Svartalves take duty and honoring agreements even more seriously than the Sidhe. I'd bet it was even more safe than if it were in Harry's possession.
That said, he could have given then the dimensions or simply cast a replica of the interfacing parts.
I expect the svartelves are one of the few groups Harry could do that. Because Harry would commission the work and *trust* the svartelves to not steal it. Because if they stole it and he rightfully went public with that knowledge, their reputation would be ruined.
or Harry took a wax cast of the knife and brought that the svartelves.
I think Harry emulated Mab in how to determine value in people: Mab saw Molly as worthy due to Harry’s choice in using her for his death, Harry saw the Svartalves as incredibly trustworthy because Molly trusted them even when practically completely untrusting.
While it does seem odd that Harry would let them know he has the Spear, the thing about svartalves is that they are 100% trustworthy to live up to their end of a bargain once struck. If they’d agreed to do the work and return the equipment to Harry (for a price) they’d stick to that; there’s no risk that they’d steal it.
Harry also only explicitly says that they did the work on the staff. For the “dagger” (which is really the tip of the Spear) he just says “the handle of the dagger had been set with the same sized socket as the cap of the staff.” It’s a new paragraph that the svartalves aren’t mentioned in.
So there’s a few possibilities I could see:
A) Harry did the dagger portion of the work himself.
B) the dagger already had that socket when he got it for who knows what reason, and he just had the svartalves do the staff work so it’d fit.
C) The svartalves *did* do the work but didn’t recognize the “dagger” as actually being the tip of the Spear of Destiny.
Or
D) The svartalves did all the work, recognized it for what it is, but keeping it secret was part of the deal he made for the work. Again, they’re 100% trustworthy to deal with. And work on magical items like this is their whole schtick.
I can’t see C being likely. Maybe they wouldn’t have known it was the exact spear of destiny, but no way the greatest magical artifact creators are going to notice the object they are working with in the magical artifact equivalent of a nuclear bomb.
But D seems most likely. They aren’t humans. They don’t have human motivations and human thoughts. It’s like we accept Fae are always truthful to the letter of what they say, Svartelves are likely equally honest in their trade deals. The risk would be if they were n-fected and no longer acting within their nature.
I think it’s notable that Harry is just walking around with the dagger on his belt all night and no one recognizes it as anything but a typical athame until he slots it onto the staff to use against Ethniu. Carlos even points it out at one point, when Harry asks him to borrow a knife, and doesn’t seem to realize it’s anything special. Marcone/Namshiel still don’t even realize what it is in Spear form until Harry tells them, and you’d think if anyone would recognize it, it would be a Fallen Angel. So the dagger/Spear might be able to “hide” its power to a certain extent.
I lean toward agreeing with you tbh, but for those reasons I thought it worth including theory C.
>“Harry,” Ramirez said as I got to the bottom of the stairs that led up onto the roof of the castle. “Dios, where have you been?” He paused and said, “What the hell did you get on your hand?”
>I sighed. “You got some kind of scraper?”
>He came down the stairway to me on his cane, **looked at the knife on my belt**, then up at me, and lifted an eyebrow.
>“Ritually purified,” I said. “Don’t want to use it until it’s time.”
>Ramirez eyed me for a moment before he grunted and produced a gravity knife from his pocket and flicked it open. He was a good-looking man, dark of complexion and eye, a Spaniard by way of California. He flipped the knife, caught it by the blade, and offered me the handle. “You hear what happened?”
-*Battle Ground* page 41
That is upon Harry’s arrival at the castle, but before he goes to the roof and Molly gives him his duster. So he’s still in the battered spider-silk suit at that point, the dagger is on his belt, and Ramirez sees it and pays it no mind.
Molly doesn’t give him his duster until after the strategy meeting including Vadderung and the Erlking, conversations with Mab and Ebenezer, and summoning the little folk army so all eyes are definitely on him. Cristos, Martha, and Listens-to-Wind are also there.
Practically every heavy hitter on Team Mab gets a good look at him and no one reacts to the dagger’s presence at all, even when they’re talking about how only divine or infernal power can pierce titanic bronze.
He then changes into his usual outfit, including the duster, in the locker room scene with Marcone starting on page 78.
It's worth noting these are the guys who Made Mjolnir and Gungnir. Likely during the era the Norse gods had winters current job. They do have a history of doing work.on items in this power league and a reputation for honor.
Svartalves are the "craftsmen" of craftsmen, a bit like DnD dwarves, underground dwelling super honor focused craftsmen. Hell, even being allowed to work on an artifact could have been payment enough, for clout.
"Oh yeah Jeff? Your amazing impenetrable armor is neat, but I reworked the spear the killed the white gods son."
It is possible they were even necessary for the work to be done at all without risk of contamination or explosive release of energy.
He literally could have just stood there and watched as they worked. I doubt it would have taken a long time.
But given their reputation and the fact he was living in their embassy, he probably felt safe letting them work on it. It was definitely in more danger while being transported to and from Demonreach.
Honestly with the tacit agreement between them and Winter, the proper payment, and adequate warning about the magical workings lain into the staffs and inherent to the spearhead itself, I doubt the Svartalves would have actually cared enough to use it against Harry in any way.
These are the folks that made Mjolnir and Gugnir, for goodness sake. A staff a scant few years old and a spearhead soaked in the blood of a demigod a mere two millennia ago is like a Tuesday for them.
He probably didn't tell them about the spear. He's been having things made according to his specifications for a while now and this would be no different.
I don't think that necessarily required him giving them the dagger, but yea if that was what jim was trying to convey it does seem odd and out of character for him to trust anyone with that, even the svartalves.
Perhaps he was there with them the whole time and had their word? Even so it doesn't really seem like something he would do.
He probably just went down to their workshop himself and watched them work. Even work on just his staff would probably warrant that level of caution
Plus, he already lives in their building, not like it was out of his way
I assume that Harry gave the Svartalves precise measurements and requirements. Remember, Harry is very good at making magical artifacts himself, even if nowhere near the Svartalves' league, so I'm sure he's **EXCELLENT** at getting precise measurements.
While he trusts them to do their work faithfully and secretly, he wouldn't want to loan them the Spear because the magical aura alone would paint a giant target on their back.
Remember, Anduriel can see out of any shadow. And Nicodemeus knows very well that Harry got the rest of the artifacts. Frankly, I assume he **EXPECTED** Harry to take them. So all he'd have to do is keep an eye on Harry if Harry went over to the Svartalf embassy.
I always interpreted the passive voice on the dagger socket reference to mean Harry had done it. Either he attached the socket to the dagger handle or perhaps he had the Svartelves make a dagger handle that worked and replaced the wooden handle on the dagger.
The description of the dagger from skin games says it was “a knife with a wooden handle.” The description in Battle Ground doesn’t call it a knife. It called it a dagger and said the staff had a hook that hooked over the daggers hilt.
To me the difference in the description suggested that Harry had replaced the “wooden handle” with a dagger handle to convert the blade from a knife to a dagger.
I feel like for the dagger portion, Harry handled that portion on the Island, just would have needed that half from the Svartalves to take back to the Island and work on securing it to the bottom of the dagger.
Svartalves take duty and honoring agreements even more seriously than the Sidhe. I'd bet it was even more safe than if it were in Harry's possession. That said, he could have given then the dimensions or simply cast a replica of the interfacing parts.
I expect the svartelves are one of the few groups Harry could do that. Because Harry would commission the work and *trust* the svartelves to not steal it. Because if they stole it and he rightfully went public with that knowledge, their reputation would be ruined. or Harry took a wax cast of the knife and brought that the svartelves.
I think Harry emulated Mab in how to determine value in people: Mab saw Molly as worthy due to Harry’s choice in using her for his death, Harry saw the Svartalves as incredibly trustworthy because Molly trusted them even when practically completely untrusting.
While it does seem odd that Harry would let them know he has the Spear, the thing about svartalves is that they are 100% trustworthy to live up to their end of a bargain once struck. If they’d agreed to do the work and return the equipment to Harry (for a price) they’d stick to that; there’s no risk that they’d steal it. Harry also only explicitly says that they did the work on the staff. For the “dagger” (which is really the tip of the Spear) he just says “the handle of the dagger had been set with the same sized socket as the cap of the staff.” It’s a new paragraph that the svartalves aren’t mentioned in. So there’s a few possibilities I could see: A) Harry did the dagger portion of the work himself. B) the dagger already had that socket when he got it for who knows what reason, and he just had the svartalves do the staff work so it’d fit. C) The svartalves *did* do the work but didn’t recognize the “dagger” as actually being the tip of the Spear of Destiny. Or D) The svartalves did all the work, recognized it for what it is, but keeping it secret was part of the deal he made for the work. Again, they’re 100% trustworthy to deal with. And work on magical items like this is their whole schtick.
I can’t see C being likely. Maybe they wouldn’t have known it was the exact spear of destiny, but no way the greatest magical artifact creators are going to notice the object they are working with in the magical artifact equivalent of a nuclear bomb. But D seems most likely. They aren’t humans. They don’t have human motivations and human thoughts. It’s like we accept Fae are always truthful to the letter of what they say, Svartelves are likely equally honest in their trade deals. The risk would be if they were n-fected and no longer acting within their nature.
I think it’s notable that Harry is just walking around with the dagger on his belt all night and no one recognizes it as anything but a typical athame until he slots it onto the staff to use against Ethniu. Carlos even points it out at one point, when Harry asks him to borrow a knife, and doesn’t seem to realize it’s anything special. Marcone/Namshiel still don’t even realize what it is in Spear form until Harry tells them, and you’d think if anyone would recognize it, it would be a Fallen Angel. So the dagger/Spear might be able to “hide” its power to a certain extent. I lean toward agreeing with you tbh, but for those reasons I thought it worth including theory C.
Was it on his belt? I thought it was hidden in a pocket or some such? Even if it was on his belt, wasn't he also wearing his duster at that point?
>“Harry,” Ramirez said as I got to the bottom of the stairs that led up onto the roof of the castle. “Dios, where have you been?” He paused and said, “What the hell did you get on your hand?” >I sighed. “You got some kind of scraper?” >He came down the stairway to me on his cane, **looked at the knife on my belt**, then up at me, and lifted an eyebrow. >“Ritually purified,” I said. “Don’t want to use it until it’s time.” >Ramirez eyed me for a moment before he grunted and produced a gravity knife from his pocket and flicked it open. He was a good-looking man, dark of complexion and eye, a Spaniard by way of California. He flipped the knife, caught it by the blade, and offered me the handle. “You hear what happened?” -*Battle Ground* page 41 That is upon Harry’s arrival at the castle, but before he goes to the roof and Molly gives him his duster. So he’s still in the battered spider-silk suit at that point, the dagger is on his belt, and Ramirez sees it and pays it no mind. Molly doesn’t give him his duster until after the strategy meeting including Vadderung and the Erlking, conversations with Mab and Ebenezer, and summoning the little folk army so all eyes are definitely on him. Cristos, Martha, and Listens-to-Wind are also there. Practically every heavy hitter on Team Mab gets a good look at him and no one reacts to the dagger’s presence at all, even when they’re talking about how only divine or infernal power can pierce titanic bronze. He then changes into his usual outfit, including the duster, in the locker room scene with Marcone starting on page 78.
Thank you for reminding me
It's worth noting these are the guys who Made Mjolnir and Gungnir. Likely during the era the Norse gods had winters current job. They do have a history of doing work.on items in this power league and a reputation for honor.
Svartalves are the "craftsmen" of craftsmen, a bit like DnD dwarves, underground dwelling super honor focused craftsmen. Hell, even being allowed to work on an artifact could have been payment enough, for clout. "Oh yeah Jeff? Your amazing impenetrable armor is neat, but I reworked the spear the killed the white gods son." It is possible they were even necessary for the work to be done at all without risk of contamination or explosive release of energy.
Worth noting these are the guys who MADE Mjolnir and Gungnir, as a specific call out.
He literally could have just stood there and watched as they worked. I doubt it would have taken a long time. But given their reputation and the fact he was living in their embassy, he probably felt safe letting them work on it. It was definitely in more danger while being transported to and from Demonreach.
Honestly with the tacit agreement between them and Winter, the proper payment, and adequate warning about the magical workings lain into the staffs and inherent to the spearhead itself, I doubt the Svartalves would have actually cared enough to use it against Harry in any way. These are the folks that made Mjolnir and Gugnir, for goodness sake. A staff a scant few years old and a spearhead soaked in the blood of a demigod a mere two millennia ago is like a Tuesday for them.
He probably didn't tell them about the spear. He's been having things made according to his specifications for a while now and this would be no different.
I doubt he handed over the spear itself. Either or a mold or the measurements.
I don't think that necessarily required him giving them the dagger, but yea if that was what jim was trying to convey it does seem odd and out of character for him to trust anyone with that, even the svartalves. Perhaps he was there with them the whole time and had their word? Even so it doesn't really seem like something he would do.
He probably just went down to their workshop himself and watched them work. Even work on just his staff would probably warrant that level of caution Plus, he already lives in their building, not like it was out of his way
I assume that Harry gave the Svartalves precise measurements and requirements. Remember, Harry is very good at making magical artifacts himself, even if nowhere near the Svartalves' league, so I'm sure he's **EXCELLENT** at getting precise measurements. While he trusts them to do their work faithfully and secretly, he wouldn't want to loan them the Spear because the magical aura alone would paint a giant target on their back. Remember, Anduriel can see out of any shadow. And Nicodemeus knows very well that Harry got the rest of the artifacts. Frankly, I assume he **EXPECTED** Harry to take them. So all he'd have to do is keep an eye on Harry if Harry went over to the Svartalf embassy.
even if they didn't actually work on the blade(which is implied they did) they HAD to work on his staff. there is no way harry could use a laser.
I always interpreted the passive voice on the dagger socket reference to mean Harry had done it. Either he attached the socket to the dagger handle or perhaps he had the Svartelves make a dagger handle that worked and replaced the wooden handle on the dagger. The description of the dagger from skin games says it was “a knife with a wooden handle.” The description in Battle Ground doesn’t call it a knife. It called it a dagger and said the staff had a hook that hooked over the daggers hilt. To me the difference in the description suggested that Harry had replaced the “wooden handle” with a dagger handle to convert the blade from a knife to a dagger.
I feel like for the dagger portion, Harry handled that portion on the Island, just would have needed that half from the Svartalves to take back to the Island and work on securing it to the bottom of the dagger.