EDITOR'S NOTE: As always, this series of articles is designed to educate the average Elanthian on the real world history and nature of each item detailed, to place them in a better context for those who use them in the Lands.

Author's Note: All pictures accompanying this article were provided by Ardwen Ydwenson, selected specifically for this article. His assistance is greatly appreciated.

The Anatomy of the Sword

The sword was the preeminent hand weapon through a long period of history. The weapon had a long metal blade, longer than a dagger, fitted with a handle or hilt, and was usually equipped with a guard. The entire affair varied greatly in length, breadth, and configuration.

The sword became differentiated from the dagger during the Bronze Age (c. 3000 BC), when copper and bronze weapons were produced with long, leaf-shaped blades and with hilts consisting of an extension of the blade in handle form.

By Roman times the hilt was distinct from the short, flat blade, most often separated by a knob-like guard or small crosspiece. The swords of medieval Europe (approximately 500 to 1500 AD) evolved from steel Celtic swords, which in turn arose from a tradition of straight, double-edged swords, beginning with bronze swords as early as 1500 BC.

During the European Middle Ages the weapon acquired its most commonly recognized basic forms. The heavy sword of medieval chivalry had a large hilt. The weapon was often equipped with a grip large enough to fit both hands, with a large protective guard or pommel at the top. The blade was straight, double-edged, and pointed. It was fabricated using a process that converted the iron into mild steel by the addition of a small amount of carbon then shaping the blade with repeated firing and hammering.

Nearly all of the earliest medieval swords and many throughout the period were designed to cut, using a slashing or chopping strike. They were designed with thin blades, especially towards the tip, which was often rounded. By the close of the Middle Ages, swords increased in thickness and weight and were more sharply pointed, being optimized for the thrust.

The technology of armor improved throughout the Middle Ages until the shield became redundant and sword design began to change. Swords design changed so weapons became much heavier and were equipped with hilts that effectively accommodated both hands.

General Nomenclature

Annellet or Finger-ring
The small loops extending toward the blade from the quillions intended to protect a finger wrapped over the guard. They developed in the Middle Ages and can be found on many styles of Late-Medieval swords. They are common on Renaissance cut and thrust swords, rapiers, and also several types of small-sword. They are also termed, incorrectly, the "pas d`ane".

Back
The back is the part of the blade opposite the edge. Double-edged swords have no back.

Blade
This term refers to the "working" part of the sword, being essentially a form of the inclined plane. While the blades of medieval Europe are generally straight and have two sharpened edges, single edged forms are also known, particularly from the Viking Age.

Outside of the European Middle Ages, a diversity of blade forms may be encountered. Examples include curved double edged blades like the shotel, curved blades with the cutting edge on the convex side of the curve such as the saber, curved blades with the cutting edge on the concave side of the curve such as the yataghan, and undulating double edged blades such as the keris. Non-edged blades also exist, such as the estoc. Very early blades were often of Bronze, with the transition to iron and steel blades occurring at about 700 to 500 BC as metallurgical techniques advanced.

Compound-hilt or Complex-guard
A term used for the various forms of hilt found on Renaissance and some late-Medieval swords. They consist typically of finger-rings, side-rings or ports, a knuckle-bar, counter-guards, or back-guards. Swept-hilts, ring-hilts, cage-hilts, and some basket hilts are forms of complex-guard.

Cross
The typically straight bar or "guard" of a Medieval sword, also called a "cross-guard". A Renaissance term for the straight or curved cross-guard was the quillons (possibly from an old French or Latin term for a type of reed).

Crossguard
Refers to the element of the hilt adjacent to and perpendicular to the blade. While a straight bar of iron or steel with a central inletting for the tang of the blade to pass through was commonly employed, variously curved and tapering forms are also encountered. In some swords pre-dating the Vikings, the cross-guard was composed of organic material such as wood, horn or bone, sandwiched between two metal plates.

Edge
This is the sharpened portion of the blade. A sword may be single or double-edged. For example, a Japanese katana has a single edge but a Scottish claymore is sharpened on both sides.

Ferrule
Refers to metallic, often bronze, bands or rings overlying and retaining the opposite ends of the grip. On much later swords, ferrules of intricately interwoven wire are termed Turk's heads, a metaphor remaining from the time when turbans were in style in Turkey.

Foible
A Renaissance term for the upper portion on a sword blade, which is weaker, or "feeble," but has more agility and speed and does most of the attacking.

Forte
Forte is a Renaissance term that refers to the lower portion of a sword blade, which has more control and strength and which does most of the parrying. Also called prime or fort.

Fuller
A shallow central groove or channel on a blade that lightens it as well as improves its flex. Sometimes mistakenly called a "blood-run" or "blood-groove", it has nothing to do with blood flow, cutting power, or a blade sticking. Aside from decorative intents, the purpose is to minimize blade weight with a minimal sacrifice of strength.

A sword might have one, none, or several fullers running a portion of its length, on either one or both sides. Narrow, deep fullers are also sometimes referred to as flukes. The opposite of a fuller is a riser or ridge, which improves a blade's rigidity.

Grip
Refers to the portion of the hilt assembly covering the tang, which is grasped by the sword bearer's hand. Grips may be contoured for security and comfort and or after fashion. A core of wood or horn usually forms the bulk of the grip, although metal is not unknown, covering the narrower tang. Wood and horn were likely chosen for their shock absorbing capabilities as well as for workability.

In medieval European contexts, most often this core is a single cylinder of wood, painstakingly hollowed out to snugly fit over the tang. In other examples, two wooden halves join in the plane of the edges of the blade. The core of the grip was usually covered with leather or coverings of metal plates, however, wire and fabric are also sporadically encountered.

Hilt
The hilt is the lower portion of a sword consisting of the cross-guard, handle/grip, and pommel. Most Medieval swords have a straight cross or cruciform-hilt.

Langet
Refers to an extension of the cross-guard towards the blade, which overlies the base of the blade, leaving room for the mouth of the scabbard to slip in-between. This is usually a feature of later swords and, besides being a decorative element, may serve both to secure the sword within the scabbard as well as acting as a rain guard.

Lower end
The tip portion of a medieval sword

Lower guard
A term generally used in conjunction with hilts of the Viking Age or Migration Period and refers to the cross-guard, or other hilt element between the forte of the blade and the grip. Among Viking Age swords, iron is most frequently encountered as the base metal of which the lower guard is made, although it may be covered with bronze, silver or gold, often applied in narrow strips. Solid bronze lower guards may also be found. In some cases the lower guard will be of iron, while the upper guard and or pommel will be fashioned of a softer metal.

Pommel
Refers to the finial, disc or knob which terminates the uppermost (as worn vertically) part of the hilt and which is opposite the blade. The pommel serves to reinforce and secure the user's grip on the hilt and also serves as a counterweight to the blade, bringing the center of gravity closer to the hilt. While pommels formed of wood, bone, stone and crystal are known, metals such as iron or bronze are most frequently encountered.

While pommels are found on bronze swords and may be prominent on Hallstatt or Roman swords, in the era before the Viking Age, many swords lack a pommel, per se, with the upper portion of the hilt being formed of a tang button securing an upper guard to the tang of the sword.

Viewing the sequence of development into the Viking Age, it appears that pommels may have re-evolved through a continuous enlargement of this tang button. Earlier Viking Age swords had both a pommel and adjacent upper guard, but in later examples the upper guard and pommel became fused to form a single element, which retained the name pommel. It is this form from which the later medieval forms of pommel developed.

By the early Norman Period, Brazil nut and disc shaped pommels better contoured to secure the grip were adopted. The pommel’s counterbalancing function becomes increasingly prominent as the medieval era progresses. At the very end of the medieval period, tang buttons reappeared as a hilt feature and secured pommels that were pierced or slotted to slide onto the end of the tang.

Quillion or Quillon
A Renaissance term for the two cross-guards (forward and back) whether straight or curved. It is likely from an old French or Latin term for a reed. On Medieval swords the cross guard may be called simply the "cross", or just the "guard".

Ricasso
Refers to an unsharpened area at the root of the blade immediately adjacent to the guard and forming a transition between the sharpened portion of the blade and the tang.

While late medieval blades, particularly those formed by stock removal (grinding), may have a short ricasso, ricassos are usually a feature of Renaissance and later blades. The area of the ricasso is generally slightly thicker than the sharpened part of the blade. The width of the ricasso relative to the width of the blade varies greatly, depending on the sword’s design. Fullers usually do not extend into the ricasso. Maker's or Smith’s marks may frequently be found on the ricasso.

Ridge or Riser
The opposite of a fuller, a ridge or riser is designed to strengthen a blade by increasing its rigidity. This is most often encountered on heavier, two-handed blades or short blades meant for stabbing or parrying.

Shoulder
This term refers to the corner portion of a sword that separates the blade from the tang.

Tang
Refers to the unsharpened end of the sword blade, which is covered by the grip and other components of the hilt or handle. The tang will usually taper in width and thickness from the area of the lower guard or quillion block towards the pommel.

The heat treatment of the tang will favor malleability over the brittleness, which accompanies increasing hardness. In some cases, the tang will even be of different composition and welded to the root of the blade. Maker's marks may occasionally be found on the tang.

Tang button or Tang nut
This term refers to the rivets, bolts, and/or nuts that pierce the handle’s material, be it wood or horn. These hold the handles to the tang securely, and are often ground flush to the handle to keep the gripping surface smooth.

On some types of swords an exceptionally large tang button has replaced the pommel. Some pommels are also designed to slip over the end of the grip, only to be fastened securely by a tang button.

Tip
The tip is the end of the sword furthest away from the hilt. Most swords taper to a point at the tip, but some blade lines are straight until the very tip.

Upper end
The hilt portion of a medieval sword

Upper guard
Like the term lower guard, is used in the context of Migration Period and Viking Age swords and refers to that element of the hilt adjacent to the grip but opposite the blade, lying between the grip and pommel (on those swords where pommels are also present). The upper guard is usually shorter than the lower guard and decorated in a similar manner.

Waisted-grip
Refers to a specially shaped handle on some bastard or hand-and-a-half swords. Consists of a slightly wider middle, which tapers towards the pommel.

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