Since it has no legitimate claim to being a member of either weapon family, it has earned the name bastard sword. They represent an optimised compromise between thrusting capability and retaining good cutting characteristics. Most long swords were double edged. During half-swording, the entirety of the sword works as a weapon, including the pommel and crossguard. Some of the earliest swords seemingly designed for two handed use are the "Grete Swords of War" of the 13thC. The swords grouped as "longswords" for the purposes of this article are united by their being intended for two-handed use. What kind of swords were used in medieval times? By the late 16th century, early forms of the developed-hilt appear on this type of sword. These are all in reference to swords commonly called hand and a half swords or longswords today. A longsword (also spelled long sword, long-sword) is a type of European sword characterized as having a cruciform hilt with a grip for two handed use and a straight double-edged blade of around 100 to 122 cm (39 to 48 in . The term hand-and-a-half sword is often used interchangeably with longsword, although it is not entirely accurate. The term "hand-and-a-half" have originated due to the fact that the sword was designed for both one and two-handed use, not because one and a half hands are needed to wield it. The Warspike combines the length of a long arming sword, the hilt of a small hand-and-a-half, and just a hint of a "tuck" thrusting blade. The grete war sword, also called epee de guerre or great sword, was an earlier type of longsword used throughout most of western Europe. Modern replica longswords cover many of these diverse types, though certainstyles are less well represented in the current market place. Bonhams : A Rare All-Steel Left-Hand Dagger A longer and broader blade which widened slightly towards the handle. Longswords vs Two Handed Swords - Arms & Armor Frontline Books. The first Chinese sources that mention the jian date to the 7th century BC during the Spring and Autumn period;[18] one of the earliest specimens being the Sword of Goujian. German Bastard or Hand-And -A-Half Sword, early 16th century with long slender tapering double-edged blade of flattened diamond section, hilt comprising arched quillons with swelling tips of flat triangular section, side-ring en suite and with fluted tips where they join the quillons, and inner bar of circular section bent down and made in one with the downcurved arm, associated fluted fig . This sword is an extremely well proportioned and elegant example of a type that was in use throughout Western Europe from the late fourteenth through the fifteenth century. The top hand would push, and the bottom hand would pull; this gave extra leverage thus the sword would be easier to swing, ignoring much of its weight. After the mid-14th century, sword blades became more sharply tapered toward the point, with diamond or hexagonal cross-sections to increase their rigidity for thrusting. Minneapolis Minnesota
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