Comments on: Top Five Literary Swordswomen

By: James

James — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 22:20:21 +0000

What about Hiro Protagonist?

Aside from being the self-proclaimed greatest swordfighter in the world, he was also the last of the freelance hackers, AND a stringer for the Central Intelligence Corporation.

By: LurkerWithout

LurkerWithout — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 07:26:02 +0000

Man, I can’t believe I blanked on Pierce’s books. But I’d go with Kel over Alanna. Mostly because I like the Protector the Small series more than the Lioness one…

By: K

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 04:19:40 +0000

Brienne the Beauty from George R. R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” series.

By: Sean Duggan

Sean Duggan — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 19:20:46 +0000

You know, one of the things which impressed me about the Alanna books, albeit that I only noticed it several books in, was that while Alanna didn’t feel she needed to turn into a man to succeed (she definitely had her soft spots), she’s also not really your willowy heaving bosom female swordsman you so often run into. Tamora Pierce starts making a point that Alanna is pretty stocky and muscular. Although, honestly, I didn’t really start noticing this until the fourth book of her series and, of course, her cameos in Protector of the Small played up her less feminine traits to contrast her to Kel, who insisted on continuing to wear dresses and ribbons and look nice during her training.

By: Joan

Joan — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 07:43:07 +0000

Oh, well, if we get to vote for who we loved as thirteen-year-olds, I have to chime in not for Alanna , but for the utterly wonderful Harry Crewe of The Blue Sword and Aerin of The Hero and the Crown, both by Robin McKinley. Aerin was a renowned dragon-slayer and Harry was the first and finest "lady hero" in generations, and they're both tough women, despite their YA text origins. I read those books to pieces, and I still reread them coughcough years later. Man, Harry Crewe. I loved her so. Other than them, I'd also have to go with Jirel of Joiry and Del, and yes, a sentimental vote for Eowyn. She and Harry were my gals, back in the day.

By: TayJK

TayJK — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 04:37:23 +0000

For Dragonlance, I’m not sure if Laurana would be my choice of swordswoman. I would think more Kitiara Uth Matar. Past Chronicles, I can’t recall many if any times where Laurana fought one on one, while Kit was all about the fighting.

By: Carrie

Carrie — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 03:05:28 +0000

There are clearly not enough 13-year-old girls (past or present) commenting here, because there is a distinct lack of Alanna of Trebond on this list. She is totally the best ever; we know this because it says so in the books.

By: Sean Duggan

Sean Duggan — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:32:26 +0000

Many cheers for including Jame (although she’s more of a knife and/or claws person when she isn’t using the Senethar and/or shrugging helplessly when people around her are spontaneously messily disemboweled in the destruction she leaves in her wake). If we’re going for a swordswoman in Dragonlance, I would be more inclined to use Kitiara as an example than I would Laurana.

And in terms of swordswomen in the Valdemar series, I would tend more towards Tarma, who had two books and a short story before becoming Kerowyn’s teacher in By the Sword. Kerowyn always felt a bit like a Tarma-lite with the commentary from Tarma about Kerowyn being a “natural” with the sword being how the author can justify shuffling off the legacy of one of her aging characters onto a new one.

By: Eric Henry

Eric Henry — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 06:53:15 +0000

Two of my favourites: Jirel of Joiry and Dark Agnes. I think Jirel definitely deserves a spot on this list.

Jirel of Joiry is one of the most notable creations of writer C. L. Moore, who appeared in a series of sword and sorcery stories published first in the pulp horror/fantasy magazine Weird Tales. Jirel is the proud, tough, arrogant and beautiful ruler of her own domain—apparently somewhere in medieval France. Her adventures continually involve her in dangerous brushes with the supernatural.

These stories are the very first stories to show the influence of Robert E. Howard on the genre sword and sorcery and introduced the heroine protagonist to sword and sorcery.

Dark Agnes de Chastillon (also known as Agnes de Chastillon, Dark Agnes, Agnes de la Fere and The Sword Woman) is a fictional character created by Robert E. Howard and the protagonist of three stories set in 16th Century France, which were not printed until a long time after the author’s death.

The character of Agnes was beaten by her father and almost forced into an arranged marriage. She avoids this by killing the bridegroom and running away. She meets Etienne Villiers, who at first attempts to sell her to a brothel, and Guiscard de Clisson, a mercenary captain who trains her as a swordswoman. When de Clisson is killed, Agnes heads for Italy with Villiers.

By: rgl

rgl — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:04:12 +0000

I KEEP forgetting to use smileys. My point was meant to be that Red Sonja did not meet the condition that her “adventures have appeared primarily as short stories, novellas, and novels.”

Number twenty on an Amazon search was the first prose work for her.