[MR] BBC Future: Cryptic Sword Manuals

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

Today BBC Future (How odd!) is hosting an interesting illustrated story
about medieval sword combat manuals, sword masters and the schools they
offered to teach the "noble art of killing".

There are perhaps hundreds of illuminated sword manuals extant, and most of
them are confusing in both the text and the illustrations. The article's
author posits that the sword masters really didn't want to let go of their
secrets, except directly to their students. Today modern sword masters are
trying to decipher what their predecessors really meant, and finding it a
hard slog indeed.

The article is at
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20221124-the-lost-medieval-sword-fighting-tricks-no-one-can-decode
.

Credit for spotting this article goes to Lady Sarah Sinclair and to Lady
Morgan of the Burial Shrew, both of whom called this to my attention.

Yours Aye,


Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge 🦆
(An Atlantian household devoted to all things Scottish, except haggis)