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A character riding a giant raven while carrying an arming sword
By Charles Moffat
Historical realism.
I am one of those people who gets upset when a movie or a book portrays a historical weapon in a false manner.
And while I don't start foaming at the mouth and shouting obscenities when it happens, it still bothers me and I know other authors / readers who feel the same way.
Thus when I am writing a book or a short story my preference is to portray weapons accurately to their historical counterparts... And keep in mind I am an archery instructor, and we are known to be perfectionists.
Thus I spend a good amount of time writing historically accurate combat scenes for archery, but also for swords, axes, and other weapons.
Today I want to talk about the type of swords which appear in my Korovia books. Namely:
Short Sword
Sabre
Arming Sword
Bastard Sword
Longsword
The Grosseklinge (Greatsword)
The Short Sword
Sometimes spelled shortsword, this is a sword with a double-edged blade measuring typically 14 to 24 inches long. The handle is meant to be used by one hand only. Some shortswords are so small they could possibly be considered to be daggers.
The Sabre
A sword with a curved blade, with the single edged blade length being roughly 32 to 35 inches long. The handle is meant to be used by one hand only, and sometimes has a basket hilt or a handguard to protect the user's hands.
Note - There are also similar weapons like the cutlass, the scimitar, and the falchion. The falchion for example was roughly 38 inches long, and could be considered to be something similar to the bastard sword further below.
The Arming Sword
A standard sized sword (mistakenly called a "Longsword" in Dungeons & Dragons) with a straight double-edged blade about 28 to 38 inches long that tapers towards the end. Obviously there is a lot of variability in blade length with the arming sword, with the length of blade varying by as much as ten inches. It was possible to wield an arming sword with two hands (by gripping the pommel), but doing so meant the swordsman didn't really have proper leverage when swinging it.
Note - Historically there was no strict length of specific swords, so a lot of swords of varying lengths are classified as being arming swords. Most swords that appear in my Korovia stories, unless otherwise stated, are arming swords. So for example the elf Gyburn from "The Demon's Sacrifice" wields an arming sword called "Bonecleaver".
The Bastard Sword
A longer sword with a straight double-edged blade (sometimes called a 'hand-and-a-half sword') with a blade 40 to 48 inches long, but with a larger handle that typically measures 10 to 15 inches. The extra large handle means there is space for a second hand on the handle, and enough space that swinging the sword allowed to put extra force into the swing using leverage.
Note - So what happens if you find a sword that has a blade 39 inches long? Well, is it an arming sword or a bastard sword? Honestly, it depends on the handle. Does it have an arming sword handle, or a bastard sword handle? Not everything is perfectly cut and dried when it comes to swords, their lengths and their classifications.
The Longsword
This is the classic two-handed sword, similar to a claymore, with a straight double-edged blade about 49 to 65 inches long. The handle was meant for two-handed use, typically being 15 to 20 inches long, with the longer handle allowing the swordsman to put a lot more leverage into their swings.
Note - Like the arming sword there is a lot of variability in how long the blade can be and still count as a longsword. In Dungeons & Dragons this type of sword is often mistakenly called a "Greatsword", but this is inaccurate. The proper term is Longsword, and as you can see further below they should not be confused.
The Grosseklinge / Greatsword
This is the biggest of all swords (ignoring those wielded by ogres or giants, etc) available in Korovia, and historically. With an average blade length of 6 feet (72 inches), these swords had blades anywhere from 66 inches long to possibly 7 feet (84 inches). They were also so big that normal men couldn't wield them properly, requiring the swordsman to usually be at least six feet tall just to wield the smallest of Greatswords. Anyone too short would be prone to scraping or bumping the sword against the ground, damaging it.
Note - The hero Wrathgar (from my novel series The Adventures of Wrathgar) wields a traditional Grosseklinge sword from his tribe, the Baarstammderstark. He wields the sword in addition to a bearded axe and a longbow in the following books:
I found this question and answer on Yahoo! Answers and thought it was quite interesting so I thought I would share it here. For anyone who is also into medieval history they may find this very interesting. [I also corrected the typos from the original text and added some images I felt were suitable.]
The Question
How were wounds treated during medieval times, especially sword wounds?
The Answer
Depends on the era you are talking about. Early in medieval times and for the poor in later medieval times armor was light or non-existent. As such wounds were often to the head and torso. Limbs were amputated and swords were capable of slashing damage as well as blunt and piercing damage.
Against better armored opponents wounds were typically directed against the legs, face or crushing blows rather than piercing and slashing types of wounds. A common tactic was to bring your weapon in under the shield of an opponent against the lightly or unarmored legs. Once the opponent was down you could then deliver a killing blow.
Until the US Civil war casualties in battle were left where they lay unless they were high ranking or important people until after the battle was finished or unless they were mobile enough to retreat from the battlefield on their own power. Treating the wounded was considered a very minor consideration in a battle and also considered a waste of valuable manpower until the US Civil war when ambulance services first started. You see later in WW I that the same ambulance principles were adopted in Europe then late mostly post WW II in Asia. As such survival rates were low among the wounded until then. Medicine was very primitive early in the medieval times but later in the period surgeons became a common profession and proliferated among the armies.
Foreign matter was a big deal in those times as infections killed the majority of the wounded. Some ancient Celt and Greek units fought naked or mostly naked as it was felt that bits of cloth embedded in a wound were actually more dangerous than the enemies weapons themselves.
Animal urine was a common attempt to reduce infection rates at times and in some places. So too was sealing the wound with a brand thus cauterizing the wound and reducing external chances of infection.
Late in medieval times swords were in disfavor as battlefield weapons. They could not pierce the heavier armor of the day and were ineffective as slashing weapons again due to the better armor. They were favored primarily for symbolic use and against lightly armored opponents like peasants and non-European targets. In Japan and China due to the lack of metal armor Swords remained effective and favored weapons. They could do significant damage to the folded leather armor worn by enemies in the time period.
The weapons favored by soldiers late in medieval times were spears, pole axes, maces, flails, lances and especially the bow and arrow which has repeatedly been show the most lethal weapon on the battlefield all through the medieval times until being replaced by crossbows and firearms.
In the early days mostly there were attempts to staunch the wounds. If the injured took a crushing hit to the skull they might have drilled a hole in the skull to relieve pressure on the brain. Salves of various effectiveness would be applied to fight infections. Pain killers in the form of teas, booze and even opium in some areas would be given to the wounded to ease suffering. Then they waited. If an organ was pierced it was a slow agonizing death usually and invariably fatal. If too much blood was lost it was fatal. Infections were often fatal. Sometimes men would recover mostly from grievous wounds only to die of a hospital infection before they could get out away from the rest of the wounded. Bleeding was used at times and sometimes caused enough damage to kill a man who might otherwise have survived. Experimental medicine was common as most wounded were going to die anyway so any experimental chance was better than none.
Stitches were not common as there was little knowledge of antiseptics or the need for them. As such stitching a wound could in itself be more lethal than the wound was by causing an infection. Some sort of antiseptic had to be applied to even bother with attempts at stitches.
My Thoughts
I found the question and answer because I was looking for medieval treatments for tetanus - a common infection for sword, axe and arrow wounds - basically any kind of puncture wound is susceptible to getting infection. Often people died of tetanus after battles because there wasn't any quality treatments for the condition. The person who wrote the answer doesn't mention tetanus infections specifically, rather he just refers to infections - of which there many different kinds of infections people could die from after a battle.
I also wanted to note that sometimes warriors deliberately dipped arrowheads, swords, axes, etc in excrement in order to dramatically increase the likelihood of infection for their enemies. This was effectively a cheap kind of poison as anyone so wounded would likely die slowly (and very painfully) of infection even if they survived the battle.
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