Stirling Castle, William Wallace and Robert the Bruce.

William Wallace, a la Braveheart, at Memorial, Stirling, Scotland

Attention should be paid to the swords of famous battle leaders.   Robert the Bruce, who led the victory of the Scots over the British at Bannockburn in 1314, see http://www.britishbattles.com/scottish/battle-bannockburn.htm apparentlyearlier (later?)  received the sword of William Wallace, see http://www.forthstimeline.com/downloads/wallace_leaflet.pdf .  Scroll down the sites for representations of medieval swords.  Wallace may not have been a pivotal figure at all for Bruce, but the two later get linked by the proximity of their memorials. See, e.g., http://www.hotelsinscotland.org/scotland/bannockburn-stirling-scotland.php/ Wallace was tortured and killed by the English in 1305 when they finally overcame him by betrayal, capture, butchery.  Wallace was known for his own victory over the British at Stirling Bridge in 1297.

What happened to that particular sword is not known, but the sword attributed to Robert the Bruce in Stirling, is so long and heavy that it is hard to imagine anyone able to lift it. I understand that a young man began with increasingly heavy and long swords so that by the time he was grown, he could wield such a one handily.  Like lifting a cow by beginning as a child with a calf. 

Robert the Bruce, Equestrian Statue, Stirling Castle, Scotland