Legend of Zelda Skyward/Master Sword Real World Equivalent

[Spire]

Thank Skyler for finding this.

http://www.smashinglists.com/top-14-legendary-swords/

Jump down to #5 on the list or read below.

Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi

Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi (is a legendary Japanese sword as important to Japan’s history as Excalibur is to Britain’s, and is one of three Imperial Regalia of Japan. It was originally called Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi (“Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven”) but its name was later changed to the more popular Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi (“Grass Cutting Sword”).

It was discovered from the body of a giant serpent. In the reign of the XII Emperor, the sword was gifted to Yamato Takeru, who was led into an open grassland as a trap by a warlord. The plan was to ignite the grass and burn Yamato to death. In desperation, Yamato started cutting the grass with his sword and discovered to his amazement that he could control the wind. Using this power, Yamato expanded the fire in the direction of his enemies, defeating them. It was after this incident that Yamato named the sword as “Grasscutter Sword”. Yamato was later killed in a battle by a monster when he ignored his wife’s advice to take the Grasscutter sword with him. The moral of the story: Always listen to your wife. However, In The Tale of the Heike, a collection of oral stories transcribed in 1371, the sword is lost at sea after the defeat of the Heike clan in the Battle of Dan-no-ura, a naval battle that ended in the defeat of the Heike clan forces and the child Emperor Antoku at the hands of Minamoto no Yo****sune. In the tale, upon hearing of the Navy’s defeat, the Emperor’s grandmother led the Emperor and his entourage to commit suicide by drowning in the waters of the strait along with the three Imperial Regalia, including Kusanagi. Although the Minamoto troops managed to stop a handful of them and recovered two of the three regalia, Kusanagi was said to have been lost forever.​

So let's go over that.

The Skyward Sword (Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven) becomes the Master Sword (Grass Cutting Sword). The whole "cutting grass" in Zelda has been an inside joke this ENTIRE time.

Let's move on...

"...and discovered to his amazement that he could control the wind."
"...the sword is lost at sea after the defeat of the Heike clan..."

Wind Waker much? The Legend of Zelda is ingrained in real-world mythology and history immensely. The Japanese understand these lore tie-ins, but westerners typically don't, which is why we fabricate lore from the games in an attempt to create our own tie-ins that aren't provided. Zelda effects people differently depending on the culture you are brought up in. It's incredible for that.

 

[#HBC | ZoZo]

It's Kusanagi, I think? I don't know, I read up on japanese myths a few months ago, so I might be wrong.

 

[highfive]

Woah. Mind**** man. It seems to fit...

 

[Ganonsburg]

It's Kusanagi, I think? I don't know, I read up on japanese myths a few months ago, so I might be wrong.

Yeah, the article he quoted says Kusanagi as well, so it's probably just a typo or misread on Spire's part.

I love mythology tie-ins. They give such a greater depth to whatever book, movie, video-game, etc that they're in. I kind of wish someone would start translating some Japanese myths and printing them for other countries to read; I would love to understand the Zelda games at a deeper level.

Anything about a pot-breaking hero? Haha.

 

[Spire]

Yeah it's Kusanagi, that was a typo on my part. I put this up at 4:40 this morning, hehe, typos were to be expected. Thanks for pointing it out man.

I need to read up on the Heike clan now. If it holds similarity to the Gerudo tribe, then by gollie.

 

[#HBC | ZoZo]

Yeah, good **** on finding the connection though ^_^ Even though I read up on this, I didn't really made the Link connection heh ^_^''

 

[Spire]

No no, Skyler found it. I just posted it. I urge all of you to post threads about such connections

Also, there's no doubt that the Master Sword is also based on Excalibur, or the "Sword in the Stone". It seems that perhaps it's a culmination of both Kasanagi and Excalibur, bringing both East and West together, which is pretty much the common theme in Zelda. Every locale and piece of lore in Zelda seems to have both Eastern and Western influences. I think that's why the series resonates so well with a massive amount of people.

 

[Ganonsburg]

To bring back the LotR connections in TP, LotR was Tolkien's attempt at giving England it's own mythology and lore. I think we should have some kind of official mythology and lore topic so we can have all of these connections in one place. We could organize it by the cultures the myths come from, ie

ASIA
Japan
China
etc

EUROPE
England
Germany
etc

ETC

Maybe I'll look into it later...

 

[Spire]

I was working on a large write-up of the similarities between Zelda and Europe's history. I'll finish it up and probably add it to the OP, changing this thread's focus to a larger scope.

 

[Ryu Shimazu]

It fits for sure. If only the Master Sword was as powerful as it Amano in FFXI >_<. That legendary sword was the heavens in that game.

Still in SS it looks like Link gets a pretty good whomping stick.

 

[Mr.Freeman]

These are some really well-hid references.

Good read.

 

[finalark]

I actually knew about this for a long time. It just wasn't until I read your post that I noticed the connections to Zelda.

I feel like I should have noticed a long time ago.

 

[AngryMoblyn1881]

I heard about this on another website. It is also very ironic that minamoto sounds alot like... well you know who, lol. Good find though (hats off)