Additional fun fact: The reason for the stereotypical sword shape is so that knights could stab it into the ground and use it as a cross so they could pray wherever they were.
I'm sure that that was a side part of it but the stereotypical sword didn't come around for a while when the cross guard was added. The cross guard gave it the shape while provided extra protection to the swords wielder.
True, however as you just stated, that was prior to the stereotypical sword shape. Old cross guards were actually round so as to protect the user's entire hand, and the new one, popularized by medieval knights, actually took away that benefit in favor of the dual religious usage.
And also as in middle eastern and asian swords. Although there are some middle eastern swords that had the cross guard, those didn't come into popularity until after European implementation.
Are you talking about ring guards? Those were placed on either side of the cross guard to protect the back of your hands when you gripped it. Not so sure on the credence of the prayer theory, These were weapons, and in the case of tools meant for harm, designs that prevailed were ones that were practical and got the job done. A circular guard on a sword is more likely to make the opponent's strike bounce off into your arms. Swords that did a whole lot of stabbing preferred that kind of guard, since it acted as good protection for a hand holding it. A crossguard catches the blade, rather than throwing it off to the side anywhere near your arms.
Also stabbing your very expensive sword into the ground where rocks and sand grate at it, with moisture and water collecting on it, was a bad idea. It makes upkeep of an already surprisingly fragile weapon more difficult. Sword fighting was less of swords smacking into one another and more of knights trying to manhandle each other to the ground so they stab you through the chinks in your armor. I could see the knights praying to their swords, but I wouldn't think they would stab them into the ground. Another reason they might've preferred the cross-guard was because it gave the sword another edge: it could cut with the edge, pierce with the point, and smash away with the pommel and crossguard like a hammer. A attack with the crossguard was utilized using half-swording, and was called the murder stroke.
That sounds more like knife/dagger fighting than sword fighting because it's kinda awkward trying to poke someone with a yardstick when you're straddling them.
Has to be, when the other guy is wearing plate armor and all you've got is a sword and knife, you aren't going to cut or pierce anything unless it's through the chinks in his armor. When you got a knight on the floor, you got him to surrender or you started doing the stabby stabby into his face with your poniard.
Swords were developed from the dagger so it had practical uses in early years outside of war and to kill humans but by the time it became the stereotypical sword we know of today then it was mostly used for only war. There are hunting swords and they were used heavily between the 17th and 19th centuries.
(I know I'm late for this but whatever)
It is believed that amongst the first weapons specifically designed to kill humans, there was a stick on wood on which fossil shark teeth have been attached. It has been designed somewhere during the Prehistory.
http://images.asadart.com/sources/com/halloweenexpress/images/imagecache/768-541-BE07.jpg
It is believed that amongst the first weapons specifically designed to kill humans, there was a stick on wood on which fossil shark teeth have been attached. It has been designed somewhere during the Prehistory.