[TheForge] "That's not a Knoife!" What period blades were *really* like.]

[Phlip]

Thought you guys might enjoy this ;-) Aoife is a librarian, who, every 
week, collects links on a topic that might be of interest to SCAdians, 
and this week, it's knives of all sorts.

Saint Phlip

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. 
Because 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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