Hmm ... Can You Throw a Sword?

[Gatekeeper]

Let's say a swordsman is a huge, honkin' muscular guy. Would he have enough strength to use the sword as a sort of missile, throwing it at a target within 20 feet of his position? Or would the sword simply be too unwieldly even for limited, straight-line flight?

Gatekeeper

P.S. Please hurry with any advice. The guy is chasing me right now.
















Oh, fine, then. I was joking about the last part.

[Nubclear]

Re: Hmm ... Can You Throw a Sword?

Originally posted by Gatekeeper
Oh, fine, then. I was joking about the last part.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

If it had a straight blade it could probably function as a sort of crude javelin.

[Gatekeeper]

Oh, good. I'm writing a short story of sorts and don't want to make it too unbelievable.

[Gatekeeper]

For a fiction writing contest, not a newspaper article.

[Nubclear]

Are you on something?

[Gatekeeper]

Nope. 'Twas a serious question ... but I suppose it seemed strange coming from me since I'm usually a straight-laced kind of guy.

Anyway, time for bed. Ah ... seven hours of glorious sleep await!

Gatekeeper

[Spiffor]

If you saw the end of Diablo2 expansion, you know it is completely realistic to throw a sword up to ~7 metres or so (well, at least, if you are an angel and your sword is made of light)

[CerberusIV]

I used to a bit of knife and axe throwing as a hobby. You can throw just about any sword or knife so that it turns end over end through the air (not javelin style). The difficult bit is getting it to stick in the target.

Essentially the point of balance needs to be in the middle third of the length. If not it is almost impossible to control the speed of rotation. Also, obviously, the bigger and heavier the weapon the harder it is to control.

For a sword it would be reasonably possible to bring it back over your shoulder to the point is behind you (opposite shoulder to the hand holding the sword), swing forward and let go so the sword describes a half rotation and the point goes into the target. More than a half rotation would be very difficult to control. That should work if the target is around 8-12 feet away.

I'd believe this in a fictional story. Howard used it in several Conan stories.

[The Mad Monk]

More recently (recent=eighties), the knight in LadyHawke had a habit of throwing his greatsword javelin-style, so it's certainly not unheard of in the genre.

[Enigma_Nova]

Depends on the size of the sword.

You might have a scramasax or a two-handed great sword. It is believable to throw a short sword 7 metres as some types weigh as little as 5 kilograms.

Of course if you're trying to throw a great sword I'd be a little skeptial.

[The Mad Monk]

Oh, that movie needed a hefty suspension of skepticism.

[Theben]

Lone Wolf threw his sword at the time. Very accurately, too.

[Skanky Burns]

I doubt I could throw my swords. But then again, I have obviously never tried. Nor will I.

[Urban Ranger]

Sure you can. The question is, what is it going to do?