A Frost Blade is a master-crafted melee weapon in the form of a sword, axe, chainsword or any other type of bladed close combat weapon that is used exclusively by the warriors of the Space Wolves Chapter and is equivalent in many ways to a Power Weapon of similar design.
According to Chapter legends it was Fergus Forgrim, a legendary Iron Priest, who crafted the first Frost Blade, Frostfang, which is currently wielded by the fierce Wolf Lord Ragnar Blackmane. Renowned as a master craftsman and worker of metals, Forgrim fashioned the chain blade of Frostfang from a rare and unknown metal, which increased its lethality in battle. Unfortunately, with the death of the revered and ancient Iron Priest, the secret of his techniques in the blade's forging were lost to the Chapter for all time.
Today, each Frost Blade and Frost Axe is considered amongst the most prized weapons of the Chapter and is crafted by a master Iron Priest. Many Frost Blades use the diamond-hard fangs of the Fenrisian Ice Kraken for their chainsaw-like blades. Frost Axes are sometimes crafted from energised diamond which then makes them appear to be cut from a single block of solid ice.
Notable Frost Blades[]
- Krakenmaw - Krakenmaw was the original primary weapon wielded by the Wolf King, Leman Russ. This immense chainblade was toothed by a Fenrisian sea-devil known as a Kraken, from his icy home world's many myths. The weapon was broken by Angron, Primarch of the World Eaters during the so-called 'Night of the Wolf', a regretful engagement on the scoured world of Gehenna between the VIth and XIIth Legions, when Russ was ordered by the Emperor to bring the World Eaters back to Terra to account for their wanton slaughter, and to have the Butcher's Nails forcibly removed.
- Mjalnar - Mjalnar was the legendary Frost Blade in great sword form used by the Space Wolves' Primarch Leman Russ which was crafted using teeth torn from the maw of the Great Kraken Gormenjarl and which was so sharp that legend says it could cut even a mountain of Fenris in twain.
- Frostfang - The Wolf Lord Ragnar Blackmane received his Frost Blade while serving as a Wolfblade. It was a gift from the Celestarch Juliana Belisarius of the Navigator House Belisarius, for saving the Celestarch and her niece Lady Gabriella Belisarius from an assassination attempt conducted by the Imperial Assassin Xenothan who had been hired by a rival member of the Navis Nobilite. The blade was said to have been carried by the earliest Wolfblades, since the days after the Primarch Leman Russ made his original agreement with House Belisarius to provide a force of Space Wolves Astartes as a security force that became the Wolfblade. It was formerly possessed by Skander Bloody-axe, Ragnar's predecessor as a member of the Wolfblade. Frostfang is a mighty Frost Blade crafted centuries ago by the Iron Priest Fergus Forgrim, the famed master craftsman of the Space Wolves. Its chainsaw blade is fashioned from a rare metal that was created using a secret technique that died with the ancient Iron Priest.
- The Teeth of the Blizzard - The Wolf Guard named Ralaff saved the life of the Great Wolf Logan Grimnar in the face of a Tyranid assault while using the Frost Blade called The Teeth of the Blizzard.
- Wyrmclaw - This mighty Frost Axe is a revered relic of The Fang. Currently, it is utilised by Wolf Lord Krom Dragongaze. This masterwork frost axe is a perfectly balanced weapon made doubly deadly by the skill of its heroic wielder. Its blade was dusted with a bonemeal glaze made from the ground down talons of the great ice wyrm Witherwing, lending it a razor-sharp cutting edge that can never be dulled. In the hands of Krom Dragongaze, Wyrmclaw becomes a veritable avalanche of destruction, its every blow perfectly placed and impossible to stay.
- Langnvast - The Wolf Lord Bran Redmaw bears Langnvast, a master-forged relic Frost Blade of the Chapter gifted to him by Logan Grimnar upon his promotion to the rank of Wolf Lord. This axe is an ancient and storied weapon amongst the Space Wolves, carried by many heroes of the Chapter into uncounted battles.
- Glacius - This mighty Frost Axe is the favoured weapon of Wolf Lord Harald Deathwolf. Carved from a single ice-blue crystal, the blade is fearsomely sharp and deathly cold.
Sources[]
- Codex: Space Wolves (7th Edition), pg. 211
- Codex: Space Wolves (5th Edition), pp. 57, 67
- Codex: Space Wolves (3rd Edition), pg. 13
- Deathwatch: Rites of Battle (RPG), pg. 157
- Betrayer (Novel) by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, pg. 92
- Wolfblade (Novel) by William King, pg. 248