On Arms And Armor
by Galyden vonRohrbach

Much has happened in Elanthia since the last issue of the Elanthian Times. With the introduction of dozens of new weapons and shields at the Ebon Gate festivals and auction last year, I am tempted to examine a few of them here. But, true to my word in the last issue, we will look at Elanthian swordsmen's most popular armor, brigandine, and the weapon chosen for discussion by reader input, the claidhmore.

While not widely used because of the strength and training required to effectively wield the weapon, claidhmore warriors are pious devotees to their blades. As a swordsman myself, I cannot undertake a discussion of the claidhmore without a moment of reverential pause. On a scale of one to ten, the most heavily weighted one-handed weapons in Elanthia rate a ten in ability to inflict critical wounds. An off-the-shelf claidhmore, at least until recently, rated near forty on that same scale. What aspects of the weapon throughout the mundane world's history caused the claidhmore to be so devastating a weapon in Elanthian combat?

The weapon pictured at left goes by a number of names, claymore being the most widely used today. Claymore is the anglicized form of the more appropriate term claidheamh mór, the Scottish Gaelic word meaning, literally, sword of great size. Today, you may still see army officers of Scottish regiments carrying one-handed, basket-hilted swords they name claymores, but this application of the name is erroneous. While the term claymore stayed with a slightly larger version of the Scottish basket-hilted broadsword (see my previous column in The Elanthian Times, Volume One, Issue 3), you will see below that the modern claymore has nothing in common with the true claidheamh mór.

The claidheamh mòr was a two-handed greatsword developed and used by Scottish highlanders in the 15th and 16th centuries. The claidheamh mór saw its greatest usage in the conflicts between 1500 and 1550. The claidheamh mór was designed to crush through even the thickest of chain and plate armor; woe be the unarmored opponent facing a claidheamh mór in the hands of someone who knows how to use one. Most claidheamh mórs were six feet long from tip to pommel and weighed as much as 20 pounds. By virtue of the amount of space needed to swing a claidheamh mór in battle, claidheamh mór wielders were afforded double the width in a battle formation over other swordsmen. The physical attributes that distinguish a true claidheamh mór from other greatswords and two-handed swords of the period are its long double-edged blade, downward slanting quillons, and quatrefoil terminals on the quillons.

As an aside for those of you with a penchant for etymology, or those simply interested in redesigning the look of the weapon you now carry (with a more highland look in mind), I offer you the Scottish Gaelic names for some of their other bladed weapons. In Scottish Gaelic, claid means sword. Mór means large, great, or broad. Crom means arched, bent, curved, or bowed. Caol means thin, lean, slender, or narrow. Thus, the names of their other bladed weapons become readily apparent: claid mór (broadsword); claid crom (saber), claid caol (small or short sword).

Brigandine armor has risen, through the years, to become the most popular armor of choice for non-warrior swordsmen in Elanthia. Brigandine's protection against blows is a vast improvement over leather armors, yet brigandine's likelihood to muffle elemental magic is still acceptably low. With the introduction of off-the-shelf padded and enchanted brigandine (pyrothag hide brigandine comes immediately to mind), this class of armor has become much sought after.

Brigandine, or brigantine as it was also known, has a rich history in the mundane world and its ease of use and relatively inexpensive price there mirrors the Elanthian world. Brigandine armor was used throughout Europe and could be crafted by anyone with access to merely sheet metal, small nails or rivets, and a hammer. Brigandine cam into widespread use at the end of the 14th Century. With the proliferation of firearms on the European battlefield beginning in the late 16th Century, the utility of brigandine as combat armor diminished rapidly; few references to brigandine in combat can be found after 1600.

Brigandine armor was usually constructed of small overlapping metal plates riveted (sometimes sewn) inside a cloth or canvas covering. Often, this cover was just a doublet or jacket, and in such cased the armor ensemble was called a jack; however, entire suits of brigandine were not uncommon. Once the plates were secured to the cloth with rivets, the garment was turned inside out such that the plates were against the wearer's body. The heads of the rivets protruded through the outside of the garment and were often polished or gilt as decoration.

Fastening these many small plates inside the outer garment was a laborious and painstaking process. A jack of brigandine on display in Madrid today, for example, comprises 3,827 separate plates and more than 7,000 rivets. Each individual plate was wider at the top than the bottom. The plates had to taper in this manner in order for the completed suit to conform to the natural curvature of the human body. Square or upwardly tapering plates created skirt and barrel-shaped suits of armor which, for reasons you surely understand, did not lend themselves to utility in melee combat. This process of construction allowed a brigandine-clad combatant to avail himself of great flexibility and freedom of movement lacking in both chain and plate armor, while still enjoying a significant amount of protection from blows and slashes. Early suits of brigandine fastened in the front like a shirt; later suits fastened along one or both sides. This improvement prevented the brigandine from being cut open by a superficial slash to the chest.

The name, brigandine, is not accidental. With the plates or scales attached to the inside of the cloth covering, the armor gave the appearance of a normal garment of clothing at a distance. For this reason brigandine was a popular choice of protection for thieves and brigands who would waylay unsuspecting travelers along country roads. The term brigandine derives directly from the popularity of the armor among brigands.

While brigandine diminished as a combative armor in the late middle ages, its popularity as a court or ceremonial armor soared. The protruding rivet heads already lent themselves to decoration and embellishment of even the most commonly crafted brigandine. As the armor became more popular for ceremonies, craftsmen began attaching jewels and precious metals to the armor. These decorations combined with the rivets created elaborate patterns which caused the brigandine to take on the look of artwork rather than just armor.

Editor's note -- The brigandine pictured in this article is purely fictional. It combines hard leather or metal shoulder plates with mail skirting around the sleeves and waist. The rivets have been blackened and flattened, in order to aid its wearer when hiding. This brigandine is loosely based on the forest green brigandine found in Elanthia, but it is not anywhere near an accurate representation of brigandine worn in the 14th century, being based on modern sets of brigandine. The claidmores pictured are based on various contemporary claymores, with wooden handles and steel blades.

Soliciting reader input into which items I review here was a tremendous success in the last issue. Accordingly, in the next installment of this column I will examine the weapon and shield most requested by you, the reader. Use the address attached to my signature at the bottom and vote for what you'd like to see more about. Until then, keep your guard up, and aim for the face.
-- Galyden