I don't know how many folks here are/were fans of the 1980's BBC "Robin of Sherwood" series. I used to love this show. It took a few episodes for me to get hooked, with my more modern Hollywood-programmed short attention span. But where I grew up in MD, they would air episodes weekly on public television. Needless to say, I have the DVD set now.
Anyway, Robin's sword was named "Albion" and was described as one of the "seven swords of Wayland". In one of the later episodes, the other six are found (and eventually destroyed). Each of them had a unique name, but a similar appearance except for the blade engraving.
Wayland the Smith is a figure from European mythology. Wikipedia page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayland_Smith There is a location that was linked to being his smithy by the Saxons:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayland%27s_SmithyHere's a page that has some findings on the origins of the names of all seven swords:
http://www.flemingmultimedia.com/Saxon/swords.htmlAnd a page with information on the props and production:
http://www.robinofsherwood.org/swords.htmlFor years now, after seeing all of this, I thought it would be cool to put together a collection of swords, each engraved with the name of a knightly virtue. A set of "swords of virtue", if you will. How cool would that be?