Axe of the Gnomes

The Axe of the Gnomes ranks among the enchanted implements the witch Flora keeps at her home. When Schierke prepares Guts and his companions to face the trolls attacking Enoch Village, she presents the axe as one option for the coming fight. Guts declines it, so the weapon never leaves the mansion or joins the group on their journey.

Built for two-handed use, the axe pairs a fairly short, ribbed haft that narrows to a point with a simple set of twin blades at its head. Carvings of runes and the alchemical sign for earth decorate the weapon's end, marking its magical nature. Its considerable weight makes it impractical for a small wielder to carry, as both Schierke and Isidro observe.

The axe has no wielder, since Guts refuses it. He prefers the Dragon Slayer, a familiar blade that has already carried him through countless clashes with evil spirits and apostles. As he leaves the mansion, Schierke senses something strange about that sword, later noticing a shadow coiling around it that the Skull Knight identifies as the accumulated malice of the dead, which lets Guts strike astral beings. The axe itself is never seen again and is presumed lost when Griffith's reborn band burns Flora's mansion to the ground.