Weapon Name Generator

How weapon names are usually built

Every kind of weapon asks for a different sound. Axes are named for what they do to wood and bone: Cleaver, Hewer, Wolfbite. Bows are named for sound and flight: Whisper, Thrum, Swiftwing. Spears take reach and sharpness, as in Thornpiercer. Hammers take noise and weight: Thunderfall, Knell. Staves belong to growing things and light, so they take roots, boughs and embers.

The best names suggest a story. A reader who sees Griefrender wonders who it avenged. Add an epithet or a place and the weapon gets a history: Wolfbite of the Northern Marches, Thornpiercer, the Last Argument. A short name suits a weapon that gets used, and a long name suits one that sits on a wall.

Making a weapon part of the world

A named weapon needs a maker, an owner and a price. Decide who forged or carved it and take the name from their tradition: a forest folk names bows for birds and leaves, a mountain clan names hammers for bells and anvils. Let the owner change the name or refuse to say it, since people do that with famous things. Keep named weapons rare. A world in which a dozen weapons have names feels storied, while a world in which every soldier carries one starts to feel like a catalogue. Match the weapon to its type, too. A bow named Hammerfall will confuse a reader, unless the story explains the irony, and a staff named Cleaver suggests a very different wizard.

Twenty example weapon names

• Wolfbite a hand axe used by a northern huntress.
• Griefsong a longbow with a quiet, mournful twang.
• Thornpiercer a spear that can pierce plate armour.
• Thunderfall a hammer that rings like a bell.
• Emberbough, Keeper of Oaths a staff carved from a lightning-struck oak.
• The Silent Hatchet a woodsman's axe with a grim past.
• Ravenwing a black bow made for night shooting.
• Hartfell's Honest Spear a regimental spear passed down in a family.
• Ironknell a smith's hammer that tolls when danger is near.
• Crowfeather of the Northern Marches an arrow-quick bow from the border.
• Dawnroot a pale staff that glows at sunrise.
• Hungerbite, Taker of Crowns a cursed axe that wants a king.
• Frostneedle a thin spear used by an ice-country scout.
• The Gentle Maul a hammer with an ironic name.
• Orrin's Faithful Longbow a loyal old bow beside a loyal old man.
• Stonesunder a quarryman's hammer, famous for one blow.
• Silverhum a bow whose string sings in the wind.
• Marrowcleaver a heavy axe with a battle-scarred haft.
• Veilkeeper a staff that hides its bearer from sight.
• The Last Javelin one throw in a siege, remembered for generations.