The edge of the broken sword

[golok]

I have seen it in movies and I have heard about it from people who seem to know. What I am referring to is the broken sword. Perhaps in the course of a heated sword-fight, one duelist's sword is broken.

What he has left is a 13-inch "half-sword", so to speak.
Can it be still as lethal as an unbroken one?

The Chinese movies love to play this theme. The swordsman with the broken sword seem to do better and is ultimately deadlier.
But we know that's movies.

The bottom line is, I guess, the skill displayed and how an expert swordsman can adapt to a changing situation.

Can one actually use a broken sword to one's advantage?

 

[Ferrous Wheel]

If yer in a fight to the death or something and your sword breaks, you have few options:
1. die
2. get another sword or grapple opponents away if possible
3. run away
4, use the broken sword.

The 'broken sword kill' in movies is IMHO used to convey a point of miscalculation on the part of the other fighter, the one who broke the sword. He feels confident that the sword and the will of the opponent are broken, and that only some finishing move is required to kill. He begins to gloat, then gets a shard of steel in the gut. I think the latest movie to have the broken sword kill was Fellowship of the Rings, in which Isildur uses the shard of the sword Narsil to cut the one ring from Sauron's hand.

An alternative to the broken sword is the bent one. IN viking sagas, swords forged too soft would bend in battle and have to be straightened by stepping on them. so a softer sword will bend under stress, and a sword too hard will shatter like glass. The breaking makes for better cinematography, I guess.

Keith

 

[Stuart McDermid]

Hi There,

Quite a few Scottish Dirks were Historically made out of broken swords. Unfortunately we have little idea of how they were used.

If you are fighting someone with a full length sword whilst wielding only a dirk length weapon (20 inches or so) you are at an extreme disadvantage even at close quarters. The sword wielder can hit you in the legs with impunity.
Cheers,
Stu.