All right, all you etymologists out there, I need your help with something.

Why is there a W in sword? And why, oh why do we not pronounce it?

I have never questioned it before but tonight my mom, who is very French, asked my brother if he would take his decorative sWord home since she was converting the back room to a den. She pronounced the W. I told her the correct pronunciation but had no explanation as to why it was so.