sellsword n.

chiefly in or with reference to fantasy literature: a mercenary; a hired soldier

  • 1918 Manufacturers Record (Baltimore) 24 Oct. 69/2

    Their sell-sword Steuben was the guiding spirit of the Revolution.

  • 1950 G. F. Fox Temptress of the Time Flow in Marvel Science Stories Nov. 92/2 page image Gardner F. Fox bibliography

    The time the stinging slap released the other that was inside Trenton: the come-day-go-day, God-made-Sunday sell-sword that they had made out of him in the psychiatric wards back in the Interrogation Building.

  • 1969 G. F. Fox Kothar Barbarian Swordsman 14 page image Gardner F. Fox bibliography

    One such warrior was Kothar, cast up by the sea in the northlands of his world, a sellsword and a mercenary, a wencher after the women of his day, a freebooter and a thief.

  • 1973 L. Carter When the Green Star Calls xiv. 107 Lin Carter bibliography

    I don't think we could pass you off as a wandering sell-sword. Mercenaries are generally grizzled veterans, not fifteen-year-old boys.

  • 1979 G. Derevanchuk Lord of Lightning in Dark Fantasy (#12) Apr. 13 page image Gordon Derevanchuk bibliography

    I have been called a wizard by some…yet I have been called an ignorant fool and a sellsword by wizards. So, take your pick.

  • 1986 G. Gygax Artifact of Evil 168 page image Gary Gygax bibliography

    A wandering sellsword only thinks of putting down roots, never does it.

  • 2000 G. R. R. Martin A Storm of Swords 49 George R. R. Martin bibliography

    Ser Addam gazed at the sellsword with distaste. ‘Lord Tywin is stubborn where his blood is concerned.’ [Ibid. 245] He was a Lannister of Casterly Rock, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard; no sellsword would make him scream.

  • 2007 M. Odom The Quest for the Trilogy 259 page image Mel Odom bibliography

    I’m a Librarian, he thought desperately. Not an adventurer. Not a sellsword. Not one of those heroes.

  • 2016 ‘A. Marshall’ A Blade of Black Steel (2017) 158 page image Jesse Bullington Alex Marshall bibliography

    From our first victory any Cobalt sellsword with brains in their hat has to have known they could sell me out to an agent of the Empire for crazy coin, but nobody’s tried it.

  • 2023 B. Pugacz-Muraszkiewicz The Lesser Evil (The Witcher) (unpaged) page image

    ‘You must kill her.’ ‘I’m no sellsword, Stregobor. Only kill monsters for gold, not humans.’

Research History
The 1918 quot. is from the OED's June 2026 update.
There are many additional quotes from Gardner F. Fox.

Last modified 2026-07-10 15:24:53
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.