Frostmourne sword is one of the most iconic if not the most iconic sword in the universe of Warcraft. It is an extremely powerful runeblade wielded by the Lich King. Frostmourne has a very deep and dark history.
The very existence of Frostmourne itself is centered around evil. Anyone who wields Frostmourne instantly becomes a force to be reckoned with, because of the runeblade’s abilities.
However, not just anyone can make use of Frostmourne. It’s an incredibly large and heavy sword that only strong and capable warriors can wield. The runeblade has powerful unique dark abilities that could make its wielder easily overwhelm an opponent.
In the hands of a powerful warrior, Frostmourne can only grow stronger, enabling the wielder to become undefeatable. However, the sword doesn’t stop there. While Frostmourne can make it easier for the wielder to defeat his or her opponents, the sword also consumes the wielder’s soul.
While anyone who wields Frostmourne receives incredible power, they also turn into the Lich King.
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What Does Frostmourne Look Like?
The appearance of Frostmourne can already be a warning of just how chaotic it can be. It is a large double edged runeblade with a demon’s skull by its guard. As the name suggests, Frostmourne has an eerie blue color to it and an icy blue glow to its runes and the skull.
The sword is asymmetrical and has a more jagged edge on its other side. It has two other smaller skull designs on each edge of the guard and overall, the design is themed to the undead faction in Warcraft.
While the runeblade is larger than the typical sword, it can appear smaller than it actually is when wielded by the Lich King because of his large build. The design of Frostmourne also matches the armor of the Lich King.
All together, Frostmourne along with the rest of the Lich King’s armor does more than look intimidating. They give the Lich King his power to dominate over the Scourge and potentially also the rest of the world.
Who is the Lich King?
The creation of Frostmourne is closely tied with the birth of the Lich King. Everything begins with Ner’zhul, a chieftain of the Shadowmoon Clan. Ner’zhul was also an elder shaman who would in time be cursed as the Lich King.
While the Lich King is undead, Ner’zhul was originally an orc. Him becoming the Lich King placed him in a complicated situation. While he did gain tremendous power, he is to be trapped in mystical ice.
He can only use his power from where he is bound and with his power, he is only to serve his master, Kil’Jaeden, the deceiver. Another burden of the curse of Ner’zhul becoming the Lich King is that his body is not transformed into a monster of some sort.
His soul was just bound to a helm, pieces of armor and a runeblade, Frostmourne. So, even if he is able to get out of the ice he was trapped in, he still wouldn’t be able to do much in terms of moving.
You could say that the first Lich King is only a sentient set of armor and a runeblade, not a being. This was all to change when he devised a plan to acquire a champion and free himself from his frozen throne.
When Ner’zhul was still an orc, he wasn’t evil. In fact, they lived in a very peaceful world along with the Draenei, a race of skillful magic users who are originally from Argus. As a shaman, Ner’zhul can call out the elementals and even talk to the spirits of their ancestors.
Other orcs respected him and if there would have been a leader of all of them, it would have been Ner’zhul. Unfortunately, his abilities of being a shaman would ironically cloud his judgment that would lead him and his people to a path of darkness.
In the end, the elder shaman whom the orcs respected as a leader became the lord of the undead, the Lich King.
What are the Abilities of Frostmourne?
As an immobile sentient pieces of equipment, it can be hard to imagine just how altogether, they could create and control a huge army, conquer lands and cause destruction unlike any other. After all, they are all bound to the mystical ice that is the Frozen Throne.
Regardless, the Lich King was also just pieces of armor and a sword. Even though the Lich King didn’t have a body, the soul that was bound into the items were given immense power. The soul trapped was so powerful that it didn’t really need a body at all to rule.
From the Frozen Throne, the Lich King was more than capable of corrupting people nearby and their lands. His corruption would then spread turning men into the undead.
Consider the individual parts of the armor and the runeblade as Lich King himself. Again, he has his soul in all of them. So, even though in this article, we are about Frostmourne, Frostmourne is partly the Lich King.
Altogether, the pieces of the Lich King are the Helm of Domination, the Plate of the Damned and Frostmourne. Although the Lich King dwells in all said items, each one has different abilities.
Frostmourne becomes the eyes and ears of the Lich King as whatever the wielder sees and hears, so does the Lich King. The Lich King can also telepathically communicate with the wielder regardless of distance.
He uses his communication to corrupt the wielder. This, in turn, will make the wielder not want to part with Frostmourne. Over time, the wielder becomes evil. If the wielder is not undead, he or she will become undead.
Ultimately, the soul of the wielder will be devoured by the runeblade. Frostmourne will then only have the memories and the skills of the wielder, intangible treasures it can greatly make use of.
The effect of Frostmourne is active as long as the body of the wielder remains within one mile of the runeblade. As a weapon, Frostmourne can drain the souls of its opponents or anyone it touches.
With each soul it devours, the sword becomes stronger. Frostmourne is a very terrifying runeblade as it can easily shatter any weapon that it strikes. The Plate of the Damned makes its wearer invulnerable.
The Helm of Domination is what gives Ner’zhul the power to control the scourge. The helm is what holds his spirit. If the helm happens to be destroyed, Ner’zhul, the Lich King, will then cease to exist.
While the helm holds his soul, he is still connected to the Plate of the Damned and Frostmourne. This is how he can make use of Frostmourne to have its wielder become his agent.
What is the Origin of Frostmourne?
The Helm of Domination, Plate of the Damned and Frostmourne were all crafted by the Nathrezim or the dreadlords. The Nathrezim are extremely intelligent and cunning demons who are also masters of trickery.
They study the arts of magic and war. However, they don’t wage wars or fight head-on. They prefer to stay behind the scenes and make use of proxies to create the changes they want.
So, it isn’t that Ner’zhul was transformed into the items, his soul was simply bound to them. Ner’zhul along with the other orcish race lived in Draenor. Soon, they would share their homeworld with the Draenei and live peacefully with them.
While the orcs having Ner’zhul as their elder shaman, respected, admired and venerated, the Draenei had Velen as their leader. Originally, the Draenei lived in Argus long with their other people, the Eredar.
The Eredar race were magnificent magic users who built a vast and peaceful civilization. They had three leaders; Kil, jaedan, Archimonde and the wisest among all of them, Velen. They all love and respected each other until one far superior being visited their homeworld, Sargeras.
Sargeras, the lord of the Burning Legion.
Sargeras is a dark god of unimaginable power who has been venturing across the universe destroying everything in his path and growing his army, the Burning Legion. Sargeras saw just how talented and intelligent the Eredar were and for this, he offered a deal to their three leaders.
Sargeras offered them immortality and incredible power but in exchange, they are to be his loyal subjects. Two of the three leaders agreed. Velen did not as he saw a vision where his people were transformed into hideous demons.
Despite his warning, Kil’jaeden and Archimonde sealed the deal with Sargeras and became what Velen feared them to become, twisted demonic beings. Before all this could happen, Velen and his loyal followers knew they needed to escape their homeworld but they did not know how.
Until the Ata’mal crystal started to glow and a voice spoke with him. It was revealed to him that the crystal was one of the Naaru, a race sapient energy who aimed to destroy the Burning Legion.
Velen and his loyal followers were able to go the highest mountain of Argus as what was instructed to him by the Naaru, K’ure. They were able to escape Argus through a Naaru ship just in time before the newly transformed Eredar could get to them.
Kil’jaeden then vowed to hunt down Velen and the rest of his people even if it took him thousands of years. Indeed, it took him thousands of years as they try to find and chase after Velen and his people which would then be renamed the Draenei.
From world to world, the Draenei always left before the burning legion could get to them. This was up until they crash landed into the homeworld of the orcish people which was Draenor.
For 25,000 years, they remained unfound and lived peacefully with the shamanic orcs. Inevitably, Kil’jaeden managed to find them and this time, he had a different plan to annihilate all of the Draenei.
Kil’jaeden tricked the elder shaman Ner’zhul into thinking he was a spirit of what was once the orc’s mate, Rulkan. Through the image of Rulkan, he told Ner’zhul that the Draenei would cause them their demise. At first, deep within him, Ner’zhul couldn’t believe what he heard.
But the spirits, their ancestors, never lie. However, unbeknownst to him, it wasn’t Rulkan but Kil’jaeden. With what was told to him, he gathered all the chieftains and told them about their ancestor’s warning.
It took them awhile to believe what Ner’zhul told them but in the end, they all prepared for war. In time, they began to murder the Draenei. At some point, Kil’jaeden revealed his true form to Ner’zhul.
As the war with the Draenei went on, Ner’zhul couldn’t help but notice how Kil’jaeden closely resembled the Draenei. With his doubts, he ventured to Oshu’gun to talk with his ancestors there.
He realized that he was fooled by Kil’jaeden when his ancestors were disgusted with him. He then decided to defy Kil’jaeden but unfortunately, Gul’dan, his apprentice, saw what he had been doing.
Greedy for power, Gul’dan reported what he saw to Kil’jaeden. Because of this, Kil’jaeden granted Gul’dan just what he wanted, a higher position and greater power. Meanwhile, Ner’zhul was stripped of his position and power.
Even the elementals that once shared their power with the shamans now deny them of their assistance. This was because they knew that murdering the Draenei was wrong. But with Gul’dan’s fel magic, he gave new power to the orcs turning them into orcish warlocks.
Fel magic was powerful but was just as destructive. It turned Draenor into a wasteland. Because of this, Gul’dan made use of a portal to invade another world, Azeroth. He aimed to turn Azeroth into their new homeworld.
However, the orcs were defeated by humans. After some time, Ner’zhul wanted to lead the orcs to Azeroth for a second time, but not to rule the world but to collect artifacts for them to power another portal to escape.
He succeeded but as he stepped into the portal, he realized that what he and his followers entered was a nether realm of Kil’jaeden. There, Kil’jaeden tortured him over and over again. Eventually, Ner’zhul once again agreed to be of service to Kil’jaeden.
Although his body was torn apart, his soul was still intact and Kil’jaeden locked him up in the Helm of Domination along with the Plate of the Damned and Frostmourne. He was given incredible power but was encased in ice and thus, the Lich King was born.
He was then cast down to Azeroth. The mission given to him was to prepare Azeroth for the coming of the Burning Legion.
Who Was Able to Wield Frostmourne?
As Ner’zhul, the Lich King, was cast down to Azeroth, he thought of ways on how to go about his mission but also planned a way for his escape. Early on, he was able to separate Frostmourne from the Frozen Throne and plunged it in Northrend.
His plan was so grand that every small detail for his escape was very well thought out. He needed someone to wield Frostmourne but he didn’t just want anyone. He planned on having Arthas Menethil, the prince of Lordaeron to be his champion.
His grand scheme began with corrupting nearby lands and its people, turning them into the undead. Eventually, he was able to cover a vast amount of land and his army, the Scourge, soon became a major threat to Azeroth.
Arthas seemed to be the ideal candidate not just because of the position he held and his skill as a warrior but also because of his traits. Although Arthas believed himself to be a hero, his inexperience and lack of wisdom made him an ineffective leader.
Although he had good intentions, his ways of accomplishing goals weren’t always honorable. To him, if sacrifice is needed for the greater good, he would be more than willing to make that sacrifice.
This was shown when he ordered Uther and his knights to murder the entire population of Stratholme because some of them were already corrupted. Uther could not believe Arthas would go as far as killing everyone including the innocent just to stop the corruption from spreading.
He disobeyed Arthas, got stripped of his position by him and was accused of treason. Still, with some of the knights that decided to remain loyal to him, Arthas purged Stratholme. As he did, he encountered Mal’Ganis, whom he thought was behind the plague.
Before Arthas could put an end to Mal’Ganis, Mal’Ganis was able to flee but not before telling Arthas to meet him again at Northrend. One other great mistake of Arthas was denying his men the ability to go back home even if the order was from his father, the king himself.
With the help of mercenaries, he destroyed the only way for them to go back home which were the ships. When his men met up with them, he lied and told them that the mercenaries were the ones who destroyed the ships.
As a reaction, the Captain killed the mercenaries. This disgusted Muradin, Arthas’ mentor. With no way of going back home, Arthas mentioned that the only way they could get out of Northrend was to defeat Mal’ganis.
Ultimately, Arthas’ nature of being chaotic good lead him to wield Frostmourne. This was a major success for the Lich King as he then had a champion.
How Did Arthas Get Frostmourne?
Wanting to have a final showdown with Mal’ganis, Arthas with his troops, traveled to Northrend. While at Northrend, Arthas met up with Muradin. He explained to Arthas that he was trying to search for a powerful runeblade called Frostmourne.
Arthas then went with Muradin to continue the search for the sword. The time they came back to the base was the moment they learned that their troops left their outpost as they were ordered by the king to return home.
After having his way of manipulating his troops to face Mal’ganis, they all went back to base. Mal’ganis eventually launched an attack on them that began to overwhelm Arthas and his troops.
As they came close to defeat, Arthas and Muradin decided to search for Frostmourne again hoping the runeblade could help them out with their battle. Indeed, they were fortunate to have found their way to the runeblade.
It sat atop a pedestal with an inscription that read, “Whomsoever takes up this blade shall wield power eternal. Just as the blade rends flesh, so must power scar the spirit”. Realizing the runeblade was cursed, Muradin suggested that they just leave Frostmourne and that Arthas should just lead their troops home.
Ignoring the words of Muradin, Arthas continued to ask the spirits of the cavern to release Frostmourne from the ice that it was encased in. He proclaimed to them that he would do anything or pay any price just so they could let him save his people.
With this, the ice shattered with a shard hitting Muradin unconscious. Arthas was about to help him out until he heard a voice. It was from that moment when the Lich King began his corruption of Arthas.
Arthas dropped his warhammer, Light’s vengeance. He then proceeded to pick up Frostmourne. He left Muradin and returned to their base. With Frostmourne, Arthas was able to defeat Mal’ganis and his army.
Instead of wanting to go back home, Arthas fled north leaving his troops. In time, the Lich King completely corrupted Arthas through Frostmourne. Arthas would return to Lordaeron months later becoming the perfect assassin of his father, King Terenas.
Right after murdering his father, a lot of events happened. In the end, Arthas made his way to the frozen throne right before Illidan could get there first and destroy the Lich King. With Frostmourne, he destroyed the ice that imprisoned the Lich King.
The Helm of the Damnation was then only at his feet, he picked it up and wore it on his head. Through his action, his spirit and the soul of the Lich King merged. Every drop of good inside Arthas ceased to exist.
From then on, one of the most powerful and terrible beings on Azeroth was truly set free, the new Lich King.
What Happened to Frostmourne?
With his full might, the Lich King was almost successful with ruling over all of Azeroth. All the mighty adventurers that aimed to defeat him were slain. His greatest foe, Tirion, he trapped in a block of ice.
Just when he was about to resurrect everyone to be part of his undead army, Tirion, with the power of light, was able to shatter the ice and launch an attack towards the Lich King. Tirion’s weapon, the Ashbringer, shattered Frostmourne.
This caused all the trapped souls within the runeblade to be free. As the Lich King dropped to the ground, the Helm of Domination got knocked off from his head slowly severing the connection of Arthas’ and Ner’zhul’s soul.
Arthas was finally free of the curse and along with his reign as the Lich King, he died. The new Lich King would then be Tirion’s brother, Bolvar.
Frostmourne, broken into two pieces, would then be used to create two new swords; the Icebringer and the Frostreaper.
