Swordfight

“ I had not knelt by my fallen enemy a moment, when suddenly my men set up a cry behind me, there was a rush of hoofs, and, ere I could regain my feet or snatch my sword or shield, a great black French rider, like a shadowy fury dropped from the sullen evening sky, his plumes all streaming behind him, his head low down between his horse’s ears, and his long blue spear in rest, was thundering in mid career against me not a dozen paces distant. As I am a soldier, and have lived many ages by my sword, that charge must have been fatal. ”

“ He holds his broad Sword in one Hand, and his Lance in the other, and traverses his Ground, leaping from one side of the Ring to the other; and in a menacing posture and look, bids defiance to the Enemy, whom his Fancy frames to him; for there is nothing but Air to oppose him. ”

“ And many a fully-armed one, whom the warriors shunned fighting with, neither a hastener in flight, nor a surrenderer;
My hands were generous to him by a quick point with a straightened spear strong in the joints; Inflicting a wound wide of its two sides, the sound of the flow of blood from it leads at night the prowling wolves, burning with hunger.
I rent his vesture with a rigid spear, for the noble one is not forbidden to the spears. ”

“ Look! he draws his sword, the sharp blade quivers through the air, he points to the distant battle and lo! he is gone; gone through those clouds, while his shout echoes over the plains. Wherever the fight is thickest, there through intervals of cannon-smoke you may see riding madly forward that strange soldier, mounted on his steed black as death. Look at him, as with face red with British blood he waves his sword and shouts to his legions. Now you may see him fighting in that cannon's glare, and the next moment he is away off yonder, leading the forlorn hope up that steep cliff. ”

“ A white-robed, sallow man thrust at me with a long spear, over his body, but the sword of the Roman flashed down and cut the head from the spear, then flashed again and the man went down. A dozen blades glinted off my armor and helmet, and I thrust out savagely and blindly, felt the blade pierce through flesh and blood, once, twice. And now, shaken by our first fierce resistance, the mob fell back a little, while we stood panting, surveying the scene of that first clash.
At our feet lay a dozen or more men, dead or dying. ”

“ Mechanically the dismounted men-at-arms fell into line, and dropping on one knee, drove the butts of their long spears into the earth, while in the intervening gaps the archers, with arrow on string, awaited the order to let fly their deadly shafts. ”

“ When the swordsman, abandoning the defensive, tried to strike down his opponent's spear and deal a close thrust, the latter with the rapidity of lightning drew in his weapon, and shooting it out again before the other could recover his ground, drove the point home. ”

“ In the assault with its incessant alarms and perilous crises, in encountering the wiles and avoiding the snares of the enemy, those who use the sword find their ‘crowded hour of glorious life,’ the hour crowded with illusions and disenchantments, the rubs of fortune, the ups and downs of victory or defeat. ”

“ And over them, white in the sun, the spears of Kan-Mar;
The curbs, and the froth at the lips—
The bridle chains snapping like whips,
And our plumes tossed red, and scenting the heels of war.
The eyes that twinkle and burn—
The wrists like elk-thongs that turn
With the balancing, pausing, slender, murderous spear;
The swords that lead us along,
The thrust, the shriek and the song—
Sights not fit for their eyes, nor sounds for their ears to hear. ”

“ The enemy follows, and if he catches us, we are cut up. Other charges do occur; but this is the common history of cavalry against cavalry, and, in unsuccessful attacks of cavalry, against infantry too. A knowledge of the use of the sword is necessary; for did your enemy believe you ignorant of it, he would not fly; but the weapon itself is rarely used on such occasions. Very few men are slain in their ranks by the bayonet or the sabre. ”

“ This being ascertained, they take their places at the opposite ends of the lists, the presiding herald cries to let go, and they hurl together in the midst, with a clang of armour, and a crash of broken spears, amidst the shouts of the spectators and the waving of kerchiefs and caps. If the course be successfully run, each breaks his lance full on the breastplate or helm of his adversary, but neither is unhorsed; they recover their steeds with rein and spur, and prance away [Pg 416] amidst applause. If one knight is unhorsed, or loose his stirrup, he is vanquished, and retires from the game. ”

“ You put your sword into the hands of recreant knights; they will dull its edge and mar its brightness, and, when your hour of need comes and you would put it into other hands, you will find its edge chipped and its point broken. ”

“ Up the road rose a cloud of dust and the sound of determined feet, and presently a martial figure came in sight, clad in bronze and leather helmet and cuirass, and carrying an oblong shield and a short, broad-bladed sword of double edge. Short yet agile, a soldier every inch, he looked neither to the right nor to the left, but marched steadily and purposefully upon his business. ”

“ The warrior hurled his spear and it went over the young man's head. And the young man then hurled his spear in turn and it struck fair upon the centre of the warrior's shield. Then the young man drew his sharp sword that by his flank hung great and strong. But by some magic the warrior had recovered his spear; and as the young man came forward he hurled it again, and it drove through the neck of the young man at the joint of his armor, and he fell in the dust. After that the sun was darkened; and in a moment more I was looking into an empty blackness. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Their first discharges of arrows, stones, and double-headed darts covered the whole ground which we occupied, and they advanced continually till closed upon us all around, attacking us with the utmost resolution with lances and two-handed swords, encouraging each other by continual shouts. Our artillery, musketry, and cross-bows plied them with incessant discharges, and made prodigious havoc among the crowded masses of the enemy, and the home thrusts of our infantry with their swords, prevented them from closing up so near as they had done in the former battle. ”

“ Their spears were so tough that they break not, and they draw them forth and come together again so strongly that the spears wherewith they smote each other amidst the breast were bended so that they unriveted the holdfasts of their shields, and they lost their stirrups, and the reins fly from their fists, and they stagger against the back saddlebows, and the horses stumbled so as that they all but fell. ”

“ When you perceive your Adversary is thrusting with your Sword, turn the Nails of your Sword-hand in Quart, with a full stretched Arm, and your Hand as high as your Face, and when you do this, slope your Point to the lowness of your Adversaries Thigh; and by that means, with the Fort of your Sword, on the Feeble of his, put by his Thrust, always observing to Parie with the Fort of your Sword, and not the Feeble, lest your Adversary having the stronger Arm, force upon you the Thrust in spite of all you can do. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Tho' it be almost impossible for the Enemy to disengage, when you have bound his Sword as I have described, it may happen that if some of the Circumstances were wanting, he might disengage and push, which ought not to hinder you from making your Thrust; because your Sword may very well hit him, passing under his, which cannot hurt you, because of the Lowness of your Body. ”

“ As your Body is too much abandoned forward to recover itself easily, you must rush on your Enemy, seize the Guard of his Sword, and present him your Point, which is done by advancing the right Foot to such a Distance as to be out of the reach of his Leg whilst you advance, which otherwise might give him an Opportunity, by Tripping to throw you down. As you advance the right Foot you must seize the Guard of his Sword, at the same time drawing back your Sword, keeping it high. ”

“ Next came the men-at-arms, sheathed in their glittering hauberks and bright hose-of-mail, with conical steel helmets on their heads, long lances in their hands, and huge two-handed swords transversely girt across their persons. ”

“ When our good archers discharge their arrows, the arrows strike the target all together, against which their cuirasses and wooden bucklers are of no avail. And when it comes to dismounting and hand-to-hand fighting with sword and spear in the supreme struggle, the victory is easily ours. ”

“ In the field pennons are attached to the lances, and the standard-bearers carry eagles. 204The action begins with missiles, slings, darts, and arrows; the mace and spear then play their part, and the Sword is never absent. The warriors—who appear on foot or horseback, with gorgeous caparisons, in chariots or swimming with floats of inflated skins—wear helmets of many shapes, crested, crescented, capped with the fleur-de-lys and perfectly plain; some are close-fitting with ear-flaps, the common skull-cap (namms) of Ancient Egypt, and the Indian Kan-top. ”

“ A spear he hath, blue-red, hand-fitting, on its puissant shaft. It stretches along the wall on the roof and rests on the ground. An iron point upon it, dark-red, dripping. Four amply-measured feet between the two points of its edge.
Thirty amply-measured feet in his deadly-striking sword from dark point to iron hilt. It shews forth fiery sparks which illumine the Mid-court House from roof to ground.
'Tis a strong countenance that I see. A swoon from horror almost befell me while staring at those three. There is nothing stranger.
Two bare hills were there by the man with hair. ”

“ We have now reached a point from which we may survey the thrilling spectacle of the assault, as fencers call the mimic combat, in which desperate and brutal fighting is controlled by skill, the hazardous duel, full of fire and fury, between two combatants, who summon to their aid all that they know or all that they think they know. ”

“ These soared through the air, forming long and dazzling arcs of light, which enabled his Fusiliers to see the number and disposition of the attacking force, and to direct their fire upon the tumultuous mass of men wedged below the walls, where the long blades of their brandished swords seemed to flash sharply up from a sea of blue bonnets, red tartans, and round targets. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Each warrior was equipped with a shield, a sheaf of spears, and a heavy, pointed club. At thirty paces distance they began throwing, and the spectators enjoyed a beautiful exposition of warlike skill. Both men threw with extreme force and deadly aim; while each defended himself cleverly with his shield. The spears were exhausted, and but one had pierced the thigh of Why-Why, while his opponent had two sticking in his neck and left arm. ”

“ This is so thoroughly true, that if you set two men to fight in a fencing-room with blunt swords, you notice at once that the assault is something very different from what it would have been with mere foils. You might almost fancy that the swords, though they can no longer wound, are still possessed by the spirit of mortal combat, and retain some reminiscence of the real thing, of naked chest opposed to naked steel. ”

“ RUAHMAH draws NAAMAN'S sword from the scabbard and hurries out of the tent. Confused noise of fighting outside. Three or four soldiers are driven in by a troop of men in disguise. RUAHMAH follows: she is beaten to her knees, and her sword is broken. ”

“ In one of these groups a warrior, who has fallen on his right knee, tries to defend himself with his shield, while with the right hand he seizes a stone. The antagonist has his right arm raised to strike, perhaps with a battleaxe, and seizes with his left hand the shield of the kneeling figure. On the right of the slab one of the warriors flies before the assault of his antagonist, whose arms are both raised to strike him.—Elgin Coll. ”

“ The combat then commences, by each of these singling out his opponent and squatting opposite to him, in their usual attitude, at the distance of a few yards. Balancing their spears in a threatening manner, they spar at each other for several minutes, until one conceives he has a favourable opportunity of launching his spear, when, springing to his feet, he darts it with great force and precision. Seldom, however, any injury is thus produced, for his wary antagonist, with his shield, dashes it aside, and then endeavours to break by jumping and stamping upon it, as it lies upon the ground. ”