Ascalon

[[File:DOS Ascalon.gif|right|200px]]

'''Ascalon''' is a dragon-slaying sword. It is named after the sword used by [[wikipedia:Saint George|Saint George]] to slay the dragon.

In ''[[Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow]]'', it's the best weapon [[Soma Cruz|Soma]] can obtain from [[Hammer]]'s shop. However, it will be only available for purchase after defeating [[Death]] at the [[Clock Tower (Aria of Sorrow)|Clock Tower]]. It has the highest [[Strength|STR]] boost of all weapons.
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==Origins==
[[File:Gillis Coignet - St. George the Great - 01.jpg|thumb|<p style="text-align: center;">''St. George the Great''<br />(Gillis Coignet, 1581)</p>]]

The episode of [[wikipedia:Saint George and the Dragon|Saint George and the Dragon]] was a legend brought back with the Crusaders and retold with the courtly appurtenances belonging to the genre of Romance. The earliest known depiction of the legend is from early eleventh-century Cappadocia.

In the fully developed Western version, the town of Silene had a pond, as large as a lake, where a plague-bearing dragon dwelt that poisoned all the countryside. To appease the dragon, the people used to feed it two sheep every day, and when the sheep failed, they fed it their children, chosen by lottery. It happened that one day the lot fell on the king's daughter. The king, distraught with grief, told the people they could have all his gold and silver and half of his kingdom if his daughter was spared; the people refused. The daughter was sent out to the lake, dressed as a bride, to be fed to the dragon.

[[wikipedia:Saint George|Saint George]] by chance rode past the lake. The princess, trembling, sought to send him away, but he vowed to remain. The dragon reared out of the lake while they were conversing. Saint George fortified himself with the Sign of the Cross, charged it on horseback with his lance, and gave it a grievous wound. He then called to the princess to throw him her girdle, and he put it around the dragon's neck. When she did so, the dragon followed the girl like a meek beast on a leash.

The princess and Saint George led the dragon back to the city, where it terrified the people at its approach, but Saint George called out to them, saying that if they consented to become Christians and be baptized, he would slay the dragon before them. The king and the people of Silene converted to Christianity, George slew the dragon, and the body was carted out of the city on four ox-carts.

Traditionally, the lance (or in some versions of the story, sword) with which Saint George slew the dragon was called Ascalon, a name recalling the city of Ashkelon, Israel.

==Item Data==
{{Item Table Begin|Ascalon}}
{{Aria of Sorrow Item Data/Weapons|Ascalon}}
{{Dawn of Sorrow Item Data/Great Swords|Ascalon}}
{{Harmony of Despair Item Data|Ascalon}}
{{Item Table End}}

==Trivia==
*The sword's appearance in ''[[Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow]]'' is possibly a reference to the manga/anime ''[[w:c:berserk:Berserk (Manga)|Berserk]]'', where the character [[w:c:berserk:Guts|Guts]] wields a huge sword sharing the same characteristic blade's shape called the "[[w:c:berserk:Dragon Slayer|Dragon Slayer]]".
**Coincidentally, the weapon's graphic model in ''Aria of Sorrow'' is remarkably similar to that of the [[Dragon Killer]] from ''[[Castlevania: Curse of Darkness|Curse of Darkness]]'', which hints in both swords probably being one and the same. However, the sword's model drastically changed in ''[[Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow|Dawn of Sorrow]]'' and ''[[Castlevania: Harmony of Despair|Harmony of Despair]]'', which, in addition to the difference of names, hinders reaching a decisive conclusion.

==See also==
*[[Balmung]]
*[[Dragon Killer]]