Encyclopedia
Sword is a term for a long edged weapon, used by various civilizations throughout
Eurasia and
North Africa. A sword fundamentally consists of a blade, usually with two edges for striking and cutting, a point for thrusting, and a
hilt for gripping. The basic intent and
physics of swordsmanship remain fairly constant, but the actual techniques vary among cultures and periods as a result of the differences in blade design and purpose. The names given to many swords in mythology,
literature, and history reflect the high prestige of the weapon .
History
Bronze Age
Humans have manufactured and used bladed weapons from the
Bronze Age onwards. The sword developed from the
dagger when the construction of longer blades became possible, from the early 2nd millennium BC. Swords longer than 3 feet were very uncommon and not practical during the bronze age as this length exceeds the tensile strength of bronze. It was not until the development of stronger alloys such as
steel, that longswords became practical for
combat.
The hilt at first simply allowed a firm grip, and prevented the hand from slipping onto the blade when executing a stab.
Bronze Age swords with typical leaf-shaped blades first appear near the
Mediterranean and the
Black Sea, and in
Mesopotamia. Swords from the
Nordic Bronze Age from ca. 1400 BC show characteristic spiral patterns.
Sword production in
China is attested from the Bronze Age
Shang Dynasty.
Iron Age
Iron swords became increasingly common from the 13th century BC. The
Hittites, the
Mycenean Greeks, and the Proto-Celtic
Hallstatt culture figured among the early users of iron swords. Iron has the advantage of mass-production due to the wider availability of the raw material. Early iron swords were not comparable to later
steel blades; being brittle, they were even inferior to good bronze weapons, but the easier production, and the better availability of the raw material for the first time permitted the equipment of entire armies with metal weapons, though Bronze Age Egyptian armies were fully equipped with bronze weapons.
Eventually smiths learned that by adding an amount of
carbon in the iron, they could produce an improved alloy . Several different methods of swordmaking existed in ancient times, including, most famously,
pattern welding. Over time, different methods developed all over the world.
By the time of
Classical Antiquity and the Parthian and Sassanid Empires in Iran, iron swords were common. The Greek
xiphos and the Roman
gladius are typical examples of the type, measuring some 60 to 70 cm. The late
Roman Empire introduced the longer
Spatha , and from this time, the term "long sword" is applied to swords comparatively long for their respective periods.
Chinese steel swords make their appearance from the 3rd century BC
Qin Dynasty. The Chinese Dao is single-edged, sometimes translated as
sabre or broadsword, and the
Jian double edged.
Middle Ages
The Spatha type remained popular throughout the
Migration period and well into the
Middle Ages. Vendel Age Spathas were decorated with Germanic artwork . The
Viking Age sees again a more standardized production, but the basic design remains indebted to the Spatha.
It is only from the
11th century that
Norman swords begin to develop the
quillons or crossguard. During the
Crusades of the
12th to century, this cruciform type of
arming sword remains essentially stable, with variations mainly concerning the shape of the pommel. These swords were designed as cutting weapons, although effective points were becoming common to counter improvements in armour.
Single-edged weapons became popular throughout Asia. Derived from the
Chinese Dao, the
Korean Hwandudaedo are known from the early medieval
Three Kingdoms. The
Japanese
Katana , production of which is recorded from ca. 900 AD , is also derived from the Dao.
Late Middle Ages and Renaissance
From around 1300, in concert with improved
armour, innovative sword designs evolved more and more rapidly. The main transition was the lengthening of the grip, allowing two-handed use, and a longer blade. By 1400 this type of sword, at the time called
langes Schwert or
spadone, was common, and a number of
15th and
16th century Fechtbücher offering instructions on their use survive. Another variant was the specialized armour-piercing swords of the Estoc type. The
longsword became popular due to its extreme reach and cutting and thrusting abilities. The estoc became popular because of its ability to thrust into the gaps between plates of armor. The grip was sometimes wrapped in wire or coarse animal hide to provide a better grip and to make it harder to knock a sword out of the user's hand.
In the
16th century, the large
Doppelhänder concluded the trend of ever-increasing sword sizes , and the early Modern Age saw the return to lighter, one-handed weapons.
The sword in this time period was the most personal weapon, the most prestigious, and the most versatile for close combat, but it came to find a greater role in civilian self-defense than in military use as technology changed warfare.
Modern Age
The
rapier evolved from the Spanish espada ropera in the
16th century. Both the rapier and the Italian schiavona developed the crossguard into a basket-shaped guard for hand protection. During the
17th and
18th centuries, the shorter
smallsword became an essential fashion accessory in European countries and the New World, and most wealthy men carried one. Both the smallsword and the rapier remained popular
dueling swords well into the 18th century.
As the wearing of swords fell out of fashion,
canes took their place in a gentleman's wardrobe. Some examples of canes—those known as sword canes or swordsticks—incorporate a concealed blade. The
French martial art la canne developed to fight with canes and swordsticks and has now evolved into a sport.
Towards the end of its useful life, the sword served more as a weapon of self-defence than for use on the battlefield, and the military importance of swords steadily decreased during the Modern Age. Even as a personal sidearm, the sword began to lose its preeminence in the early
19th century, paralleling the development of reliable
handguns.
Swords continued in use, but were increasingly limited to military commissioned officers' and noncommissioned officers' ceremonial uniforms, although most armies retained heavy cavalry until well after
World War I. For example, the British Army formally adopted a completely new design of
cavalry sword in 1908, almost the last change in British Army weapons before the outbreak of the war. The last units of British heavy cavalry switched to using
armoured vehicles as late as 1938.
Cavalry charges still occurred as late as
World War II, during which Japanese and Pacific Islanders also occasionally used swords, but by then an enemy armed with
machine guns,
barbed wire, and
armored vehicles would usually completely outmatch swordsmen.
Terminology
The sword consists of the blade and the
hilt.
The term scabbard applies to the case that covers the sword blade when not in use.
Blade
Three types of attacks can be performed with the blade: striking, cutting, and thrusting. The blade can be double-edged or single-edged, the latter often having a secondary "false edge" near the tip. When handling the sword, the
long or
true edge is the one used for straight cuts or strikes, while the
short or
false edge is the one used for backhand strikes. Some hilt designs define which edge is the 'long' one, while
more symmetrical designs allow the long and short edges to be inverted by turning the sword.
The blade may have grooves known as fullers for lightening and stiffening the blade while allowing it to retain its strength, similar to the structure of a steel "I" beam used in construction. The blade may taper more or less sharply towards a point, used for thrusting. The part of the blade between the
Center of Percussion and the point is called the
foible of the blade, and that between the Center of Balance and the hilt is the
forte . The section in between the CoP and the CoB is the
middle. The
ricasso or
shoulder identifies a short section of blade immediately forward of the guard that is left completely unsharpened, and can be gripped with a finger to increase tip control. Many swords have no ricasso. On some large weapons, such as the
German Zweihänder, a leather cover surrounded the ricasso, and a swordsman might grip it in one hand to wield the weapon more easily in close-quarter combat. The ricasso normally bears the
maker's mark. On Japanese blades this mark appears on the tang under the grip.
- In the case of a rat-tail tang, the maker welds a thin rod to the end of the blade at the crossguard; this rod goes through the grip . This occurs most commonly in decorative replicas, or cheap sword-like objects. Traditional sword-making does not use this construction method, which does not serve for traditional sword usage as the sword can easily break at the welding point.
- In traditional construction, the swordsmith forged the tang as a part of the sword rather than welding it on. Traditional tangs go through the grip: this gives much more durability than a rat-tail tang. Swordsmiths peened such tangs over the end of the pommel, or occasionally welded the hilt furniture to the tang and threaded the end for screwing on a pommel. This style is often referred to as a "narrow" or "hidden" tang. Modern, less traditional, replicas often feature a threaded pommel or a pommel nut which holds the hilt together and allows dismantling.
- In a "full" tang , the tang has about the same width as the blade, and is generally the same shape as the grip. In European or Asian swords sold today, many advertised "full" tangs may actually involve a forged rat-tail tang.
From the
18th century onwards, swords intended for slashing, i.e., with blades ground to a sharpened edge, have been curved with the radius of curvature equal to the distance from the swordman's body at which it was to be used. This allowed the blade to have a sawing effect rather than simply delivering a heavy cut. European swords, intended for use at
arm's length, had a radius of
curvature of around a meter.
Middle Eastern swords, intended for use with the arm bent, had a smaller radius.
Hilt
The
hilt is the collective term of the parts allowing the handling and control of the blade, consisting of the
grip, the
pommel, and a simple or elaborate
guard, which in post-
Viking Age swords could consist of only a crossguard . The pommel, in addition to improving the sword's balance and grip, can also be used as a blunt instrument at close range. It may also have a
tassel or
sword knot.
The
tang consists of the extension of the blade structure through the hilt.
Typology
Swords can fall into categories of varying scope. The main distinguishing characteristics include blade shape , shape and size of hilt and pommel, age, and place of origin.
For any other type than listed below, and even for uses other than as a weapon, see the article Sword-like object.
Single-edged and double-edged swords
As noted above, the terms
longsword, broad sword, great sword, and
Gaelic claymore) are used relative to the era under consideration and each term designates a particular type of sword.
One strict definition of a sword restricts it to a straight, double-edged bladed weapon designed for both slashing and stabbing. However, general usage of the term remains inconsistent and it has important cultural overtones, so that commentators almost universally recognize the single-edged swords such as Asian weapons as "swords", simply because they have a prestige very similar to that which attaches to the European sword.
Europeans also frequently refer to their own single-edged weapons as swords — generically
backswords, including
sabres. Other terms include
falchion,
scimitar,
cutlass, or mortuary sword. Many of these refer to essentially identical weapons, and the different names may relate to their use in different countries at different times.
A
machete as a
tool resembles such a single-edged sword and serves to cut through thick vegetation, and indeed many of the terms listed above describe weapons that originated as farmers' tools used on the battlefield.
Single-handed
Gladius is Latin for "sword"....
and
Jian ?, similar in shape to their Bronze Age predecessors.
- Spatha, measuring ca. 80–90 cm.
- The classical arming sword of the Crusades, measuring up to ca. 110 cm.
- The late medieval Swiss baselard and the Renaissance Italian Cinquedea and German Katzbalger essentially re-introduce the functionality of the Spatha, coinciding with the strong cultural movement to emulate the Classical world.
- The cut & thrust swords of the Renaissance, similar to the older arming sword but balanced for increased thrusting.
- Light duelling swords, like the rapier and the smallsword, in use from Early Modern times.
- The Japanese short sword, or Wakizashi
- Bastard and hand and a half swords.
- The Ida of the Yoruba tribe of West Africa. It can also be regarded as a two-handed sword.
- The Arabian scimitar
...
, and the similar Persian
shamshir.
Two-handed
- The Japanese samurai sword, or Katana, Tachi and Nodachi
- The longsword of the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
- The 16th century Doppelhänder or Zweihänder.
- The Chinese anti-cavalry sword, zhanmadao , of the Song Dynasty.
- The East Indian Kris, with a wavy 2-edged blade.
- The Scottish Highland Claymore, , in use until the 18th Century.
Training swords
In both Europe and Asia, wooden "swords" were created to practice fencing without the physical danger of a real sword. These were known as
wasters in Europe and
bokken in Japan. Special sparring weapons, such as the bamboo
shinai, the wooden singlestick, and the steel
Federschwerter, were also devised and used.
Certain martial arts styles, such as
kendo, use shinai as their primary weapons, both in training and in competition.
Classification
Jan Petersen in
De Norske Vikingsverd introduced the most widely-used classification. Ewart Oakeshott in
The Sword in The Age of Chivalry introduced a system of classification for medieval sword blades into types, numbered X – XXII as a continuation of Wheeler's system.
Punishment devices
- Real swords can be used to administer various physical punishments: to perform either capital punishment by decapitation or non-surgical amputation.
- Similarly paddle-like sword-like devices for physical punishment are used in Asia, in western terms for paddling or caning, depending whether the implement is flat or round. For example, the Chinese movie Farewell to my concubine shows how a flat, not even very hard type of paddle, called the master's sword, is used intensively to discipline young opera trainees both on the buttock and on the hand .
- The shinai, a practice sword, is also used in Japan as a spanking implement, more common in prized private extracurricular schools than the US school paddling; in fact hundreds of cases of illegal corporal punishment were reported from public schools as well.
Symbolism
- The sword can symbolise violence, combat, or military intervention. Jesus' statement, "Those who live by the sword shall die by the sword" uses the term in this sense. In Islam tTe Arabic expression Jihad bis saif 'struggle by the sword' means 'holy' war for Islam.
Another example of this metaphorical significance comes in the old saying "The
pen is mightier than the sword" -- attributed to
Edward Bulwer-Lytton.
In the following cases, the sword stands for arms in general, and has often been retained as a symbol even after it had in operational practice been replaced with firearms etcetera.
- Swords form a suit in the Tarot deck . In the Tarot the sword represents air, as well as intelligence.
- The sword often functions as a symbol of masculinity and particularly -since its form lends itself to this, especially in erect position- as a phallic symbol of virility. For example, "sword swallowing" is used as an euphemism of fellatio.
- Swords are also used as emblem or insignia , especially:
- as symbol of power, such as a Sword of State, Sword of Mercy, Curtana and Sword of Justice ;
- as symbol of armed force, or of a corps entitled to use force as the strong arm of the law, as in military and police insignia, or of a unit of such a corps - as these are numerous, inevitably many variations and combinations are used.
- Its symbolic meaning is also reflected in the existence of prestigious titles, linking people of valor to it, such as:
- Sword of religion
- sword of the faith
- Sword of the State
- Sword of War
- It can be awarded as an honorary attribute, like a decoration, known as sword of honour
- It is also not unusual for swords to represent reason - as in "cutting through" a series of elements in a problem in order to leave only those with proven relevance, for example.
- Symbol for bravery for fighting a juste cause, Lady Justice sword symbolize bravery of witnesses to stay neutral even against own kin.
- Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru, used the double edged sword Bhagauti as a metaphor for God
Famous Swords
Apart from the abovementioned types of symbolical swords, the following individually named swords are noteworthy:
Swords in History
...
.
- Honjo Masamune, Sword of the Tokugawa shogunate, a feudal military dictatorship of Japan established in 1603.
- Jewelled Sword of Offering, Sword of King George IV of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland .
- Sword of Boabdil
was the last Moorish [i] king of Granada [i]. ...
, Sword of the last Moorish King in Spain.
- Tizona, El Cid personal sword which exist to this day in Spain as a national treasure.
Swords of Myth and Legend
...
- Sword of
Siegfried ...
- Shamshir-e Zomorrodnegar - Sword of King Solomon
- Tyrfing - Cursed sword that causes eventual death to its wielder and their kin
- Zulfiqar - Sword of Muhammad
Swords of Modern Fiction
from
J. R. R. Tolkien's
Middle-earth, including
Narsil ,
Sting,
Glamdring, Orcrist, Ringil.
- Various swords, and variations thereof, are found in the video game series , including the Masamune and others.
- The Vorpal blade is a sword from the poem Jabberwocky. It has been adopted into the Dungeons & Dragons mythos as a type of magic sword and has since become common in fantasy.
- Master Sword used by Link in the Legend of Zelda series.
See also
- Types of swords
- Swordsmanship
...
