** Illian's Crown of Swords **

The Crown of Swords consists of a "heavy gold circlet, two inches wide, of laurel leaves ... Almost buried among the laurel leaves of the crown were the sharp points of swords." <ACoS: 41, 662-3, A Crown of Swords>

In The Path of Daggers, reference is made to "tiny blades among its golden laurel leaves." <TPoD: 13, 282, Floating Like Snow> A second reference to "several of the tiny golden sword points" tells us that there are more than just "several" sword. And tiny means, well, tiny. <TPoD: 23, 451, Fog of War, Storm of Battle> Neither of which fit the depiction on the book cover, which shows only a few relatively large swords, pointing up, and prominently arrayed over the laurel leaves, rather than buried within them.

Finally, from Knife of Dreams:

"Half the small swords nestled among the wide band of laurel leaves pointed down, making it uncomfortable to wear, giving constant reminders of its weight, in gold and in responsibility. A small chip in one of those laurel leaves dug at his temple to remind him of the battle against the Seanchan where it had been made." <KoD: 27, 580, A Plain Wooden Box>

detail, cover art from The Path of Daggers Copyright © 1998, Robert Jordan

I suspect that the second image - from an alternate paperback version of A Crown of Swords - matches Jordan's version better. The band of laurel leaves is wider, the swords are smaller, and the swords point up and down. Still, the repeat mention of these sword-points, without further qualifiers, suggests that there were more than just the few depicted here. I further suspect that the swords are a little smaller yet.