Sword blade

“ King, in this sword, which shall expose the monsters to thy blows, take the first gift of thy betrothed. Show thyself duly deserving hereof; let hand rival sword, and aspire to add lustre to its weapon. Let the might of steel strengthen the defenceless point of thy wit, and let spirit know how to work with hand. Let the bearer match the burden: and that thy deed may sort with thy blade, let equal weight in each be thine. What avails the javelin when the breast is weak and faint, and the quivering hands have dropped the lance? Let steel join soul, and be both the body's armour! ”

“ The blade, for example, became enormously lengthened, broadened, and flattened, and the spike occasionally became lance-shaped, or falcon-beaked, like a military pick, while the head of the shaft developed into a spike or a short, double-edged sword-blade. In the fifteenth century it became the favourite weapon for encounters on foot, when the pole was furnished with one or two guards for the hands, and was strengthened with iron splints ”

“ The English blade, I am sorry to say, has never been famous for excellence of temper. Some two centuries ago, an attempt was made to improve the home-manufactured sword, by incorporating a company of sword-cutlers for making hollow sword-blades, in Cumberland and the adjacent counties. ”

“ The real Damascus blade that we have all read about, but so few have seen, is as rigid as cast-iron, without any spring whatever,—as rigid as the blade of a razor. The sword-blade which bends is neither good for cut nor thrust, even in the hands of the most expert and powerful swordsman. A blade of spring steel will not cut through the bone ”

“ On each was an iron Sword-blade, sixty-two centimètres long by four and a half broad near the tang (spina) , and fining off to an olive-leaf point; all have the mid-rib or longitudinal spine. Partly attached by oxidation to one blade is a remnant of the iron scabbard, slightly convex posteriorly and showing in the upper part a rectangular projection, perhaps to carry the hook attached to the balteus. ”

“ On returning to the hotel, I submitted my weapon to the judgment of Raven and Dr. A——, who resolved to test its value by actual experiment. A sword-blade is considered to be of good quality, when it will sever a nail at one blow. ”

“ Every blade which man could mould, Which could cut, or slash, or cleave, or rip, Or pierce, or thrust, or carve, or strip, Or gash, or chop, or puncture, or tear, Or slice, or hack, they all were there. ”

“ The half of the sword blade next the hilt is called the “fort,” because it is the strongest place on which the cut of an adversary can be received. Always parry and guard with the fort of your sword, as, if you try to guard a cut with the “feeble,” which is the remaining half of the blade, your guard will be forced, and the cut take effect.
DRAWING CUT.
The drawing cut is made best with a curved sword, and is executed by placing the edge of the sword on the object, and drawing it over it until it is severed. A good large mangel worzel is capital practice. ”

“ This composite weapon, uniting the club with the celt or hand-hatchet, and appearing in Europe with the beginning of the Neolithic period, plays a remarkable part in history, 89ancient, mediæval, and even modern; whilst its connection with the Sword is made evident by the ‘glaive.’ [308] The expansion of the edge and of the flanges developed two principal forms. For cutting wood the long-narrow was found most serviceable: where brute force was less required, the weapon became a broad blade with a long crescent-shaped edge. ”

“ An iron sword is on the left side, thirty-five and a quarter inches in its entire length, from the point to the bottom of the handle, which is all in one piece, the wood-work which covered the handle having perished; the blade thirty inches in length and two in breadth, flat, double-edged, and sharp-pointed, a great portion of wood covering the blade, which indicates that it was buried with a scabbard, the external covering being of leather, the internal of wood. ”

“ There is one kind of sword which ought not to be passed without some notice. It is a most murderous looking weapon, and is made on precisely the opposite principle to that of the sword which has already been described. In that form of sword, the edge is on the outer curve of the blade, which narrows toward the point. In the other sword, the edge is on the inside curve, and the blade widens greatly at the tip, which is curved like a bill-hook. Indeed, the weapon bears some resemblance to a bill-hook with a greatly elongated blade. ”

“ Again, many Southrons, and races that fought on foot, have used the curved weapon, although the converse, the adoption of the straight, pointed Sword by horsemen, is comparatively rare.
I now proceed to consider various points connected with the curved and straight forms of blade. The experience of the Sword-cutter has noticed that the shape of any pattern or model, whether of tool or of weapon, suggests its own and only purpose. This is what we should expect. A swordsman chooses his Sword as a sawyer his saw. ”

“ The curved shape of most Oriental sword blades has been adopted for the purpose of giving the greatest effect to the drawing cut, as will be apparent to any one who considers the matter, for the curve naturally follows the action in the most complete manner, the keen edge being in contact with its object throughout the whole length of its blade. How deep an Oriental sword could bite in the hands of a skilful man, when used in the way that has been described, has been proved from time immemorial. ”

“ I reserve for a future page the ‘split Swords,’ two blades in one scabbard, which were used in mediæval Europe, and which have been preserved in China.
To conclude this long and technical chapter. The Sword should be tightly mounted and well shouldered-up before and behind, leaving no interval between hilt and blade. The grip must be firm, and the tang secured either by rivets or, better still, by a screw at the pommel: if this be neglected, the weapon will not deliver a true edge. In trials both back and edge should be repeatedly struck with force upon a wooden post. ”

“ 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 sword is sharpened to the finest degree, and the blade is protected for about six inches above the cross-hilt with thick string, bound tightly round so as to afford a grip for the right hand, while the left grips the hilt in the usual manner. This converts the ordinary blade into a two-handed sword, a blow from which will sever a naked man into two halves if delivered at the waist. It may be imagined that a quick cut from such a formidable weapon will at once divide the hamstring of any animal. ”

“ 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. ”

“ I was still holding my own sword in my right hand, and or ever he could recover I lunged upwards at his breast with all my force, springing from the ground as I lunged, to drive the thrust home. The blade pierced through his body until the hilt rang against the buttons of his coat. He fell backwards heavily, and I let go of my sword. The point stuck in the floor behind him as he fell, and he slid down the blade on to the ground. Something dropped from his hand and rolled away into a corner, where it lay shining. ”

“ NCE upon a time there was a steel sword, whose blade was forged and tempered in a most excellent manner. The handle was of precious wood, with beautiful inlaid work of mother-of-pearl and gold. From his very birth the Sword was in the service of a gallant knight; and a sturdy, faithful sword he was. He fought for the sake of truth and of every fair lady, and against all oppressors of the weak. All who, even by word or glance, injured a lady dreaded the steel weapon: there was no man, no arms in the world, whom the steel [126] warrior feared. ”

“ Some Men chuse strait Blades, others will have them bending a little upwards or downwards; some like them to bend a little in the Fort, and others in the Feeble, which is commonly called le Tour de Breteur, or the Bullie's Blade. The Shell should be proportionable in Bigness to the Blade, and of a Metal that will resist a Point, and the Handle fitted to the Hand. ”

“ By channelling either side of a thin or ‘whippy’ blade it becomes stiffer, because any force applied to bend such a blade sideways meets with the greatest amount of resistance that form can supply. Mechanically speaking, it is to crush an arch inwards upon its crown, and the deeper the arch the greater the resistance. ”

“ There are other ways of lightening the blade besides grooving. A favourite fashion in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the golden age of the Sword, was to break the continuity by open work, which allowed free play to the ornamenter’s hand. It was also supposed to render the wound more dangerous by admitting the air. As will afterwards be shown, certain Eastern and mediæval sabres were hollowed to contain sections or pennations, which sprang out in small lateral blades when a spring was touched. ”

“ In another specimen the royal blade is much broader than usual, and two lions couchant form the ferrule, embracing the sheath with their paws and retrogardant or bending their heads backwards (fig. 212) . The ferrule of another is enriched with a guilloche. In the inscriptions of Assur-bani-pal [674] (Sardanapalus) we read of a ‘steel Sword and its sheath of gold,’ and of ‘steel Swords of their girdles.’ Another legend runs—‘He lifted his great Sword called “Lord of the Storm,”’ proving that the Sword, like the horse, the chariot, the boat, and other favourites, had names and titles. ”

“ Those who hold the Sword in both Hands, that is to say, the Handle in the Right-hand, and the Blade about four Fingers Breadth in the Left, will either engage, or beat on your Sword, with great Force, or stick to a strong Parade, in order to uncover you the more, in Favour of their Thrust. ”

“ Remains now to consider the Sword as a weapon for point, a use to which, as its various shapes show, it was applied in the earliest ages instinctively, as it were, before Science taught the superiority of the thrust to the cut. We learn from such hand-thrusting instruments—the awl, gimlet, needle, and dinner-fork—that the straight weapon may be considered a very acute wedge with a method of progression mostly oblique. It is easy to prove that the proper shape for a thrusting-blade is pre-eminently the straight. ”

“ A light, thin-bladed sword, though admirable for a man on foot, would not be of nearly so much use to a cavalry man, whose slashing cut through shield or helmet renders weight an absolute necessity. The light blade might be brought to bear with all the speed and force of the strongest man, but would be of no avail in those cases where hard, dense, and heavy substances have to be cut through. ”

“ I took a sword from the rare collection of weapons which he had in his apartments. I may not be much of a card player, but I pride myself that I know a weapon, and I chose a blade that I could depend upon. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The chief modern varieties of the curved blade are the Broadsword, the Backsword, the Hanger, and the Cutlass, the Scymitar and Düsack, the Yataghan and the Flissa. These several modifications will be considered in the order of their invention. Lastly the Egyptian ‘Sfet’ originated through Keltic the word Spata or Spatha [429] (Spatarius = a Swordsman) conserved to the present day in the neo-Latin names of the straight foining weapon—espada, espé, espée, épée.
Physically considered, the Sword is a metal blade intended for cutting, thrusting, or cut-and-thrust (fil et pointe) . ”

“ Dr. Evans [1000] considers the weapon ‘a kind of halberd or battle-axe;’ others, a commander’s staff or bâton of honour; but the article is too widely used to be so explained. A fine specimen of the Schwertstab with handle and blade of bronze, was found at Årup in Scania, and an analogous form is shown in a Chinese blade.
History, even written by their enemies, shows that the Ancient Germans were an eminently military and martial people. The bridal present consisted of a caparisoned horse, a shield, a spear, and a Sword. ”

“ We have all read of the miraculous sword in the German fable whose blade was so keen that when, upon a certain occasion, its owner smote a warrior with it from crown to saddle, the warrior nevertheless rode home and was scarcely aware he had been wounded until, upon his wife opening the door, he attempted to embrace her and fell into two pieces. ”