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Great Mace: What the Name Means in Games and History

“Great Mace” is ambiguous: it can name a game or fictional weapon, or describe ceremonial civic regalia once carried before mayors.
WorldGames and History Length3 min Posted Quest giverVGSources Team
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“Great Mace” can mean different things: a weapon name in a video game, a fictional object, or a ceremonial civic mace carried as a symbol of authority. The phrase alone does not identify one specific item. If you mean an in-game Great Mace, the game title is needed to establish its location, statistics, and use; the documented historical meaning is a large ceremonial mace associated with civic office.

What is a great mace?

A mace began as a club-like weapon. In civic use, it became a staff of office that signified authority, often with a decorated metal head. Portsmouth City Council describes this transition in its account of the city’s maces: “A mace was originally a heavy club used as an offensive weapon, but later became a staff of office symbolising authority, with the head often elaborately worked in precious metal or bejewelled.”

In the historical civic tradition, a great mace could be carried before a mayor during a procession or official business. It was not simply a weapon enlarged: its ceremonial role made it a visible emblem of civic authority.

How civic maces became symbols of office

Historian Kathrin Strauss traces the changing role of maces in a 2022 article in Parliamentary History. She writes that city and borough sergeants carried great maces before mayors in processions from the 14th century. Strauss argues that parliamentary mace rituals later adopted this civic procession model, and that the mace became associated with the Speaker of the House of Commons by the middle of the 16th century. This describes a historical argument about the development of ceremonial practice, not a single universal path followed by every mace.

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Strauss’s article explains the connection between the civic mace and parliamentary ceremony. The common thread is the mace’s visible role in processions: it marked the authority of the office or institution represented.

Documented civic examples

Individual city maces have their own histories, materials, and measurements. Oxford and Portsmouth illustrate why dates and provenance should be attributed to the specific object rather than generalized to all great maces.

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Oxford

Oxford History says the city’s present silver-gilt mace was made in 1651. It is more than five feet tall and weighs nearly 18 pounds—measurements for this particular object, not a typical size or weight. The mace represents authority under the Crown and was carried before the Mayor during official city business. Oxford’s account of the mace-bearer provides the object’s history and role.

Portsmouth

Portsmouth City Council describes its Great Mace as silver gilt. Based on the shaft’s pattern, the council places it before 1678; it says the mace was probably made during the Commonwealth period and converted into a Royal Mace at the Restoration. The council presents that account with uncertainty, so the precise origin should not be stated as settled fact. Portsmouth’s account discusses the dating and proposed history.

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Leicester

William Kelly’s 1874 article, “The Great Mace, and other Corporation Insignia of the Borough of Leicester,” treats the mace as an outward symbol of civic authority. The accessible abstract supports that general description; more detailed claims about Leicester’s object require the full article. The article is catalogued by the Royal Historical Society.

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When “Great Mace” means a game or fictional weapon

The words also appear in game and fiction contexts. For example, an Elden Ring discussion uses “Great Mace” as an in-game weapon name, while Tolkien reference material describes Grond as a great mace. Those are distinct subjects from a mayoral mace. The civic histories above do not establish any game item’s stats, acquisition method, or effectiveness.

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To identify a game item accurately, specify the game and, if relevant, its edition or update. A matching name by itself is not enough to infer where an item is found or how it performs. Tolkien’s fictional use is described in The Encyclopedia of Arda’s Grond entry.

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How to identify the great mace you mean

  • For a civic object: name the city or borough, then check its official history for material, date, procession role, and how certain the dating is.
  • For a video-game item: name the game. Compare its game-specific description and mechanics rather than relying on civic history.
  • For a fictional object: identify the work or character; the same phrase can be descriptive rather than the object’s formal name.

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

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