Sword arm

“ When the opponent comes to the position of pointing, that is, extends his blade, a sharp glissade along its length will make the grip fly out of his grasp. Another way of embarrassing the attack is to cut right and left at the hand, the wrist, or the fore-arm, when the adversary begins to present point. ”

“ Here you must in this bow your Head, holding up your Arm high, so that if you come to give a Thrust, your Head may be, as it were, under it, your Nails being in Quart till you make your Thrust, and then change them into Terce; your Feet must be kept at their due distance, and not as at a full Elong; your Sword must be presented towards your Adversaries Left-side, and [Pg 74] you must make use of your Left-hand for the Parade, and it is to be pursued and defended, as the forgoing Terce-Guard, only in defending it, you must not make so much use of your Left-hand, but more of your Sword. ”

“ The recruit must be carefully and sedulously taught when meeting the enemy, even at a trot or canter, to use no force whatever, otherwise his sword will bury itself to the hilt, and the swordsman will either be dragged from his horse, or will be compelled to drop his weapon -- if he can. Upon this point I may quote my own 'System of Bayonet Exercise' (p. 27) : --
"The instructor must spare no pains in preventing the soldier from using force, especially with the left or guiding arm, as too much exertion generally causes the thrust to miss. A trifling body-stab with the bayonet ”

“ Feint at the head by suddenly straightening the arm and directing the point to a little above your adversary’s forehead, with the edge of the sword turned down, then, without drawing back the arm, but with the action of the wrist only, longe and deliver a cut on the right armpit, the edge slightly turned up so that the arm may be covered with the hilt. Always aim this cut high, so that should your adversary form his guard a little low you will hit the outside of his shoulder. ”

“ The arms of those who have any fortune are a bow, a tarquais, a sword, a heavy mace with a short handle, the thick end of which is cut into many angles. This is a dangerous weapon when struck on the shoulders, or on an unguarded arm. I am convinced that a blow given with it on a head armed with a salade would stun a man. Several have small wooden bucklers, with which they cover themselves well on horseback when they draw the bow. I have been assured of this by those who have long used them, as well as from having seen it myself. ”

“ You may likewise catch him, by placing your Sword along his, with your Point a little raised, and sliding on a Defence along his Sword, push at his Left-hand or Arm, for he cannot, tho' he goes to his Parade, hinder your Blade from sliding so as to hit him there, without running any Risque, you being in Measure of his Hand and Arm, when he is out of Reach of your Body. ”

“ Even with the best position, the head erect and the eyes looking straight and not upwards, it is utterly faulty; it displaces the arm and the sword, and, as no serious attack can be made directly from it, it necessitates a movement entailing a considerable amount of exposure. ”

“ Especially does he emphasize the shield—that great polished, concave steel disk, strapped to the left arm, so that a thrust from sword, arrow, or spear can be easily deflected. As it is carried on the arm it can be raised or lowered so as to protect the whole body. ”

“ and sometimes, while her sword is not yet unsheathed, she stretches out her huge left arm and grasps her victim. The mighty hand is invisible, but the victim totters under the dire clutch. ”

“ On his arm he bare a gay bracer, and by his side a buckler and sword, and on the other side a gay dagger, well harnessed and sharp as a spear-point. ”

“ And the muffled drum rolled on the air,
Warriors with stately step were there;
On every arm was the black crape bound,
Every carbine was turned to the ground:
Solemn the sound of their measured tread,
A silent and slow they followed the dead.
The riderless horse was led in the rear,
There were white plumes waving over the bier:
Helmet and sword were laid on the pall,
For it was a soldier's funeral. ”

“ I fought till my sword did cleave to my hand; and when they were joined together, as if a sword grew out of my arm, and when the blood ran through my fingers, then I fought with most courage [284] (2 Sam. ”

“ The robust iron-worker advanced upon his adversary, describing with his weapon a figure-of-eight so lusty, so rapid, and to which the vigor of his wrist lent such force that, encountering the sword at the moment when the ex-colonel was about to lunge, the iron bar broke down the latter's guard, and descended heavily upon his skull. ”

“ If on a Pass or Lunge the Enemy shou'd attempt to join or seize your Sword, you must, in order to prevent him, change it from the Right-hand to the Left, four Inches from the Guard, as I have already observed, seizing his with the Right-hand, and presenting him the Point, holding it at such a Length as to hit him whilst he is unable to come near you. ”

“ Their arms are lances and pikes, bows and arrows, rockets, and matchlocks, but whether with or without other weapons, every man constantly wears a sword and shield. In battle, the different arms move in distinct bodies ”

“ He was equipped in a wonderful solidity of armour, with a hard, carven helmet on his head, a splendid red-bossed shield swinging on his shoulder, a wide-grooved, straight sword clashing along his thigh. ”

“ If he parrys with his Feeble, you must, without stopping, either cut over his Point from within to without, or turn the Wrist in Seconde, lowering your Body, and bringing up the right Foot seize his Guard, then carrying your Sword from within to without, you advance the left Foot to the side of the right, and drawing back the right present your Sword. ”

“ Action grew faster and faster, and swords lighter and more manageable, until by the seventeenth century the customary weapon was the court sword, with a short, single-handed hilt, a small flat guard often magnificently decorated in chiselled steel, and a relatively short, light blade having a needle-like point, and often without any sharp cutting edge at all (Fig. 30) .
Fig. 31. A rondel dagger with a silver handle.
Fig. 32. An outfit for a hunter: dagger, knife, awl, and larding needle, all fitting into one scabbard. ”

“ The youngster balanced his body, throwing his right leg back as a brace, and advancing his left foot, holding his spear upon an angle with his eye, and drawing it back and forth, as though testing the strength of his little, skinny arm, until he had apparently got the right balance, when, with a quick motion, he hurled it at the mark; and as the spear sped through the air, it produced a humming sound, like the noise of a stone when thrown from a sling by the vigorous arm of a strong man. ”

“ This revival of the proto-historic celt and headman’s instrument is a plain, heavy wedge of steel, fixed on a light, tough wooden helve or heft, thus concentrating all the force in the head that strikes the blow. Here there is no uncertainty about the use; and, were it not necessary in swordsmanship to ‘recover guard’ and to save self as well as disable the assailant, it would be the best, as it is one of the oldest, weapons derived from the club. But the cutting Sword, which in the short curved form is its congener, has a long blade that allows a choice of cut—a good choice and a bad choice. ”

“ The next step would be to fashion the ragged staff with fire, with friction, and with flint knives, shells or other scrapers, into a cutting as well as a crushing instrument; and here we have one of the many origins of the Sword and of its diminutives, the dagger and the knife. Pointed at the end, it would become the lance and spear, the spud, spade, and palstave, the pilum, the dart, the javelin, and the assagai.
Not a few authorities contend that the earliest weapons, the most constant in all ages and continuous in all countries, were the spear and the axe. ”

“ Every man had his shield slung round his neck, and had cut his spear to the length of five feet so that it might be more manageable for fighting on foot. Besides the spear a sword or a battle-ax hung at the side of each. They were clad from head to foot in armor, with devices upon the crests and surcoats to distinguish them from their antagonists. ”

“ The weapons allowed by the High Court were then measured and attested. They consisted of the long sword, the short sword, the dagger, the mace, and a weapon known as the hand-gisarm, or glave-lot—a heavy swordlike blade eight palms long, a palm in breadth, and riveted to a stout handle of wood three feet long.
The usual lance had not been included in the list of arms, the hand-gisarm being substituted in its place. It was a fearful and murderous weapon, though cumbersome, Unhandy, and ill adapted for quick or dexterous stroke ”

“ Hence it was that six of these regiments, the 90th, 91st, 72nd, 74th, 75th, and 94th, were ordered to abandon the kilt, and adopt the ordinary line uniform.
There had been many changes in the form of the sword. At first a broad two-edged blade, a heavy, hacking weapon231 with a cross hilt, it was designed to wound men in armour. Not that, apparently, they ran much danger, for in many a battle few were killed. The wounds received in action appear to have been chiefly contusions.48 The mace or axe was in armoured days probably more effective than the sword. ”

“ In earlier times, practically none but long-distance weapons were used—the sling, the hurled spear, or the bow and arrow, weapons similar to those employed in the chase. Single combat necessitated weapons of close range—the axe, held fast in the hand, the lance, used as a thrusting weapon, and the sword. ”

“ Instead of the shield, however, an additional piece of armour called the grande-garde was sometimes screwed to the breastplate to protect the left side and shoulder, while the great spear had also a piece of armour fixed in front of the grasp, which not only protected the hand, but was large enough to make a kind of shield for the left arm and breast. The tilting helmet disappeared altogether about this period, and the head-piece was adorned with streaming plumes. The armour generally, by its being fluted and laminated and puffed, imitated the costume of the time. ”

“ About the crest of the helm, the defence of the head, it held an amulet fastened without with wires, that the sword, hardened with scouring, might not violently injure him when the shield-bearing warrior should go against his foes. ”

“ Each heavy-armed infantryman in the six front ranks carries a heavy spear about seven feet long and a short sword somewhat like a long dagger. A short-handled [9] battle-ax with sharp, shearing blade and pointed beak is hung by a strap over his shoulder. The soldiers in the rear ranks, instead of the heavy spear and battle-ax, carry bundles of light javelins, for casting at short range, and long bows with sheaths of arrows, for fighting at long range. ”

“ The sword, the spear, and the buckler, are the national weapons, and the first is girded to the loins of every male subject in the kingdom, be his profession what it may. Barely two feet in length, and highly curved, it rather resembles a sickle than an implement of war. It serves equally at the banquet and in the field; but being firmly lashed to the right side, protrudes most incommodiously behind, and is not to be detached from the scabbard unless by much grunting and personal exertion. ”

“ It pierces its enemy from beneath by a strong erectile and cirrated spine on the first anterior dorsal; the base of the spear is expanded and perforated, and a bolt from the supporting plate passes freely through it. 10When the spine is raised, a hollow at the back receives a prominence from the next bony ray, which fixes the point in an erect position. Like the hammer of a fire-piece at full cock, the spear cannot be forced down till the prominence is withdrawn, as by pulling the trigger. ”

“ The short swinging arm is hung by strong iron staples to the end of a stout staff, about six feet in length, and is braced up in iron bands, which bristle with projecting points, the better to make an impression on an enemy's skull. Truly a formidable weapon! Try the weight. The arm must be strong that would wield it with effect; and mighty must have been the motive that sent whole ranks armed therewith rushing to the onslaught as to a threshing-floor. ”

“ Though it may seem to many people, that the beat of the Foot, in gaining measure, making appels, or alurements, engagements, or other Thrusts, is rather ornamental than necessary; nevertheless, there is nothing puts the Foot in a better condition to follow the swiftness of the Wrist, in most of the actions of the Sword ”

“ The handle of a sword provides a grip for the hand that wields it, or sometimes for two hands; it may add protection, and in most patterns does so to a greater or less extent. Still it is altogether subordinate to the blade. For want of a metal-headed lance or axe, which indeed were of later invention, a sharpened pole or a thin-edged paddle will serve the turn. But a sword-handle without a blade is naught; and no true sword-blade can be made save of metal capable of taking an edge or point. ”

“ But the accepted symbol of man as a fighting creature has always been the sword, and the sword, perhaps more than any other item of man’s warlike panoply, has experienced the full range of his artistic and technical initiative. Space does not here permit a discussion of the innumerable types of swords; only a brief resumé of the general development can be given. This is supplemented by a display of some typical forms along one side wall of the armor gallery.
Fig. 27. A mace or one-handed club, made of steel carved and gilded. A beautiful implement for smashing heads! ”