Vorpal sword
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224958070
2008-07-11T04:57:58Z
MiguelMunoz
1881377
/* Context and defintion */
{{redir|Vorpal|the plasma physics software|VORPAL}}
[[Image:Jabberwocky.jpg|thumb|300px|[[John Tenniel]]'s original illustration of "[[Jabberwocky]]" from ''[[Through the Looking-Glass]]'' features the sword.]]
'''Vorpal sword''' is a phrase used by [[Lewis Carroll]] in his [[nonsense verse|nonsense poem]] "[[Jabberwocky]]".
== Context and defintion ==
Lewis Carroll published ''[[Through the Looking-Glass]]'' in 1871. Near the beginning, [[Alice (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)|Alice]] discovers and reads "Jabberwocky". The word "vorpal" appears twice in the poem, which describes a young boy's quest to slay a monster called the Jabberwock: "He took his vorpal sword in hand", and later,
:''One, two! One, two! And through and through
:''The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
:''He left it dead, and with its head
:''He went galumphing back.
As with much of the rest of the poem's vocabulary, the reader is left to guess at the meaning of "vorpal" from the context. It is commonly assumed to mean "deadly" or "sharp"{{Fact|date=May 2008}}, words often used to describe swords, but some readers have imagined other properties the word could describe. Alexander L. Taylor points out in his Carroll biography ''The White Knight'' that "vorpal" can be formed by taking letters alternately from "<u>v</u>e<u>r</u>b<u>a</u>l" and "g<u>o</u>s<u>p</u>e<u>l</u>".<ref name=AnnotatedAlice>{{cite book|last=Gardner|first=Martin, ed.|title=[[The Annotated Alice]]|origdate=1960|date=1971|publisher=The World Publishing Company|location=New York|pages=195-196}}</ref> The designers of the [[Dungeons & Dragons]] role-playing game take "vorpal" to mean capable of [[decapitation]], specifically through magical means. This definition is of course a reference to the boy's decapitation of the Jabberwock.
Carroll himself once wrote, "I am afraid I can't explain 'vorpal blade' for you—nor yet 'tulgey wood.'"<ref name=AnnotatedAlice />
== In popular culture ==
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"Vorpal swords" exist fictionally in various works, especially in [[role-playing game]]s and [[video game]]s, where it is usually based on the Dungeons & Dragons concept.
In Dungeons & Dragons, it first appeared in the original ''[[Dungeon Master's Guide]]'', listed as "sword, vorpal weapon". It could decapitate foes on a very high "to hit" die roll; in the earlier ''[[Greyhawk]] Supplement,'' the "Vorpal Blade" also functioned as a type of "holy sword", with special powers usable only by [[Paladin (Dungeons & Dragons)|paladins]]. Later, "vorpal" became a descriptor applicable to any weapon. In its current incarnation, the weapon's [[critical hit]]-based function has been replaced with a less powerful ability based on damage [[Dice#Application_in_role-playing_games|die rolls]], and a somewhat heftier once-per-day use. Many [[MUD]]s (multi-user dungeons) and modern video games also incorporate the adjective into their weapon descriptions.{{Fact|date=May 2008}} [[NetHack]] was the first computer game to feature a reference to the vorpal sword. The sword is capable of beheading the Jabberwock and sometimes other creatures.
In literature since Carroll's time, vorpal swords appear in [[Roger Zelazny]]'s [[Chronicles of Amber]] series, [[Charles Stross]]'s ''[[Glasshouse (novel)|Glasshouse]]'', and other books.
An extinct bird species from the [[Hawai'i|Hawaiian Islands]], the [[Giant ʻAmakihi]], was assigned the [[binomial nomenclature|Latin name]] ''Hemignathus vorpalis'' (literally "Vorpal ʻAmakihi") because of its "long, scimitar-like maxillary rostrum".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bioone.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&issn=0004-8038&volume=120&issue=04&page=0970|first=Helen F.|last=James|coauthors=Storrs L. Olson|year=2003|title=A giant new species of Nukupuu (Fringillidae: Drepanidini: ''Hemignathus'') from the island of Hawaii|work=The Auk 120: 970–981}}</ref>
== See also ==
* [[Runcible spoon]]
== References ==
{{refs}}
{{Alice}}
[[Category:Alice in Wonderland]]
[[Category:Fictional swords|Vorpal Sword]]
[[Category:Nonce words]]
[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons magical items]]
[[fr:Vorpal]]
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