Wooden Sword

The Wooden Sword is most likely the first real melee weapon that you can craft in the game. It is crafted with 7 Wood at a Workbench.

Versus the starting melee weapon, the Copper Shortsword, the wooden sword has higher damage per hit and a much lower crafting cost, doesn't require an anvil (and therefore Iron) and swings in an arc rather than performing a stabbing motion in front of the player. These characteristics make it generally much more useful than the Copper Shortsword new players start with, so it is usually desirable to replace it with this one as soon as wood is acquired.