#sword of offering

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Onwald mæg wel reccean se þe ægðer ge hiene habban con ge wiðwinnan.*

- Old English

He wields power well who can both hold and resist it.*

Penny Mordaunt, Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Privy Council, took on a leading role during the coronation service at Westminster Abbey of King Charles III. Many commentators agreed she stood out for doing such a sterling job in standing to attention and holding up a sword weighing around 3kg for a good part of the proceedings. She didn’t waver once.

It’s all the more surprising that the upward political trajectory of the MP from Plymouth had flatlined after she had a promising junior ministerial career before losing out twice in the Tory leadership elections to Liz Truss and later Rishi Sunak.

It was the ill-fated Truss in her brief stint as Prime Minister who had given the 50 year old Mordaunt the wooden spoon of political offices, Leader of the House of Commons, often seen as half-way house for a minister on his way down the greasy pole of ministerial politics. Sunak kept her in the same position after annoying Sunak loyalists for staying in the leadership race to the bitter end. In that position she has thrived somewhat for her debating skills and being good on her feet as well being loyal to the Prime Minister.

Little did anyone think - least of Mordaunt - that as Leader of the Commons she would also breathe life into the nondescript title of Lord President of the Privy Council. But in one of the more arcane details of that title is the right to hold the Sword of State in any royal coronation.

As Lord President of the Privy Council she was expected the wear the august robes of that office but chose instead for a more modest presentation of a blue dress with mute gold olive leaf trimmings. As Lord President of the Privy Council, Mordaunt exchanged the larger Sword of State, a steel blade with a silver-gilt hilt that symbolises royal authority, for the jewelled Sword of Offering, which the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby then placed in the King's right hand. Mordaunt later redeemed the sword by offering 100 newly minted 50 pence coins and carried the sword before the King for the rest of the service.

Symbolising the protection of good and the punishment of evil, the jewelled sword was used as a Sword of Offering at the coronation ceremony of George IV in 1821. It wouldn't appear again at a coronation ceremony until 1902 for Edward VII and it has been featured at all subsequent coronations since. The sword features partly blued and gilt steel decorated on both faces with national emblems, including roses, thistles and shamrocks, while the hilt and scabbard are decorated with numerous jewels such as diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds.

There is no question that Penny Mordaunt cemented herself in the public consciousness, with even Labour counterparts commenting that she looked 'damn fine' and 'stole the show'. Admiration for her sword-bearing skills at the coronation might just reignite her political fortunes especially if Sunak and his government are widely expected to lose the upcoming general election. She may be third time lucky at getting the chance to be the leader of the Tory party. In any case many would agree in watching her steadfast performance at the coronation, it really might be the case that the ‘Penny is mightier than the sword’.

[shitpostingkats]

I'm sorry I'm still not over Riz taking the High Fantasy Equivalent Of Speed except no one remembers he weighs 25 pounds soaking wet so instead of Calming The Hell Down like we all know in our heart of hearts Riz would do if he actually took properly dosed stimulants he just sprints through all 9 phases of hyperfocus and ascends to neurodivergent godhood and starts solving mysteries you've never heard of and then becomes paranoid that someone's gonna take his memories so he goes up to a pirate and asks them to tattoo his red string conspiracy board on his flesh

[undead-knick-knack]

@captainofthetidesbreath I made the shittier version of what you were probably imagining

[isjasz]

[Day 166]

Keep at arm's (sword's) length

[themortaldraw]

fleshed out the wedding outfits i made for this silly little post

edit: realized i used the wrong pngs without the very minor fixes that only i would care about. so i fixed it.

[justaz]

thinking about arthur who has crazy quick reflexes and is a relatively light sleeper who woke up to the sound of someone in his room and saw merlin crouched down messing with his keys before softly asking “whatre you doing?…before breakfast?”

[woof-squiggles]

deciding to draw these oldish adopts bc if nobody else buys them im just gonna keep them

[abalathia]

[shanimations]

Thought I’d do this trend with Shadow lmao. HES FILIPINO YOUR HONOR 🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭

[skitskatdacat63]

His bullfighting days aren't over quite yet.

+

[insufferablemod]

Hmmm..

[snivyartjpeg]

world's most pathetic wet death god performs worst boom-kill to ever grace this earth, asked to leave the mystery labyrinth

[bad-winterkov]

thinking about this. im not alone in that he like kinda ducks him down right? he kinda ducks him down.

look at the storyboard

thats wild.

[scarlettaagni]

a peer of no equal

(+ red petal alt)

[jonsnowunemploymentera]

do think it’s funny how grrm basically put a whole bunch of fantasy swords for fantasy protag!Jon to choose from. How about a random Valyrian steel sword from his mentor? And what about the weird flaming sword from legends of old? Or maybe he’s actually Ashara Dayne’s bastard son so he gets the bestest sword Dawn? Oh do you think Ice should be reforged and returned to the Starks? Well he’s the only one left to wield it. Or he could get Dark Sister for shits and giggles from Bran because who else has the strength to wield it? Btw he could also get a metaphoric sword (dragon) while he’s at it because why the fuck not.

[sailing-ever-west]

Sanji carries a handkerchief in hopes of giving it to a woman in her moment of dire need and being the perfect gentleman but this never happens and instead every time they have an adventure Usopp ends up stealing it to blow his nose while ugly crying in terror