Fantasy Friday Chat: Sentient Artifacts
"It lives!"
This week, let’s talk about sentient artifacts in fantasy fiction.
What makes an artifact “sentient” and alive? Personality? Memory?
The One Ring is perhaps the most famous sentient object in fantasy fiction, and it has a profound impact on those who wield it. It corrupts its bearers, amplifying their desires for power and control. Frodo Baggins, the Ring-bearer, starts as a humble hobbit, but over time, the Ring’s influence distorts his mind, making him more isolated, paranoid, and morally conflicted. Gollum is another example—once a hobbit-like creature named Sméagol, he is corrupted and transformed into the obsessive, schizophrenic Gollum due to his prolonged possession of the Ring. The Ring’s malevolent sentience feeds on the weaknesses of its holders, ultimately driving them to madness or despair.
The Witchblade is a sentient gauntlet that bonds with its bearer, often women, and gives them immense power in battle. Its sentience is both a blessing and a curse.
Can you name other sentient objects in fantasy stories, comics, graphic novels, or movies?
The only one I can think of at the moment is the sword Need in Mercedes Lackey’s Kethry and Tarma books. Whoever carries it is bound to help women in need - I don’t remember more specifics than that!
"Feathertop" by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a very ingenious fantasy, involving a witch who turns a scarecrow into a sentient being who accidentally causes mischief when walking around. (I'm pretty sure this was one of the things in L. Frank Baum's mind when he created Oz...).