The Fate of Naegling, Oromis's Sword.

Oromis stored a tremendous amount of energy in the diamond of his sword, Naegling.

Oromis replied, “As you ought to know well by now, mere strength rarely decides the victor when two magicians duel. Even so, I have all the strength I need here, in the jewel of my sword.” And he reached across his body and placed the palm of his right hand on the yellow diamond that formed the pommel of Naegling. “For over a hundred years, Glaedr and I have stored every iota of our excess strength in this diamond, and others have added their strength to the pool as well; twice a week, several elves from Ellesméra visit me here and transfer as much of their life force into the gem as they can without killing themselves. The amount of energy contained within this stone is formidable, Eragon; with it, I could shift an entire mountain. It is a small matter, then, to defend Glaedr and myself from swords and spears and arrows, or even from a boulder cast by a siege engine. As for my seizures, I have attached certain wards to the stone in Naegling that will protect me from harm if I become incapacitated upon the battlefield. So you see, Eragon, Glaedr and I are far from helpless.” (Brisingr, "Leave-taking")

The amount of energy Oromis needed to really protect himself required a large gem. (17b)

During the battle at the end of the third book, the sword fell and was lost.

There was another metallic clang from above, and then Glaedr saw Naegling fall past him. The golden sword flashed and gleamed as it tumbled toward the ground. For the first time, the cold claw of fear gripped Glaedr. Most of Oromis’s word-will-energy was stored within the sword, and his wards were bound to the blade. Without it, he would be defenseless. (Brisingr, "Shadow of Doom")

Christopher has long said that the fate of this sword was the setup for a future story.

I laid groundwork in both Brisingr and Inheritance ... Some of the sort of loose ends in the books are really the beginnings of other stories or parts of other stories. (2)

Have a whole book planned about [what happened to Naegling]. Nearly wrote it right after Inheritance. (11)

For a very long time right when I finished Inheritance, I've been wanting to write a story about what happened to Oromis's Sword. That's a story I've been waiting to write for a very long time. (12)

Naegling is part of another story. Trust me, I don't forget about things like lost magic swords. (3)

This story will not be Book Six. The sword was not found by Galbatorix. It was not found by the two women. The gem that Murtagh finds isn't from the sword.

Not in book V [Book Six], but you'll definitely find out about Naegling one of these days. (5)

Naegling is a different story [from the two women]. (17a)

Oromis's sword was not in Galbatorix's collection. (7)

[Was the "yellow gem" Murtagh found from Naegling?] No. (14b)

At some point after the end of Inheritance (but before Book Six), someone finds the sword with all of its energy.

The sword is something I've actually always wanted to write a certain story about. I have the story planned out, but as of the end of Inheritance it hadn't been recovered. I don't want to give you any details but that tells you at least where I'm thinking. (9)

[Did someone take Naegling along with all the power inside it?] Yes. (4)

If it were recovered then whatever energy was in the sword would still be in the sword. (9)

Oromis's sword [is] pre Book 6 (which is why I'm debating writing [it] before following up Murtagh directly). (14a)

The only other detail we know is that the etymology of Naegling, "bright nail", is somehow important to the plot of this story.

I'd love to tell you [the English translation of "Naegling"] but unfortunately I can't because . . . it's an important plot point in a story I hope to write one day. (6)

Naegling = roughly means 'bright nail'. (10)

At the moment, Christopher is unsure of how long this story will be. It may be a short story and it may be a full sized novel.

I'm not sure [if it will be a short story or a novel]. I think it's one of those things where I need to write it and probably after 23 pages, I'll know how long it's gonna run. (15)

I have an entire story/book planned about Naegling. (16)

[Is the Oromis story confirmed?] All confirmed. I just have to write 'em. Lol. (17b)

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Timeline:

Brisingr released on September 20 2008. A few weeks after that, Christopher first teased that he had a story in mind concerning the fate of Oromis's sword (1). He continued to tease this story over the years, confirming, in 2015, that someone would find the sword (4), in 2016, that the etymology of the sword was going to be a plot point (6, 10), in 2018, that the sword hadn't gone into Galbatorix's collection (7), in 2021, that the sword remained unrecovered with its energy intact at the end of Book Four (9), and in 2023, that story would be set before Book Six (14a).

Christopher's publication plans for this story have gone back and forth. In 2011 he had implied this would be its own book, seperate from Book Five (2, 15). In 2019 Christopher said that this would be published as a short story in Tales from Alagaësia volume 2 (8). In 2023 it was back to being "a full-sized book" outside of the Tales series (11, 13). In 2024 Christopher said it was still a possibility for Tales 2, and that he wouldn't figure out how long it would be until he wrote it (15, 16). In December 2025, Christopher confirmed that it had not made the cut for Tales 2, but might be on the table for Tales 3 (18).