion for Hearthstone, looks similar to Shalamayne.

Gallery

World of Warcraft
Varian wielding Shalamayne in the Secrets of Ulduar trailer.
The updated weapon in previous content.
Anduin sitting on the Lion Seat with Shalamayne.
Anduin picking up the right half of Shalamayne at the Broken Shore.
The updated Shalamayne model.
"Shalamayne" in Finduin's hands.
Kingsmourne in Sylvanas' hands.
The soul crystal of Arthas Menethil that was infused into Kingsmourne.
Anduin with Kingsmourne.
Anduin with Ellemayne in Zereth Mortis.

Artwork
The component swords, Ellemayne and Shalla'tor.
The two Varians wielding Shalla'tor and Ellemayne in the preview cover sample for issue #17.
Varian Wrynn holding up Shalamayne.
King Varian wielding Shalamayne against the Scourge.
Shalamayne in the BattleCry Mosaic.
Varian wielding Shalamayne in the artwork for Blood of Our Fathers.
Varian wielding Ellemayne and Shalla'tor in Hearthstone.
Varian wielding the blades of Shalamayne on the Broken Isles loading screen.
Anduin with Shalamayne in Son of the Wolf.
Anduin with Shalamayne on the cover of Before the Storm.
Anduin with Shalamayne in Elegy.
Anduin wielding Shalamayne (PC Gamer cover artwork).
Battle for Azeroth wallpaper.
Anduin with Shalamayne during the Battle for Lordaeron.
Anduin with Shalamayne during the Battle for Lordaeron.
Concept art of Kingsmourne and the Dominated Anduin.