What is a sword?

2

2d_edge

Joined
Mar 26, 2000
Messages
211
How long should it be to be considered a sword? How about Busse Combat "Battle Mistress" or "Khukuris" are they knives or swords? What exactly is a sword? Thanks in advance for any information.

2d_edge
AKTI Member # A001059
My Knives Photos

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"Never wrestle with a pig. You both get dirty but only the pig enjoys it."

I'm sorry I post this in the wrong forum, pls. feel free to move this. (edit)


[This message has been edited by 2d_edge (edited 07-29-2000).]
 
A sword is a "long" bladed weapon with a handle rather than being mounted on a shaft. It is used as a primary sidearm. Swords come from so many cultures that the configurations are virtually endless. Some cultures also have long-blade cutting tools that are not primarily side arms and are therefore not "swords". In general a large sickle is not a sword, while a large kukuri used as a weapon might be.

In general I figure a long knife used as a primary weapon becomes a short sword when the blade is somewhere over 12 inches long. For example I figure a WWI sword bayonet like the P14 Enfield with a 17 inch blade is a "short sword", but the same length 17th century "left hand dagger" used in conjunction with a rapier is not. In the case of the bayonet it is the soldiers primary cutting weapon while the left hand dagger is used more for parrying and as an auxiliary to the primary sword. When you get to the far east and deal with parangs, krisses, and barongs it all gets more confused.

I guess one of the rules is that if you've got it in your hand and you say "it's a sword" I'll let you have your way.


[This message has been edited by Jeff Clark (edited 07-29-2000).]
 
from Merriam-Webster OnLine http://www.m-w.com/home.htm

knife

Etymology: Middle English knif, from Old English cnIf, perhaps from Old Norse knIfr; akin to Middle
Low German knIf knife
Date: before 12th century
1 a : a cutting instrument consisting of a sharp blade fastened to a handle
b : a weapon resembling a knife
2 : a sharp cutting blade or tool in a machine
3 : SURGERY 4 -- usually used in the phrase under the knife
- knife·like adjective

sword

Etymology: Middle English, from Old English sweord; akin to Old High German swert sword
Date: before 12th century
1 : a weapon (as a cutlass or rapier) with a long blade for cutting or thrusting that is often used as a
symbol of honor or authority
2 a : an agency or instrument of destruction or combat
b : the use of force <the pen is mightier than the sword -- E. G. Bulwer-Lytton>
3 : coercive power
4 : something that resembles a sword
- sword·like adjective
- at swords' points : mutually antagonistic : ready to fight
 
A machete is either a big knife or a hack-slashing sword, depending on the circumstances. And you can really annoy a Japanese sword-purist by treating a traditionally-crafted wakizashi or tanto as a knife, and carving the Thanksgiving turkey with it.

I'll throw in more confusion and suggest that the sword, the dagger, and the knife have completely separate origins in the depths of time.

The knife is the oldest peculiarly human-made tool, originally made of some suitable rock, like flint or obsidian, and in that form is a wee bit brittle for use as a weapon.

The dagger, a thrusting weapon, begins as a short pointed stick, in the same family as a spear. but for really close quarters mayhem.

The sword is an adaptation of the basic bludgeon. A wooden war club with a flat cross-section concentrates the impact on the edge. If you make the war club from bronze you can really concentrate the blow on a really narrow edge and possibly sever bones instead of crushing them.

As we move out of the stone age, and especially into the iron age, these three separate objects can merge into one, in the intent of the maker or the user.


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- JKM
www.chaicutlery.com
AKTI Member # SA00001


[This message has been edited by James Mattis (edited 07-30-2000).]
 
For me it has come down to question of form and function. A sword is not a big knife. It is primarily a weapon rather than a tool.

If you look at a sword you will notice that the edge is far less sharp then it would be on a knife (and yes that include the Japanese wonder weapons). The blade also tend to be longer, lighter, and more flexable then it would be on a big knife. This is an instrument designed to handle precussion and stress, while providing the maximum of speed and reach.

Complicating our discussion is a catagory of edgeware that was specifically intended to serve as a compromise between a weapon and a tool. The hanger, sidearm, or pioneer weapon; can be anywhere between a short sword and a large knife.

Here's an example:
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=639242&a=7326888

[This message has been edited by not2sharp (edited 07-30-2000).]
 
You know, I was going to use a wakizashi as an example of an Asian weapon that confuses the boundary between dirk and sword, but I couldn't come close enough to the spelling to even look up the spelling in my dictionary.
 
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