[Lostgaeriel]

Unfortunately, the original formatting of the posts on this thread have taken a beating. So below, all cleaned up for easier reading is a replay of my sword & shield info that Marileangorifurnimaluim posted for me:

~

June 1, 2002

Thanks for starting this thread on swordfighting. The info is very helpful. Sorry to divert the topic to weapon design, but form follows function, eh?

I decided to go to the local museum (the ROM - Royal Ontario Museum) the other day to revisit their display of weapons and armour. Got a better idea of size and scale of the swords and the component parts.

Two broadswords dated 900-1025 AD had blades about 30" and 36" with grips 4" and 6" respectively. The second, longer sword was a 'new type of blade for cut & thrust c. 900 AD'. So I assume these were used one-handed? (Sorry, they didn't give dimensions, so these are my estimates.)

They had one Great Sword (2-hander) dated 1280-1320 AD and the blade appeared to be about 48", which they described as 'longer than usual'. The grip was about 8" or 9", as was the guard (or cross).

There were two hand-and-a-half swords, one from 1350-1400 AD - 'long, stiff, sharply pointed steel blade useful for thrusting'. Grip approx. 6"-7". The other dated 1300-1350 AD had a blade with 'a more acute point and thicker cross-section for thrusting and cutting'. These swords brought about the beginning of the end of chain-mail since the sharp points could 'pop' the mail rings when thrusting. Partial plate armour began about 1200 AD.

Looking forward to more swordfighting lessons!

~

August 9, 2002

Hi Marileangorifurnimaluim!

UPDATE/CORRECTIONS to Sword info:

My previous visit to the ROM was about 20 minutes, I stopped in between appointments, so I was a bit rushed. I've since gone back and spent more than an hour carefully examining and sketching the swords and armour. I even took a tape measure to get more accurate dimensions. (Even so, it's difficult to measure articles that are two feet behind glass.)

The two broadswords dated 900-1025 AD had blades about 26" and 30".

The blade of the Great Sword (2-hander) dated 1280-1320 AD was closer to 40" to perhaps 44" rather than 48" I previously estimated. Still it was described as 'longer than usual' and was the same length as the approx. 42"-44" blade of a Scottish Claymore dated early 1500s. The notes in the display claimed that the claymore was similar to two-handed swords used in Central Europe but it had a slightly shorter blade and angled guards. (The claymore had a 10-12" two-handed grip.) So I'm guessing that a 48" Great Sword is not out of the question.

The blade of the hand-and-a-half sword from 1350-1400 AD was about 36" and the grip was closer to 8" or 9".

Cross sections for cutting swords are:
<=> or <x> (flat with sharp edges or fullered with tapered sharp edges)

Cross sections for cut & thrust swords are:
<0> or ^ or <> (thicker center with tapered sharp edges or triangular or diamond-shaped)

Average weight/mass of a sword was only 2-3 lb or 0.9-1.4 kg!!!


NOT Swords:

Full suit of plate armour massed/weighed about 18-27 kg or 40-60 lb. That’s no heavier than field packs carried by infantry in World War I.

There was a buckler on display. That's a small shield used in foot combat 1200s-1600. Some were round, others rectangular. This one was round from Wales, used in the early 1500s, about 12" in diameter. It was made of concentric rings of rivets and had a 2" globe-shaped boss or finial at the center. The overall shape of the shield was like a straw hat with an upturned brim (with the boss on top). That is concave from the outer edge inverting to convex at the center. This shape boggled my mind – not at all what I expected. I expected a convex shape that sort of wraps around the arm/body.

An example of an Italian Barbut c. 1460 - a light helmet (shoulder length) with t-shape opening in front for vision and ventilation was 5 ½ lb or 2.5 kg. The smooth round surfaces of this plate-metal helmet deflected the most powerful personal weapons of the day.

I've got some more info on spurs and sword-making and sword decoration (blueing, fire-guilding, etching, engraving, chiselling, chasing/embossing), but I'm a bit fuzzy on it.

~

And here I'm attaching my sketches & notes of weapons & armour from my visits to the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) in 2002. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Pages 1, 5, 6, & 7 of total 7 attached.

Oops! File size limit is 100 KB and I pages 2, 3 & 4 are larger than that. Working on new drawings since original sketches are very rough. Will upload later .