The weapons Durandal, Armads, and Maltet in the opening video of Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken
The Legendary Weapons of Elibe, known as the Divine General Weapons (or Divine Weapons for short), were the mighty weapons wielded by the eight heroes to smite the dragons during a savage war called the Scouring. During the war, the dragons possessed every possible advantage over the humans, save one: the ability to efficiently reproduce. The Demon Dragon was the only dragon who could mass produce dragons for the purpose of war, however, and doom drew nigh until man combined their best technology and magic to forge the legendary weapons. The Legendary Weapons had the power to pierce the dragons’ iron-hard scales and withstood their attacks. It was with these weapons that the eight heroes conquered the dragons and drove them into a remote realm through the Dragon’s Gate.
There was, however, an effect that the eight weapons had that neither party expected. The power of the eight weapons was so tremendous that the laws of physics were bent, and the quantum energy levels of Elibe were horribly imbalanced as a result. In a catastrophe know as the “Ending Winter,” nature balanced the equation by drawing a lot of power out of the universe, making it difficult for dragons to maintain their colossal forms. This was a boon to humans, however, and so they paid the situation little heed, using the Ending Winter as a chance to win the war.
The Eight Weapons were each wielded by a different hero or heroine, and all of them had special (and some overlapping) elemental themes. For instance, Maltet has the power of ice, and Murgleis has the power of wind, but Eckesachs and Armads both possess the element of thunder whereas Durandal and Forblaze possess the power of fire. Besides the eight weapons, Hartmut also wielded the Sword of Seals, which is said to be even more powerful than the weapons, and also has the power of fire. The Eight Weapons belonged to the following heroes:
- Durandal, Roland's Blazing Sword.
- Armads, Durban's Axe of Thunder
- Forblaze,Athos' Infernal Element.
- Aureola, Elimine's Heavenly Light.
- Murgleis, Hanon's Gale Bow.
- Maltet, Barigan's Spear of Ice.
- Apocalypse, Bramimond's Silencing Darkness.
- Eckesachs, Hartmut’s Royal Blade.
Destiny
After the war, the humans found that the weapons indeed caused a quantum calamity, and that their power was too great to be used by mortals. Fearing that the weapons might end the world entirely, the eight legendary weapons were hidden when the heroes departed to found their own nation. Each one was hidden in the most difficult places to access, all with deadly traps guarding them. On top of that, Bramimond crafted a magic seal that would prevent the weapons from ever being found.
Nine hundred eighty years later, in Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken, the seal was broken when Lyn, Hector, and Eliwood, with the help of Athos, convinced Bramimond to lift the seal, for the weapons were once again needed to defeat Nergal. This opened the door for Roy to reclaim all the weapons during Fire Emblem: Fūin no Tsurugi. Not knowing their power, of course, Roy used the weapons to defeat Zephiel and the Demon Dragon, Idenn.
Confusion
The Legendary Weapons of Elibe are often confused with other great weapons of Fire Emblem. These common misconceptions include Ragnell, the Mani Katti, the Sol Katti, the weapons used by Nergal’s morphs at the end of Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken, and the various Sacred Twins from Fire Emblem: the Sacred Stones.
The most important thing to remember is that the Legendary Weapons of Elibe include only the eight weapons that were used by the eight heroes. Ragnell is from an entirely different Fire Emblem universe, as are the Sacred Twin weapons, which were not made to fight dragons in the first place.
The Mani and Sol Kattis were essentially only introduced to the series so that Lyndis would have a starting and ultimate weapon. They are described as sister swords, one of the sun and one of the moon (hence the names Mani and Sol). The Sol Katti was forged by Sacaens to battle Wyverns. Athos himself says in the Final Chapter of Rekka no Ken that the Sol Katti is “not a legendary blade, but still a powerful weapon.”
Additionally, the Final Chapter, Light, has Nergal’s morphs wield several unique weapons with stats eerily similar to the Legendary Weapons. This is basically so that the player can have a challenging final battle and so that the player can use those weapons in the arena as they could in previous games, as is typical with the Fire Emblem series. However, these are not Legendary weapons themselves.