The Dresden Files > DF Reference Collection

The Religious Relics: What Are They?

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weechlo:
Okay, so at the end of Skin Game, Harry is in possession of several powerful, genuine religious artifacts particular to the Christian faith, all described by him as (and apparently confirmed by Hades to be) weapons.

I understood most of them, but one tripped me up as to what exactly it was, and I'm also curious as to what their purpose as weaponry could be.

The Holy Grail was lost, and even Michael wasn't sure how it could be used to do evil since it's significance was apparently wholly good in nature (ultimate expression of God's grief and love, etc.), but seeing as how Nicodemus used the (knock-off) Shroud of Turin to create and try to spread a super plague, I agree with Harry that Nicodemus will probably figure out something.

Then there was the Crown of Thorns. Dunno what the weaponized value is of that.

The placard, which I'm pretty sure is the one that was put around Christ's neck, saying that he was the King of the Jews? Again, not sure how that's a weapon.

But the one I'm totally confused about is the knife? I'm not religious and not terribly well-versed in the particulars of the Resurrection story, but the knife's significance must be pretty darn obvious because Harry immediately just knew that that was what Nicodemus wanted. What's it's significant in the story of Christ? I vaguely remember there being a spear that they used to cut into Christ's side after He died, but unless the "knife" is actually a spearhead... What's the deal?

Curator's edit, Below are links to some of the responses I'll highlight.  -Serack

Quantus shows a plausible interpretation of what the "Knife" looks like
Quantus's excellent writeup on what the Relics could be
A quote of an alternate list by Phariah
Quantus's excellent post equating the Relics to some Egyptian concepts of the soul, and Eldest Gruff's excellent response.

Curator's edit 2:  I added some formatting to the OP -Serack

For additional discussion on the relics, see this topic

Eldest Gruff:
Spear of Longinus

That would be the 'knife'. The perceived possible function as a group would be the possibility of usage in a summoning or ritual. On their own some have legends attached to them that would be of use singularly, the Grail, Shroud and Spear come to mind...but others like the Placard and Crown would be interesting to see the direction they go in.

Second Aristh:
Another thing that might be important is the fact that there were five items in the armory.  That's enough to start looking into rituals and summonings the items might help in, not to mention whatever abilities the items may have on their own.

Smaug with OCD:
Personally, I always attributed Harry's realization of which relic Nico truely wanted to the shroud, not the knife. Nico had just killed his own daughter, and it's hinted that he knew what was in the vault before the heist. While I honestly doubt it would have worked after what he pulled... I can't help but wonder if Nico's plan was to get the items, get away with his daughter's corpse, bring her back, and be in possession of all the relics*. I don't have any substantial support for this theory other than Harry stuffing the shroud into his duster pocket**, but... *shrug*

It's just a gut feeling.

* I support the "use in a summoning" theory, for these. Though, who I believe they are meant to summon, I'm still undecided.

** Correct me if I'm wrong here. I seam to remember this being the case. But, I don't have hard or softcover versions of the books. I only listen to the audiobooks. As a result, checking for exact details is difficult.

Eldest Gruff:

--- Quote from: Smaug with OCD on June 20, 2015, 02:37:02 AM ---Personally, I always attributed Harry's realization of which relic Nico truely wanted to the shroud, not the knife. Nico had just killed his own daughter, and it's hinted that he knew what was in the vault before the heist. While I honestly doubt it would have worked after what he pulled... I can't help but wonder if Nico's plan was to get the items, get away with his daughter's corpse, bring her back, and be in possession of all the relics*. I don't have any substantial support for this theory other than Harry stuffing the shroud into his duster pocket**, but... *shrug*

It's just a gut feeling.

* I support the "use in a summoning" theory, for these. Though, who I believe they are meant to summon, I'm still undecided.

** Correct me if I'm wrong here. I seam to remember this being the case. But, I don't have hard or softcover versions of the books. I only listen to the audiobooks. As a result, checking for exact details is difficult.

--- End quote ---


--- Quote ---“I’d tell you to give me the knife, Dresden,” Nicodemus said, still smiling. “But unlike your friend, I don’t do second chances. And you won’t have any need for it in a moment.” SG.

--- End quote ---

Twas the blade he was after.

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