[MR] medieval sharp pointy things links from Aoife

Fri Nov 4 14:55:25 PST 2005

In a message dated 11/4/2005 12:03:25 PM Eastern Standard Time,  
aoife-links-request at scatoday.net writes:

Today's  Topics:

1. "That's not a Knoife!" What period blades  were    *really* like.
(Aoife)

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Message:  1
Date: Thu, 3 Nov 2005 21:55:58 -0500
From: "Aoife"  <aoife at scatoday.net>
Subject: [Aoife-Links] "That's not a Knoife!"  What period blades were
*really* like.
To:  <aoife-links at scatoday.net>
Message-ID:  <006201c5e0eb$4933e000$b075bacc at pcbz6mpmt4r04r>
Content-Type:  text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
reply-type=original

Greetings, my Faithful Readers!

This week's  topic proved troublesome. You see, plenty of people make armor. 
Plenty of  folks study and replicate historical armor. But it's harder to 
find knife  historians. Sword Historians are a little thicker on the ground, 
but not  by much. Never the less, I persevered in my hunt to bring you this 
week's  Links List dedicated to Historical Blades. It's funny how the museum 
sites  want to show you the armor, but not the blades! That armor may be 
flashy,  but it's there to protect you against the sting of a well aimed 
sword, my  friends.

So by now you've guessed that genuine medieval swords didn't  have novelty 
dice in their Lucite handles. Nor were they made out of cast  aluminum. Some 
of them were remarkably elementary, however. And some were  so ornate as to 
take your breath away.

Study further, and see if  you can determine what sorts of blades were common 
and what sorts you  would have used in your own particular time period. 
Becasue event h scribe  had need of a special tool to cut velum---and that 
tool was a knife. It  looks remarkably like a modern-day librarian's knife to 
me, used to repair  bindings and folios.

Cheers

Aoife

Dame Aoife Finn of Ynos  Mon
Lisbeth Herr-Gelatt
Riverouge
Endless  Hills
Aethelmearc

Images:

Illuminated images with  illuminator's knives in  them
http://www.heritagehawks.org/faculty/dbrown/manuscript/Manuscripts/pic05.html
http://gandalf.hit.uib.no/non/echt/budapest/ManMan/pic12.html

Child's  Viking Knife
http://www.aiusa.com/medsword/vmuseum/vmm2.html

Late  Viking Sword
http://www.aiusa.com/medsword/vmuseum/vmx4.html

Late  Medieval  Sword
http://www.aiusa.com/medsword/vmuseum/vmxv14.html

Kelingrove  Museum Rapiers  (Scotland)
http://members.lycos.co.uk/rapier/realwep.htm
(Site Excerpt)  1.Mid 16th C. Cut and Thrust Sword .Very broad blade(approx 1 
1/2  inch).Single fuller (Measurements lost!!!) 2.German Late 16th C. Rapier 
.O  53", B+R 46", B 44", Bal 14".Daimond section blade. 3.Rapier 3rd Quarter  
16th C. O 51.5" , B+R 44.5", B 42",Bal 12".

MyArmory.com Historic  Weapons website
http://www.myarmoury.com/home.php
(Site Excerpt) Browse  the photographic albums of authentic and reproduction 
arms and armour,  museum photography, and historic artwork.Broaden your 
knowledge, learn new  definitions and terms, read historic essays and 
articles, and download  graphics in our features section.Participate in 
on-topic conversations of  authentic and reproduction arms and armour from 
various cultures and  periods of time.

Articles

The Origins of the Two-Handed  Sword
Neil H. T.  Melville
http://ejmas.com/jwma/articles/2000/jwmaart_melville_0100.htm
(Site  Excerpt) Any sword which is to be regarded as a two-hander must, by 
reason  of its dimensions and weight, require two hands for its effective  
management. Hence the blade, as well as the hilt, must be longer than  norm, 
i.e. over 100cm. Secondly, the hilt of the true two-hander should  not merely 
accommodate two hands but be long enough for the two hands  holding it to be 
kept apart, in order to give a fulcrum  effect...

RITUAL WEAPONS
A Website for Study and  Appreciation
http://weaponspage.homestead.com/
(Site Excerpt)  In  most modern societies, weapons are no longer carried 
openly.  Though  rituals may dictate behaviors involving modern weapons and 
their uses, the  fact that the weapons themselves do not form an overt part 
of cultural  activity means that weapon "rituals" play little to no part in 
larger  structures of belief in those societies (public religious and 
cultural  values, for example).  This is in contrast to the past, when 
weapons  were carried openly and thus required cultural norms (i.e. rituals) 
to  regulate their place in various traditional societies.

Medieval Sword  Resource Site
http://www.aiusa.com/medsword/
(Site Excerpt) The swords  of medieval Europe (approximately 500 to 1500 AD) 
evolved from steel  Celtic swords, which in turn arose from a tradition of 
straight,  double-edged swords which began with bronze swords as early as 
1,500  BC.

European Mediæval Swords
http://www.vikingsword.com/
(Site  Excerpt) The swords of medieval Europe (approximately 500 to 1500 AD)  
evolved from steel Celtic swords, which in turn arose from a tradition of  
straight, double-edged swords which began with bronze swords as early as  
1,500 BC. At the opening of the Middle Ages these swords tended to have  
blades just under a yard in length with a grip designed to accommodate a  
single hand...

Internet Sword Collectors  Association
http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/machood/swordsociety1.html
(Site  Excerpt) This is an international group of edged weapons collectors 
and  scholars who are interested in the collecting, research, and 
documentation  of antique edged weapons. It is a forum for scholarly 
discussion of the  specifics of sword collecting, and a focal point for sword 
collectors and  edged weapon experts to compile and share sword related 
information that  has not been widely published in currently available  books.

Resources:

Medieval Sword Virtual  Museum
http://www.aiusa.com/medsword/virtmus.html
(Site Excerpt) The  swords of this time evolved from the Teutonic swords in 
evidence in the  later Roman Iron Age and average 33 to 37 inches in overall 
length  including a 4 to 5 inch long tang. These swords vary between 1.7 and 
2.5  inches in width and generally have parallel edges or edges slightly  
tapering towards the point

Sword Forum  International
http://www.swordforum.com/
(Site Excerpt) The rapier  appeared in the early renaissance and was a 
civilian weapon. Contrary to  popular belief, by modern standards it was a 
heavy and cumbersome sword,  capable of attacks only and ill-suited to  
defense.

Netsword
http://www.netsword.com/
(Site Excerpt)  NetSword is an Internet discussion group for medieval and 
renaissance  swords, daggers and associated weapons of war. In this series of 
forums we  discuss modern replicas of historical swords along with many other 
types  of weapons and their related fighting techniques. We also discuss all  
types of historical swords, and the artifacts and events surrounding  weapons 
and warfare from medieval and renaissance  times.

Axforum
http://www.axeforum.com/
(Site Excerpt) Axe Forum  since it's creation has always tried and will 
continue to be a Laid back  community. Where fellow Axe, Pole arm, Fire-arm 
and sword collectors alike  can visit and enjoy the hobby most of us have 
come to love. We are home to  smiths of various weapons that are very 
accomplished in metallurgy and  other aspects of weapons fabrication so if 
you have any technical  questions don't hesitate to ask.  

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