Oathbringer (Shardblade)

Oathbringer
Fan art by David Fonti[1]

Oathbringer is the name of Dalinar's Shardblade, before it belonged to him (i.e., when it belonged to Tanalan), while he was a Shardbearer, and for a time thereafter.

Dalinar used the Blade to break into the city of Rathalas after he'd had his soldiers douse it with oil and set it afire. Unfortunately for the city inhabitants, Oathbringer had come home.

Appearance

The blade is six feet long, slightly curved like a back arching, and a handspan wide. It has a sequence of wavelike, jutting serrations near the hilt by the crossguard - like waves in motion, peeking up from the ocean below - and is curved like a fisherman's hook near the tip.

History

Oathbringer was bonded to Dalinar when he was twenty Weepings old. He used it in combat with the Parshendi.

In summoning Oathbringer, the tenth heartbeat sounded in Dalinar's chest; he could always hear the beats when he was summoning his Blade, no matter how loud the world around him was. The faster they passed, the sooner the sword arrived. So the more urgent one felt, the sooner one was armed. Was that intentional, or just some quirk of the Shardblade's nature?

Near the end of The Way of Kings, Dalinar gave the Blade to Sadeas in exchange for the bridgemen who'd protected him when Sadeas abandoned him to the Parshendi.

Although Oathbringer was then in Sadeas' possession, the Blade much later lay at the bottom of the tower of Urithiru, given that Adolin has since murdered Sadeas and then proceeded to throw Oathbringer out a window.

Amaram inherited the Blade, but when he transformed, he was killed by Rock, and the Blade was returned to Dalinar because Rock didn't want it.

Notes

According to Brandon, Oathbringer was a Stoneward Blade.