1950 November, Gardner Francis Fox, “Temptress of the Time Flow”, in Marvel Science Stories, November 1950[1], volume 3, number 1, page 92:
A Fleet captain did not strike back at a woman who slapped him....¶ But he had been caught off-guard. This time the stinging slap released the other that was inside Trenton: the come-day-go-day, God-made-Sunday sell-sword that they had made out of him in the psychiatric wards back in the Interrogation Building, ages ago... Inside him he could feel it building up, sweeping forward, cyclonic, brushing aside the fragile barriers that held it out, that kept it in check...
1969, Gardner Francis Fox, “Prologue”, in Kothar: Barbarian Swordsman, reprinted in The First Kothar the Barbarian MEGAPACK, Wildside Press, published 2016, →ISBN:
One such warrior was Kothar, cast up by the sea in the northlands of his world, a sellsword and a mercenary, a wencher after the women of his day, a freebooter and a thief, at times, whose sword Frostfire was a magic sword.
He was a mercenary, a sell-sword, a barbarian out of the forested mountains of Norumbria. A wanderer by nature, he earned his keep wherever he went by the might of his sword-arm, by his skill with weapons.
I'm a sell-sword. I make my living because I keep my word. Unreliable mercenaries don't get paid.
1992 July 16, Tony Taia, “Re: BTECH Scenerio”, in rec.games.board[2] (Usenet), message-ID <1992Jul16.093852.24340@peponi.wcc.govt.nz>:
With the rebuilding and re-equiping of the House units, the mercs are missing out on all the new toys/tech. This will mean the sellswords will lose their edge over "Regular House" units with this policy. Before (3025) mercs had a higher skill and morale overall, but this is being lost with all the new technology going to proven units.
1995 November 25, Paul, “Humanoids Handbook HA HA!!”, in rec.games.frp.dnd[3] (Usenet), message-ID <30B732E9.33DE@tiac.net>:
The kits are bad, two examples are the saurial paladin and the sellsword. The paladin is just a bad excuse for finally allowing races other than humans to be paladins (though I have heard that the paladin's handbook allows this). The sellsword is just a fighter who fights for someone. You don't need a kit!!!
The sellsword scrambled backward, checking each blow, stepping lithely over rock and root, his eyes never leaving his foe. He was quicker, Catelyn saw; the knight's silvered sword never came near to touching him, but his own ugly grey blade hacked a notch from Ser Vadis's shoulder plate.
"You had no lord, no duty, and precious little honor, so why trouble to involve yourselves?...Well, why do sellswords do anything? For gold." (Tyrion Lannister).
2013 April 2, Matt Stewart, “Opinion: Royals poised to make the playoffs”, in Fox 4 (Kansas City)[6], retrieved 2014-11-24:
Whenever I see Alcides Escobar make another unbelievable play at shortstop, I can’t help but think we got the better of the deal in the trade for Zack Grienke. The money-hungry Grienke is now pitching for the Dodgers and admits he wanted to play for the team that paid him the most cash. A sellsword. A gunslinger for hire.
2014 April 28, Greg Howard, “José Mourinho Is The Antichrist: A Closet Liverpool Fan's Lament”, in Deadspin[7], retrieved 2014-11-24:
Soccer is class warfare, a battle between the haves and the have-nots, and those with more money and resources always win. In soccer, The Empire is undefeated. And José Mourinho, the world's greatest sellsword, the man who has discovered nothing in soccer but how to win, is its face.
2014 May 12, David Ehrlich, “How indie musicians are reinventing film music”, in thedissolve.com[8], retrieved 2014-11-24:
Desplat’s career is the most lucid proof that film music ultimately depends on how people see it. He’s a sell-sword where someone like Jonny Greenwood is a specialist, and Greenwood’s experience scoring movies reveals how that can make all the difference.
2016 April 8, Andrew Brennan, “Neymar's Agent's Hint At PSG Would Stunt The Growth Of A Brilliant Player Or Make Neymar A Sellsword”, in Forbes[9], retrieved 2017-07-04:
Ribeiro’s assertion that “the prospect of living in a city like Paris and to play for a club like PSG - that's also a dream for every player” makes for great flattery, but compared to Barcelona, it makes Neymar look like a sellsword, a lover of money, over a master of his craft.