The Sword & the Scimitar by Ernle Bradford

Ītsuta Shrine in Nagoya dates back to 100 CE during the reign of Emperor Keikō and houses the Kusanagi sword. He presented the sword to the goddess Amaterasu to settle an old grievance. In the fourth tail, he discovered a great sword inside the body of the serpent which he called Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi. With this distraction, Susanoo attacked and slew the beast (with his sword Worochi no Ara-masa), chopping off each head and then proceeded to do the same to the tails. The monster took the bait and put one of its heads through each gate. He instructed that eight vats of sake (rice wine) be prepared and put on individual platforms positioned behind a fence with eight gates.

Transforming her temporarily into a comb (one interpreter reads this section as 'using a comb he turns into Kushinada-hime') to have her company during battle, he detailed his plan into steps. In return, he asked for Kushinada-hime's hand in marriage, which was agreed. Susanoo investigated the creature, and after an abortive encounter he returned with a plan to defeat it. When Susanoo inquired of Ashinazuchi, he told him that his family was being terrorized by the fearsome Yamata no Orochi, an eight-headed serpent of Koshi, who had consumed seven of the family's eight daughters and that the creature was coming for his final daughter, Kushinada-hime ( 奇稲田姫). According to Kojiki, the god Susanoo encountered a grieving family of kunitsukami ('gods of the land') headed by Ashinazuchi ( 足名椎) in Izumo Province.

The history of the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi extends into legend. Prince Yamato Takeru and his sword Kusanagi no Tsurugi

The Sword & the Scimitar by Ernle Bradford