Sword Spirits
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Etymology:
A sword Spirit does not contain any historical naming or etymology, as this is a theoretical being as of now. However, for the sake of connivence one may refer to a sword spirit as a 'Cladaib De' or a 'Sword God'
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Family:
Sword Spirits are an order of lesser spirit and as such do not have a functioning family tree, although if they existed historically, they may have had a particular progenitor or perhaps a king who was related to the Tuatha De.
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Literary References:
Sword Spirits are a theoretical class of spirits, they are based off of how swords are treated and represented in Celtic Culture as a whole and the conclusions of animism. In basic terms it is essentially sword worship of a kind.
Most prominently is the theoretical confirmation of a Spirit being the ritual destruction of a sword for offerings in places like temples or Lakes and rivers. This has been theorised to have been done so that the spirit within the item can be released and go to the afterlife, like the human body does after death. This would directly confirm the idea that a sword has a spirit although other items such as shields, and pottery also possess this quality and their remnants could also be found.
The other point comes from oath swearing common across nearly all peoples, they swear upon their sword (And other things) and often invoke the sword to destroy them if they should fail their oath. There are some supposed stories of swords going forth to cut down their wielders or failing in battle so that the oath breaker would die. This obviously points to an intelligence to the sword which does seem to care about virtues and ideals, pointing towards a divine nature to the blade spirit.
The final historical point is the way in which swords are made. The Anthropomorphic hilt may in fact represent the sword spirit given its human shape and face. However, the human face and body are common motifs in Celtic Artwork either way.
Finally, the Celts are recorded as superstitious by the Greek and Roman writers. They were also quite clearly animistic in their philosophy, believing that many things possessed a soul. These two points combined may point out the fact that they held reverence for many things, given the cultural importance of swords and their choice of hilt it is likely that at least some of the celts considered the sword as divine and possessing a spirit.
However, all of these things are theoretical and whether one chooses to view the sword spirit as a separate phenomenon or apart of the wider animistic mind is of little matter. Though it is likely that there is indeed a spirit of the sword.
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Cognate:
Sword Spirits are found in all Celtic cultures but are unnamed and as such do not possess a particular title that can be translated to Gaelic.
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Function:
With the concept of a Sword Spirit, swords function in part akin to a living idol. Capable of being venerated and worshipped, however the true function of a sword spirit is to aid in battle and uphold oaths. Swearing upon a sword is an important act as it gives the sword the duty to take revenge on those who break the oath by slaying them. Apart from this they are merely another order of spirit in the Gaelic worldview.
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Iconography:
Sword Spirits may be represented on the Anthropomorphic hilt found on Celtic swords. Other than that, they should generally be represented as a sword. There is not much in the way of iconography.
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Art:
No Artwork has been submitted to the Society.