Armchair Armory: Swords
Sept 30, 2023 20:33:08 GMT -6
Post by saintofm on Sept 30, 2023 20:33:08 GMT -6
Like with spears, this will be a look at different weapons in history from what I have gleaned from much smarter people, and maybe this can help me and others with their writing when it comes to having this in their own works. This episode: The sword. Keep in mind there are a lot of areas I don’t know here but would like my knowledge corrected as needed as there are a lot that get mixed up. For instance, there is the Chinese Dao. Essentially a curved war sword there are those that are more curved and are therefor sabers, and some that that are wider and therefore more broadsword/arming sword in nature. I goofed in a couple parts in my last weapon post and therefore will inevitably goof here.
While outside of one experience on the site, Legendfire has been pretty awesome I also realize everyone has their favorite sword and this often means on the internet they think their blade is the bestest EVAR. While we can say one sword in a classification is better than other, most for the most part served a purpose they were made for very well. As seen in this Youtube video, many times we take 2 (in this case the classic Katana vs Longsword Debate) and we end up doing a lot of apples and oranges comparisons. One may do something better than another, but that doesn’t mean one is gooder and one is badder. It just means one does the job better. Hammers and Saws are both tools in the toolshed, that doesn’t mean one is better than the other.
Moving on, when you think about it, swords are pretty weird. Spears make sense: easy to learn and can be made into a variety of ways but primarily serve the same function and just about everyone had one. Axes? Most people need to chop something down, and turning a workmans or even hunting tool into a weapon of war makes sense. Knives and Daggers? Same deal. Even clubs. So why a sword? They are effective killing weapons.
It also has the most glorious of reputations. Despite being a weapon that is predominantly made for combat situations and little else, it dose not have the mixed baggage that guns have.
Of course there are some things that need explaining first.
There are some swords better than others, but in general they perform pretty well for their intended purpose be it Hacking (the weight and momentum doing most of the work in breaking bones and lopping limbs like Long Swords and Falchions), Slashing (the sharpness and therefor cutting/slashing ability being its killing potential such as with sabers and Katanas) or the thrust (piercing/stabbing such as Chinese Jians and Roman Gladiuses).
While Spears are easier to learn how to use, Axes and maces hit harder, there are some advantages the sword has over them.
1. The length of the blade is something that can cause damage. Ax, Flails, Maces, and Warhammers have a single bit at the end of their length that can be used as a something that can kill. However the entire blade has this potential. Other weapons have this as well, Quarter staffs and batons come to mind, but in combat situations, especially one in a combat kill or be kill one, the sword might be the preferred weapon.
2. Ballance. Regardless if it’s an Elegant Rapier or a brutal Viking sword, most of the weight is in the handle. That means the guard, pummel, and the part you grip. That leaves the blade with an ability to maneuver around a lot. Much like a gate, the part connecting to the fence can move a little, but the rest of the gate can move lot. With the weight balanced on the hilt, the blade can dance around the enemy much easier. Thrusting weapons can have their point at the enemy, while hacking and slashing ones can have their edge swinging with ease.
3. Status. With little Exception, this was a weapon of dedicated warriors and nobles. Few varieties would be given to the common people, however more likely than not due to the time and money needed in its construction, a well as learning how to use it, it was going to be a dedicated Leisure Class item. Even more self defense oriented weapons like the Chinese Jian, a weapon of scholars and officials, or the French Rapier, a weapon of cocky nobles for around town, had this in mind.
The next question is what is the difference between a knife and a sword? After all some fighting knives can be over a foot in length or half the length of a Roman Shortsword with others being longer. Then you have naming conventions such as with the Hunting sword called the Messer, a typical one handed sword length sword, has a name that roughly translates into “knife.” A simple answer comes from paraphrasing an old Modern Marvels episode: the biggest difference is more things can go wrong. For those that have not seen Forged in Fire, a competition that pits four blacksmiths against each other in a series of challenges till only two are left to make a historical weapon. The first few challenges are usually around making a knife. It’s a competition so are only given around 6 hours to work when normally you could spread it out far longer, to push the contestants. If something does go wrong we can have a single blade become several in an instant. Now imagine more metal in the mix, more can go wrong.
The first swords were most likely Short thrusting blades. Any longer when copper and latter Bronze was the height of tech and they would be too difficult to use. Blades of this material bend pretty easily, and it is not unheard of to have soldiers trying to do impromptu repairs to fix them.
Most of the short swords are double edge thrusting weapons. The sharpness on both sides is there to make sure the blade goes in and out easier than if one side was. While they can chop, these were best used in a stabbing motion. So effective, weapons like this continued to see use when longer blades like Longswords and Katanas saw the height of their popularity. They went from copper, to bronze, to iron, to steel. What they lacked in range they made up for in their ability to fight in tight quarters like in the heart of combat. Roman soldiers when this was the weapon of choice would line up in a checkerboard formation so when the enemy crashed against their tower shields, they would have plenty of windows to attack the enemy. The tight spaces was no hindrance when you didn’t need much room to thrust.
So why did longer blades get made? Elementally as smithing improved, and things like iron and Steel were experimented with, the people experimented with different designs. A longer blade has greater reach, especially on horseback.
There are a few designs I like, such as the Tanto or the Gladius, but I have to give it to the [edit butterfly swords] in this instance as for every rule there is a rule breaker. A 19th century weapon, it was a well beloved weapon of Southern China amongst Martial Artists. Carried in pairs, often in the same scabbard, their size also made them easy to hide in one’s sleeve or in one’s boot. This concealability made them also popular amongst rebels fighting against the British military.
Broadswords/Arming Sword
These are side arms and probably what we think of when it comes to knightly swords and war swords. Some historians prefer arming sword as that is the proper name, but most people know them better as Broadsword and I am like most people. Typically they were not much longer than say three feet and 2 and a half bounds. Despite this, it had the weight to be a perfect hacking weapon. Hacking weapons didn’t need to be that sharp to do their thing. They had to have some sharpness to be able to dig in, but the weight and momentum was enough to cleave through flesh and bone. They could also have the weight go through an enemy. The need to be sharp enough to have a bit of an edge, but if super sharp it risks being chipped too much.
A fun example of this is the Basket Hilt Sword from Scotland. It has a Basket Hilt, hence the name, but unlike a similarly designed Rapier when it comes to handles, it has a bigger blade as it is meant to be a war sword. The Liam Nisan film Rob Roy, which is on my to do list to watch, has a cool fight scene involving it.
Dueling Swords:
Humans have been having excuses to have fights for as long as humans have been a thing (maybe not the current flavor of human, but somewhere in the evolution tree). So much so that we developed rules for organized duels. Heck, Hamilton has a song dedicated to these rules. And while the very culture to culture, they don’t always have to end in one’s death. They do not even have to end in one’s shed blood (showing up to the event was often times enough the issue hadn’t been delt with already via seconds and letters).
But once you get here and good ‘ol fisticuffs are not enough, you need a weapon. In comes dueling style thrusting weapons like Jians from China, or the European Rapier that originates from Spain but was beloved across the continent. I don’t think I need to explain the Rapier too much as if you have seen at least one good Zorro or 3 Musketeer film or show, and or The Prince’s Bride you know what this can do. They weigh as much as a broadsword, they have big guards, but this allows the blade to be balanced in a way to sting their way to way to victory. A good thrust can slay their foe. We just don’t think about the weight as it’s a precision weapon, and so we think it needs more skill but a warrior is a warrior.
Outside of the duel, they were principally a weapon of self-defense amongst the gentry. You walk around town and some brigands want to take your coin purse, you whip this out and yell have at thee. This was also a weapon of body guard units such as the French Musketeers.
While rarely a war weapon, that did not mean these gentlemanly blades didn’t see the field of battle. Jians, Chinese strait swords, were double edge like the rapiers for the thrust. They could slice, but the stab was their main function. While more of a weapon of scholars and courtiers, they were found on the famous Terracotta Army on statues that represented officers.
Katanas: While there are several slashers, the Katana is pretty unique so I will go over this a little bit, see also its shorter Wakizashi blade that was worn in tandem with the most famed sword of Japan. While there are those that have used it with one hand, it was a weapon that needed both to use effectively. Like as mentioned in the above-mentioned video it was a slashing weapon that was meant to cut a man in half, with the blades often tested on the hands or entire bodies of condemned prisoners (or their bodies). TO aid in this it had a hard back and a soft blade to keep it sharp and strong, and its slight curve made it easier to slash a man down. The blade was so sharp, the samurai would have their own version of the quickdraw where they cut a man down in the same stroke as they pull it out. Despite its primary slashing purpose, which it was the perfect weapon for stabbing through the weak points of enemy armor. Unfortunately, all this said, it probably saw more use as a weapon that a prideful samurai would use on a peasant than a battlefield, especially during the 200 odd years between unification and the Americans breaking down the barriers via cannon fire.
I have a fondness for the weapon. Lets face it, if us Americans didn’t get it from various forms of Highlander, then Ninja Turtles. If not Leonardo’s weapons of choice, then the fact GIJOE’s Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow had them.
The European Longsword: Also going by hand and half sword and even bastard sword, lets stick to Longsword. It gets its name because it has a long blade, roughly 3 and a half feet to the 2 and a half of the broadswords. On Horseback I can see one handed for its reach, but on foot the main fighting method had one hand holding the handle while the other grabbing and maneuvering the pummel at the bottom, giving the weapon quick reactions. It was also super versatile. Skallagram in his Youtube video demonstrates the use of half handing technique where one hand grab the blade and thrusts the blade into a foe. This gives the blade enough force to pierce the plate armor that was popular in the height of this sword’s own popularity. He even showed that despite sharp enough to cut a target, you could do this bare handed, but I would prefer a good pair of globes thank you.
However my personal favorite finishing blow is the Murder Blow. You flip it over, and swing the cross guard at the opponent. This would act would act as a pickax to the enemy’s armor, or as a Warhammer. Like most other blades, it required skill and training, and once mastered you could maneuver around with it as if it didn’t weigh as anything at all. Probably helped that knights often trained with a wooden sword twice the weight of an actual sword, swinging at a post till they had the muscles and muscle memory to work with it.
Sabers: These are primarily slashing weapons of cavalry and often seen on officers. Most sabers in Europe and in the United States were based heavily on Middle Eastern ones, namely from the Ottoman Empire. Even the current Army, Navy, Marine, and Airforce ceremonial swords have this linage. The curve of the blade helped with the cutting of a foe in the same way a Katana does. As this was a cavalry weapon, the curve combined with the speed of a charging horse would ensure you could cut man down. It didn’t even need to be that sharp as the speed of a horse was enough to lop a man’s head off.
You can see these sabers using various wars over the centuries, but especially in the 17 and 18 hundreds. They were there during the end of the Heavy Cavalry at the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars, the American Civil War on both sides, and even in the Trenches of the last century with the first World War.
Great Swords: Despite their huge size, often being 5 to 6 feet tall, with a couple being even larger, they were surprisingly not that heavy. Oh, they would be heavy enough, abut six pounds more or less, but a healthy house cat should weigh more after a while. This means it could still move surprisingly fast. That said, they were often wielded by the biggest and strongest men in the army. Be it a Scottish Claymore, A Swiss Flamberg, or a Japanese Odatchi (the closest history has gotten to a Sephiroth Sword), they often served some of the same roles: Anti Pike and Anti cavalry. Their length and the size and strength of the wielder was often enough to take riders off horses or lop unarmored or lightly armored body parts. As for pikes, even if they could not cut down a well-crafted pike itself, it could hold them up with wide handles or hold them down with their blade. This way the rest of the pikes in the formation on the wielder’s side could take care of the enemy soldiers. Or once it moved the pikes out of the way, could move past the pointy bits and start hacking and slashing the enemy troops before him like his name was Conan the Barbarian.
I have a personal love of the Flameberg with its serpentine blade design, which is theorized to help catch enemy swords and pikes much easier, but I also have to give it up to the German Zweihander. In both cases they would be given to the biggest men in the army, and be part of a group that got double pay as they were always in the front of the army. These swordsmen would have their weapons strike in triangular motions so they have momentum on their sides, as well as the previously mentioned pushing and locking of enemy pikes. They would also be hired as bodyguards for merchants and nobles as a big guy with a big sword would be quite intimidating. All one had to do was have the top of the sword rest on the ground, showing the full length of the blade, and just give the potential attacker a look. And if that failed, they were mercenaries of countless battles and wars that lasted so long they have titles like “30 years War” on them. They knew how to swing a blade.
Unfortunately, while big there was no monsters like what Auron wields in Final Fantasy 10, or Cloud I Final Fantasy 7, or that chunk of metal attached to a stick that Guts lovingly refers to as “Dragon Slayer.” The are just too big, but one can always dream.
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Hunting Swords: Swords like the Messer were taken on hunting trips to end an animal being hunted so the hunter doesn’t waste another expensive bullet on the creature. They were strait and made to pierce. They could be taken to war, but this was their main job.
Sickle Swords: Think the Kopesh of Egypt, the Shotel of Ethiopia and was used by Gundam Sandrock, and other such blades found in Northern Africa and the Middle East. Despite being swords, because of the shape they often function more like axes than swords. An ax has a heavy big (in this case the curve) that sees more action than the rest of the blade. Unique to this design, they could also get around shields much easier.
And now for something that is hard to place, the Falchion: This is a sword with lots of shapes with only a couple dozen or so period pieces that survive to this day. A commoner weapon, some confuse them for machetes but they had thinner blades. That said, there were a few different designs to them. They were all one-handed single edge blades (I don’t care what Pathfinder says they are) but from there they vary. Do you want to have a slight curve and have it somewhat sabers like in appearance? Or you could take a A thicker blade in similar design as some Chinese Daos or a more strait of those simitars in Skyrim? Or do you want a crude cleaver that feels like something an orc would use such as the cleavers seen in Braveheart? Because all three of these have had this title. I like the slight simitar design, but if I were to do an orc character, the cleavers make for good chappas for the WHAAAGH!!
While outside of one experience on the site, Legendfire has been pretty awesome I also realize everyone has their favorite sword and this often means on the internet they think their blade is the bestest EVAR. While we can say one sword in a classification is better than other, most for the most part served a purpose they were made for very well. As seen in this Youtube video, many times we take 2 (in this case the classic Katana vs Longsword Debate) and we end up doing a lot of apples and oranges comparisons. One may do something better than another, but that doesn’t mean one is gooder and one is badder. It just means one does the job better. Hammers and Saws are both tools in the toolshed, that doesn’t mean one is better than the other.
Moving on, when you think about it, swords are pretty weird. Spears make sense: easy to learn and can be made into a variety of ways but primarily serve the same function and just about everyone had one. Axes? Most people need to chop something down, and turning a workmans or even hunting tool into a weapon of war makes sense. Knives and Daggers? Same deal. Even clubs. So why a sword? They are effective killing weapons.
It also has the most glorious of reputations. Despite being a weapon that is predominantly made for combat situations and little else, it dose not have the mixed baggage that guns have.
Of course there are some things that need explaining first.
There are some swords better than others, but in general they perform pretty well for their intended purpose be it Hacking (the weight and momentum doing most of the work in breaking bones and lopping limbs like Long Swords and Falchions), Slashing (the sharpness and therefor cutting/slashing ability being its killing potential such as with sabers and Katanas) or the thrust (piercing/stabbing such as Chinese Jians and Roman Gladiuses).
While Spears are easier to learn how to use, Axes and maces hit harder, there are some advantages the sword has over them.
1. The length of the blade is something that can cause damage. Ax, Flails, Maces, and Warhammers have a single bit at the end of their length that can be used as a something that can kill. However the entire blade has this potential. Other weapons have this as well, Quarter staffs and batons come to mind, but in combat situations, especially one in a combat kill or be kill one, the sword might be the preferred weapon.
2. Ballance. Regardless if it’s an Elegant Rapier or a brutal Viking sword, most of the weight is in the handle. That means the guard, pummel, and the part you grip. That leaves the blade with an ability to maneuver around a lot. Much like a gate, the part connecting to the fence can move a little, but the rest of the gate can move lot. With the weight balanced on the hilt, the blade can dance around the enemy much easier. Thrusting weapons can have their point at the enemy, while hacking and slashing ones can have their edge swinging with ease.
3. Status. With little Exception, this was a weapon of dedicated warriors and nobles. Few varieties would be given to the common people, however more likely than not due to the time and money needed in its construction, a well as learning how to use it, it was going to be a dedicated Leisure Class item. Even more self defense oriented weapons like the Chinese Jian, a weapon of scholars and officials, or the French Rapier, a weapon of cocky nobles for around town, had this in mind.
The next question is what is the difference between a knife and a sword? After all some fighting knives can be over a foot in length or half the length of a Roman Shortsword with others being longer. Then you have naming conventions such as with the Hunting sword called the Messer, a typical one handed sword length sword, has a name that roughly translates into “knife.” A simple answer comes from paraphrasing an old Modern Marvels episode: the biggest difference is more things can go wrong. For those that have not seen Forged in Fire, a competition that pits four blacksmiths against each other in a series of challenges till only two are left to make a historical weapon. The first few challenges are usually around making a knife. It’s a competition so are only given around 6 hours to work when normally you could spread it out far longer, to push the contestants. If something does go wrong we can have a single blade become several in an instant. Now imagine more metal in the mix, more can go wrong.
The first swords were most likely Short thrusting blades. Any longer when copper and latter Bronze was the height of tech and they would be too difficult to use. Blades of this material bend pretty easily, and it is not unheard of to have soldiers trying to do impromptu repairs to fix them.
Most of the short swords are double edge thrusting weapons. The sharpness on both sides is there to make sure the blade goes in and out easier than if one side was. While they can chop, these were best used in a stabbing motion. So effective, weapons like this continued to see use when longer blades like Longswords and Katanas saw the height of their popularity. They went from copper, to bronze, to iron, to steel. What they lacked in range they made up for in their ability to fight in tight quarters like in the heart of combat. Roman soldiers when this was the weapon of choice would line up in a checkerboard formation so when the enemy crashed against their tower shields, they would have plenty of windows to attack the enemy. The tight spaces was no hindrance when you didn’t need much room to thrust.
So why did longer blades get made? Elementally as smithing improved, and things like iron and Steel were experimented with, the people experimented with different designs. A longer blade has greater reach, especially on horseback.
There are a few designs I like, such as the Tanto or the Gladius, but I have to give it to the [edit butterfly swords] in this instance as for every rule there is a rule breaker. A 19th century weapon, it was a well beloved weapon of Southern China amongst Martial Artists. Carried in pairs, often in the same scabbard, their size also made them easy to hide in one’s sleeve or in one’s boot. This concealability made them also popular amongst rebels fighting against the British military.
Broadswords/Arming Sword
These are side arms and probably what we think of when it comes to knightly swords and war swords. Some historians prefer arming sword as that is the proper name, but most people know them better as Broadsword and I am like most people. Typically they were not much longer than say three feet and 2 and a half bounds. Despite this, it had the weight to be a perfect hacking weapon. Hacking weapons didn’t need to be that sharp to do their thing. They had to have some sharpness to be able to dig in, but the weight and momentum was enough to cleave through flesh and bone. They could also have the weight go through an enemy. The need to be sharp enough to have a bit of an edge, but if super sharp it risks being chipped too much.
A fun example of this is the Basket Hilt Sword from Scotland. It has a Basket Hilt, hence the name, but unlike a similarly designed Rapier when it comes to handles, it has a bigger blade as it is meant to be a war sword. The Liam Nisan film Rob Roy, which is on my to do list to watch, has a cool fight scene involving it.
Dueling Swords:
Humans have been having excuses to have fights for as long as humans have been a thing (maybe not the current flavor of human, but somewhere in the evolution tree). So much so that we developed rules for organized duels. Heck, Hamilton has a song dedicated to these rules. And while the very culture to culture, they don’t always have to end in one’s death. They do not even have to end in one’s shed blood (showing up to the event was often times enough the issue hadn’t been delt with already via seconds and letters).
But once you get here and good ‘ol fisticuffs are not enough, you need a weapon. In comes dueling style thrusting weapons like Jians from China, or the European Rapier that originates from Spain but was beloved across the continent. I don’t think I need to explain the Rapier too much as if you have seen at least one good Zorro or 3 Musketeer film or show, and or The Prince’s Bride you know what this can do. They weigh as much as a broadsword, they have big guards, but this allows the blade to be balanced in a way to sting their way to way to victory. A good thrust can slay their foe. We just don’t think about the weight as it’s a precision weapon, and so we think it needs more skill but a warrior is a warrior.
Outside of the duel, they were principally a weapon of self-defense amongst the gentry. You walk around town and some brigands want to take your coin purse, you whip this out and yell have at thee. This was also a weapon of body guard units such as the French Musketeers.
While rarely a war weapon, that did not mean these gentlemanly blades didn’t see the field of battle. Jians, Chinese strait swords, were double edge like the rapiers for the thrust. They could slice, but the stab was their main function. While more of a weapon of scholars and courtiers, they were found on the famous Terracotta Army on statues that represented officers.
Katanas: While there are several slashers, the Katana is pretty unique so I will go over this a little bit, see also its shorter Wakizashi blade that was worn in tandem with the most famed sword of Japan. While there are those that have used it with one hand, it was a weapon that needed both to use effectively. Like as mentioned in the above-mentioned video it was a slashing weapon that was meant to cut a man in half, with the blades often tested on the hands or entire bodies of condemned prisoners (or their bodies). TO aid in this it had a hard back and a soft blade to keep it sharp and strong, and its slight curve made it easier to slash a man down. The blade was so sharp, the samurai would have their own version of the quickdraw where they cut a man down in the same stroke as they pull it out. Despite its primary slashing purpose, which it was the perfect weapon for stabbing through the weak points of enemy armor. Unfortunately, all this said, it probably saw more use as a weapon that a prideful samurai would use on a peasant than a battlefield, especially during the 200 odd years between unification and the Americans breaking down the barriers via cannon fire.
I have a fondness for the weapon. Lets face it, if us Americans didn’t get it from various forms of Highlander, then Ninja Turtles. If not Leonardo’s weapons of choice, then the fact GIJOE’s Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow had them.
The European Longsword: Also going by hand and half sword and even bastard sword, lets stick to Longsword. It gets its name because it has a long blade, roughly 3 and a half feet to the 2 and a half of the broadswords. On Horseback I can see one handed for its reach, but on foot the main fighting method had one hand holding the handle while the other grabbing and maneuvering the pummel at the bottom, giving the weapon quick reactions. It was also super versatile. Skallagram in his Youtube video demonstrates the use of half handing technique where one hand grab the blade and thrusts the blade into a foe. This gives the blade enough force to pierce the plate armor that was popular in the height of this sword’s own popularity. He even showed that despite sharp enough to cut a target, you could do this bare handed, but I would prefer a good pair of globes thank you.
However my personal favorite finishing blow is the Murder Blow. You flip it over, and swing the cross guard at the opponent. This would act would act as a pickax to the enemy’s armor, or as a Warhammer. Like most other blades, it required skill and training, and once mastered you could maneuver around with it as if it didn’t weigh as anything at all. Probably helped that knights often trained with a wooden sword twice the weight of an actual sword, swinging at a post till they had the muscles and muscle memory to work with it.
Sabers: These are primarily slashing weapons of cavalry and often seen on officers. Most sabers in Europe and in the United States were based heavily on Middle Eastern ones, namely from the Ottoman Empire. Even the current Army, Navy, Marine, and Airforce ceremonial swords have this linage. The curve of the blade helped with the cutting of a foe in the same way a Katana does. As this was a cavalry weapon, the curve combined with the speed of a charging horse would ensure you could cut man down. It didn’t even need to be that sharp as the speed of a horse was enough to lop a man’s head off.
You can see these sabers using various wars over the centuries, but especially in the 17 and 18 hundreds. They were there during the end of the Heavy Cavalry at the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars, the American Civil War on both sides, and even in the Trenches of the last century with the first World War.
Great Swords: Despite their huge size, often being 5 to 6 feet tall, with a couple being even larger, they were surprisingly not that heavy. Oh, they would be heavy enough, abut six pounds more or less, but a healthy house cat should weigh more after a while. This means it could still move surprisingly fast. That said, they were often wielded by the biggest and strongest men in the army. Be it a Scottish Claymore, A Swiss Flamberg, or a Japanese Odatchi (the closest history has gotten to a Sephiroth Sword), they often served some of the same roles: Anti Pike and Anti cavalry. Their length and the size and strength of the wielder was often enough to take riders off horses or lop unarmored or lightly armored body parts. As for pikes, even if they could not cut down a well-crafted pike itself, it could hold them up with wide handles or hold them down with their blade. This way the rest of the pikes in the formation on the wielder’s side could take care of the enemy soldiers. Or once it moved the pikes out of the way, could move past the pointy bits and start hacking and slashing the enemy troops before him like his name was Conan the Barbarian.
I have a personal love of the Flameberg with its serpentine blade design, which is theorized to help catch enemy swords and pikes much easier, but I also have to give it up to the German Zweihander. In both cases they would be given to the biggest men in the army, and be part of a group that got double pay as they were always in the front of the army. These swordsmen would have their weapons strike in triangular motions so they have momentum on their sides, as well as the previously mentioned pushing and locking of enemy pikes. They would also be hired as bodyguards for merchants and nobles as a big guy with a big sword would be quite intimidating. All one had to do was have the top of the sword rest on the ground, showing the full length of the blade, and just give the potential attacker a look. And if that failed, they were mercenaries of countless battles and wars that lasted so long they have titles like “30 years War” on them. They knew how to swing a blade.
Unfortunately, while big there was no monsters like what Auron wields in Final Fantasy 10, or Cloud I Final Fantasy 7, or that chunk of metal attached to a stick that Guts lovingly refers to as “Dragon Slayer.” The are just too big, but one can always dream.
Hunting Swords: Swords like the Messer were taken on hunting trips to end an animal being hunted so the hunter doesn’t waste another expensive bullet on the creature. They were strait and made to pierce. They could be taken to war, but this was their main job.
Sickle Swords: Think the Kopesh of Egypt, the Shotel of Ethiopia and was used by Gundam Sandrock, and other such blades found in Northern Africa and the Middle East. Despite being swords, because of the shape they often function more like axes than swords. An ax has a heavy big (in this case the curve) that sees more action than the rest of the blade. Unique to this design, they could also get around shields much easier.
And now for something that is hard to place, the Falchion: This is a sword with lots of shapes with only a couple dozen or so period pieces that survive to this day. A commoner weapon, some confuse them for machetes but they had thinner blades. That said, there were a few different designs to them. They were all one-handed single edge blades (I don’t care what Pathfinder says they are) but from there they vary. Do you want to have a slight curve and have it somewhat sabers like in appearance? Or you could take a A thicker blade in similar design as some Chinese Daos or a more strait of those simitars in Skyrim? Or do you want a crude cleaver that feels like something an orc would use such as the cleavers seen in Braveheart? Because all three of these have had this title. I like the slight simitar design, but if I were to do an orc character, the cleavers make for good chappas for the WHAAAGH!!
You add them to your profile as you do them around the forum.
