Significant swords

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

So what are your favourite stabby things? Here's one of mine-



It's a seax- the single-edged handy knife that gave the Saxons their name. It was primarily a tool- ideal for butchery or woodworking, with enough heft to serve as a cleaver or hatchet and yet retaining the narrow point for more precise applications.

It was also a handy weapon too. In pitched battles, Saxons would usually carry spears, and when the lines met for close-quarters combat the seax no doubt proved a useful back-up weapon for stabbing or hacking.

In terms of popularity, it was one of the all-time greats- being practically ubiquitous in Saxon hands. What I like about the seax is its total lack of pretentions- it's a cheap, easily-made tool/weapon that was good for just about anything. Fancy swords may have been good for a privileged elite, but this was the weapon that unified England- a crude yet immensely practical weapon for a crude, practical people.

[BeBMan]

Too bad swords didn't play any role during cold war times, otherwise we'd get Serb and co. into some heated debate.

[LordShiva]Gladius [/LordShiva]

[ElTigre]

The Falx

The Brute Force approach:

The Falx - an agricultural tool-turned weapon used by the ancient Dacians. This weapon caused the Roman army to reinforce their armour immediately after the first encounter - it was able to halve a Roman helmet (and the skull) in a single blow.



"The FALX by itself was a frightful weapon: the curved blade similar to a bill-hook, at the end of a wooden handle was proven to be a lethal weapon in the hands of a good warrior and all the populations around the Dacian territory learned to fear it.

The cutting action was accomplished by a movement of hitting and pulling. The cutting was amplified by using both hands. When it was used correctly it could easily cut a limb or behead an enemy. Also, because of the beak that resulted from the curved shape, it could pierce the helmets and armors, causing serious wounds or causing cerebral commotions when the head was hit.

[...]

The Falx was a heavy weapon and it was handled with both hands. In some pictures it seems to have been a blade similar to a scythe attached to a strong hilt made of wood or other material; in other pictures it looks rather like a curved sword. The fact that it could cause grave wounds and even surgical sacrifice, arose such great fear among the Roman soldiers, that a special group of Romei legionaries wore their legs and hands armoured while opposing the Falx fighters. As a result of the often encounters between the Romans and the Falx fighters, the Roman armourers added two transversal metalic straps on the helmets of the soldiers to make them more resistant to the hits."

http://www.gk.ro/sarmizegetusa/ranistorum/site_eng/arma.html

[Drake Tungsten]

The Japanese nihon-to. The greatest sword-type ever invented and the choice of warriors from Japan to Spain to Scotland...

[LordShiva]

Originally posted by BeBro
Too bad swords didn't play any role during cold war times, otherwise we'd get Serb and co. into some heated debate.

[LordShiva]Gladius [/LordShiva]

WANT!

[BeBMan]

Though now that I think of it the longer one used in the battle at the beginning probably wasn't a gladius but a spatha, since this was the type usually used by Roman cavalry units (while the gladius was for the infantry guys) /smartass

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spatha

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Here's one that saw a lot of action in battle- the basket-hilted claymore.



This was a one-handed sword that replaced the older two-handed claymore design in in latter half of the 17th century. It was the basket-hilted claymore that saw action in the Jacobite wars of 1715 and 1745.

It's a realo high point of broadsword design- a beautifully balanced sword that offered a lot of hand protection. This meant it wasn't a poseur's sword- this was designed to be used all day on the battlefield by someone wanting to leave the field with the same number of fingers that they started with. It was typically used with a sword and dagger held on the other arm.

[molly bloom]

I have a soft spot for those crazy Central Americans.

Yes, we have gold and silver, and great expertise in working those precious metals.

No, we don't have iron tools, we have obsidian blades, and the macahuitl:

The term macana, of TaÃno origin, refers to a number of different wooden weapons used by the various native cultures of Central and South America.

The earliest meaning attributed to macana is a sword-like weapon made out of wood, but still sharp enough to be dangerous. The term is also sometimes applied to the similar Aztec weapon, which is studded with pieces of obsidian in order to create a blade, though some authorities distinguish this item by using the Nahuatl name macahuitl.

In modern Spanish the word has broadened to refer to various types of blunt wooden weapons, especially a police nightstick.

http://www.myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=4928

[Dr Strangelove]

Re: Significant swords

Originally posted by Lazarus and the Gimp
So what are your favourite stabby things? Here's one of mine-



It's a seax- the single-edged handy knife that gave the Saxons their name. It was primarily a tool- ideal for butchery or woodworking, with enough heft to serve as a cleaver or hatchet and yet retaining the narrow point for more precise applications.

I thought the seax was an axe? The bayeuax tapestry depicts Harold's men as carrying axes.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

The axe was used- most notably by the elite huscarls. They would have carried the seax as a back-up weapon.

[Cyclotron]

Here's a khopesh, an Egyptian "sickle sword" that probably influenced the Greek kopis (or at least the name). I've always liked it for its looks, but I'm not sure about its effectiveness; it must have been kept around for some reason, but the odd curve makes it look a bit substandard for stabbing. You might get it caught on something...

I've read there's some debate on which edge was sharpened, but people are leaning towards the convex side, making it less of a sickle than a saber.

[Lord Avalon]

Originally posted by Cyclotron
Here's a khopesh, an Egyptian "sickle sword" that probably influenced the Greek kopis (or at least the name). I've always liked it for its looks, but I'm not sure about its effectiveness; it must have been kept around for some reason, but the odd curve makes it look a bit substandard for stabbing. You might get it caught on something...

I've read there's some debate on which edge was sharpened, but people are leaning towards the convex side, making it less of a sickle than a saber.

Given the shape of the handle in the pic, it would be the convex side. It would have been bronze, too, right? Isn't it too soft have a long, stabbing weapon made totally out of it? Put a short blade at the end of a stick for that. Probably not facing heavy armor, so a chopping weapon will get you through shields and light armor.

[Cyclotron]

Originally posted by Lord Avalon

Given the shape of the handle in the pic, it would be the convex side. It would have been bronze, too, right? Isn't it too soft have a long, stabbing weapon made totally out of it? Put a short blade at the end of a stick for that. Probably not facing heavy armor, so a chopping weapon will get you through shields and light armor.

Yep, bronze. I'm not familiar enough with swords or bronze to say for sure how strong a blade can be made of it, but at this point they were pretty good at forging bronze. I imagine you're right - spears are a far better way of delivering a point into the enemy, and for a much smaller cost.

By the way, the sword in the pic is a reconstruction, so that's just a modern day interpretation of how the handle might have looked. I'm not sure they have any remnants from khopesh handles. The sword seems like it would have been more effective (and more like other swords of the time - kopis, falcata, and so on) if it was indeed convex.

[molly bloom]

Wavy blades are groovy.

The kris from South East Asia:

Historically, the Kris was originally used as a dagger-like weapon for Malay self-defense and martial arts. In modern Malaysia, it now has become a royal sovereign symbol and prized works of art to be collected. In the Malaysian royal courts, the Kris is still used as a status symbol and sovereignty of the state, particularly as ceremonial dress. It is also used during installation ceremonials of a King and became a royal regalia.

http://www.nikhef.nl/~tonvr/keris/keris2/malay_kris01.html

[Lord Avalon]

Viking Sword

The Viking sword is a form of the spatha, evolving out of the Migration Period sword in the 8th century, and evolving into the classical knightly sword in the 11th century with the emergence of larger crossguards.

During the Viking age, swords grew slightly in length to 930 mm (37") and took on a slightly more acute distal taper and point. These blades had deep fullers running their length, yet still had single-handed hilts which often sported a lobed or cocked hat style pommel. While the pattern of hilt and blade design of this time might readily be called 'The Viking sword' to do so would be to neglect the wide spread popularity it enjoyed. All over continental Europe between 700-1000 AD this design and its small variations could be found.

During Norman times the blades increased some to 1000 mm (40") in overall length, and the hilt changed significantly. The Brazil-nut pommel became popular to be replaced by a thick disc-shaped pommel was attached 'on-edge' to the bottom of the iron hilt. In addition the upper guard grew substantially from the near-absent design predating it. Also the blades tended to taper slightly less than those found during the times of the Vikings.

Jan Petersen in De Norske Vikingsverd ("The Norwegian Viking Swords", 1919) introduced the most widely-used classification of swords of the Viking Age, discriminating 26 types labelled A – Z. In 1927 R. E. M. Wheeler condensed Petersen's typology into a simplified typology of nine groups, numbered I – IX.

Viking swords average about 37 inches in length overall and will, especially toward the later part of the period, show increasing taper towards the point and a deeper central fuller in the center of each blade face. Pattern welding diminishes during the middle of this epoch to be replaced by iron inlaid names and designs usually formed with twisted rods, such as were used in pattern-welding, hot-forged into the surface of the blade. The pommels and guards generally have a base of iron sometimes covered by non-ferrous metals often in geometric designs. The phrase "Viking sword" may be somewhat of a misnomer as similar swords are seen throughout Europe at this time, even in central western Europe (an ULFBERHT from the Rhine near Mannheim and another sword from the Danube in Bavaria are illustrated in Menghin (1983) fig. 107 p. 201), and with only a few exceptions, even if a design were made in only one area, trade scattered it widely. Indeed Jakobsson (1992) p. 178 - 179 concluded in his dissertation that the various basic design patterns of hilt shared the same geographic distributions contemporaneously.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_sword

Leif Ericson Commemorative Viking Sword

About 1000 AD, Icelander Bjarni Herjolfson was blown off course, setting the stage for the first known European exploration of North America. Low on supplies and uncertain of his position, he and his band turned around and headed back to Greenland, reporting his sighting of a green, verdant land. The Saga of Eric the Red and his son, Leif the Lucky, is as full of mischief and daring as you might expect from the Norse Raiders. Eric was booted out of Norway for murder then settled in Iceland around 965. Old habits are hard to break, so it wasn't long until he was asked again to relocate. Sailing for new lands, he discovered Greenland and founded a colony there. His son Leif inherited his father's wanderlust (but not his quarrelsome nature). Hearing of Herjolfson's sighting of the wooded shoreline, he retraced that journey and named the fruitful new territory Vinland the Good. Remains of a Viking camp were found in 1960 at L'Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of Newfoundland. Was this Leif's base? It's always fun to surmise. To commemorate this intrepid journey and adventure, we have created this magnificent Viking Sword (left). Based on Viking Swords of the proper time frame, it is a beautiful example of the sword maker's art. The pommel and guard are both blued steel, inlaid with gold designs following the Viking style of the period. The wood grip is covered with leather and accented with gold plated retaining rings at either end. The blade is hand forged from high carbon steel, with a fuller. Highly tempered, the blade is capable of bending 5" out of line and return to true. The wood scabbard, also covered with leather, is as magnificent as the weapon it carries. The blue steel fittings are engraved and gold filled with a repetition of the design from the guard and pommel. Each sword has four viking symbols (two on each side of the blade), Tir- Courage, Ur- Strength, Elhaz- Protection and Sigel- Success. Overall- 37 1/2inches * Blade- 31inches long, 2inches wide Wt. 2 lbs.

http://www.ancientedge.com/product_15_detailed.html

Other Viking Swords

Not trying to promote this site, just googled and saw they have different models of Viking swords (as well as other swords & weapons).