Hank Reinhardt's The Book of the Sword

by Hank Reinhardt

PARTS OF THE SWORD

  In discussing the sword most people like to start with the blade and separate it into three parts: the forte, which is the strong section of the blade near the hilt; the middle of the blade; and the foible, which is the weak section of the point. This is fine if you happen to be talking about rapiers or nothing but straight-bladed European weapons. If you happen to be talking about a kora it makes no sense at all. (The kora is a down-curved Nepalese blade that ends in two cusps.) To me, when talking about swords and sword design it makes more sense to divide the sword into two basic parts, and then subdivide them and discuss each.

  The two basic parts of the sword are the blade and the handle. The handle can be broken down into the grip, the guard (if it has one) and the pommel (if it has one).

  The blade can be broken down into the body of the sword, the edge, and the point. Now it is quite possible for the sword not to have a point, as in the case of the above mentioned kora. It can also not have an edge (many thrusting swords did not have edges).

  Even the kora shares the subdivision into two basic parts: blade and handle.

  The body of the sword, the blade, governs which working part, the point or the edge, is the most important, and it also governs how the sword is to be used in general.

  There is some confusion about the development of fighting styles and swords. I have encountered people who believe that the fighting style was projected, and the sword designed around it, and others who believed that the sword was developed and the style evolved around it. Both of these ideas are true, and both are false. Confusing, isn't it?

  The truth is that swords and fighting styles revolved and evolved around each other. This was particularly true in Europe, if less so in other parts of the world. A sword can have many purposes. It can be a cutting sword, it can be piercing sword, it can be both a cut and thrust weapon. It can be made to oppose lightweight armor, heavy mail, or even plate. It can be made to slice cleanly or to rip and tear, or even to crush. Japan, for instance, developed a particularly effective sword that was suited for their early forms of combat. Fighting and dueling styles evolved around this sword, and the sword remained essentially the same for close to a thousand years. Now, I know that the purist will scream that there were many differences over the years. But all of these differences are rather subtle, and to the casual observer, they all look pretty much the same.

  The basic parts of a handle—grip, guard and pommel—may be further subdivided, as this drawing of a rapier demonstrates.

  Europe, however, seemed to revel in constantly trying new sword forms. This was due to constantly shifting and improving armor, as well as to changing tactics and concepts on the battlefield. Social changes allowed the carrying of swords during the normal course of the day, and this also caused differences in the style of swords. But it is not the purpose of this book to discuss all of the relevant sociological changes that took place. Nor, as it has been previously stated, to discuss the history of the European sword. Ewart Oakeshott has covered this better than anyone else, and I strongly recommend his books. You should start with The Archeology of Weapons.

  THE EDGE

  For a sword that has a cutting function, the working part of the blade is the edge. There is nothing mysterious about an edge, it is simply a wedge. It cuts by exerting a tremendous amount of pressure on a very small area. It will also cut when the blade is slid along material being cut. This is a result of both the wedge and the friction that the blade encounters. In addition to this, in many blades there will be very tiny teeth (when observed through a microscope), and these act as a saw by actually tearing the material.

  Now, not wishing to be particularly bloody, I still have to point out that the sword is basically designed to cut flesh and bone. However, most people are rather reluctant to be cut, so they make many efforts to defend themselves with armor. So the swordmaker has to take into account the armor that his sword will be facing. This is reflected in the type of edge, as well as the shape and dimensions of the sword.

  But let's look at the edge.

  The edge of a sword must have support, and it must have mass to allow it to cut. The mass is achieved by either the width or the thickness of the blade, and this also supports the edge. Generally speaking a thin, flat blade will cut quite well. When a blade cuts into a substance, it must displace the substance it is cutting. Therefore, it is an advantage for the blade to be flat, and thus offer less resistance. There are problems with blades that are too thin. The temper of these blades must be exactly right. If the blade is too hard and not flexible enough, it will break. If it is too flexible, then the blade will flex during the cut, and may even turn slightly and thus not hit the object properly. In the many years that I have been playing with swords, I have seen both. I have encountered one sword that is extremely flexible and have seen a gentleman in India so skilled in its use that he could cut a lime while a friend stood on it, and not take off his friend's foot. But this takes skill and practice time far beyond that allotted to the ordinary soldier. Nor would it work particularly well in battle, as there is not the time to get set up.

  Another way to overcome the resistance that the blade will encounter is the hollow ground blade. Although we usually think of a hollow ground blade in terms of a razor, many of the old blades are also ground this way. This type of grind has certain advantages. It lightens the blade, yet keeps it stiff and strong. On a double-edged blade this allows for an excellent cutting action, while keeping the rigidity needed for effective thrusting.

  Cross-sections of hollow ground blades.

  In Westminster Abbey there is a truly beautiful little sword that is believed to have belonged to Henry V. This sword has a flat blade with a ridge in the center, and the grind that is called hollow ground. It is a very fast sword. I had an exact copy made for me, and the little blade is unbelievably fast. It would be quite effective against mail armor. One must always remember that not everyone on the battlefield wore plate.

  Reproduction Henry V sword. Photo by Peter Fuller.

  Reproduction falchion. HRC74.

  Reproduction sword; note the fuller. HRC53.

  But any flat or hollow ground blade will generally not be as strong as a blade with a greater thickness and more support for the edge. As with everything in life, you have a trade-off. The thicker the blade the stronger, but thickness comes with an increase in resistance and greater weight. The secret is, of course, a compromise between the two.

  This is why many European swords have flat grinds. The single-edged swords, such as a falchion, are almost always flat ground, with wide, flat blades. The double-edged knightly sword, if it has a fuller—a groove down the blade—will have a flat grind from the fuller to the edge.

  The fuller, by the way, has nothing to do with channeling blood from your enemy. It is there to lighten the sword blade, while still leaving enough metal to support the edge.

  The Japanese did an excellent job of combining cutting power and strength. On most European swords, the blade is ground almost to the edge. Then a different bevel, called the cutting bevel, is put on the final edge. The Japanese forego this last step, and grind the blade down to create a very sharp edge.

  HOW THE SWORD WILL BE USED

  Now that we have named the parts of the sword, we can take each type of sword in turn. But we must also look at how the sword is intended to be used, since form follows function. Swords can be roughly broken down to: cutting swords, thrusting swords, and cut-and-thrust swords. Actually they can be broken down much, much further, but that isn't necessary in a discussion of design.

  THRUSTING SWORDS

  In thrusting swords, and in cut-and-thrust weapons where the thrust is the dominant feature, care must be taken that the point is effective. In many swords that are designed to go up against both plate and mail, you will often have a point that is thicker than the rest of the blade. This reinforced point is excellent for splitting the links of mail, both butted and riveted. It can also find the small openings
in the plate armor and force its way in. This reinforcement is found on swords, but also in spears and the spikes of many polearms.

  Sword with point thicker than rest of blade: top view is side-on; bottom view is silhouette as seen from above.

  Reinforced point on polearm. HRC70.

  The point acts as a wedge and, due to the small surface area, will exert many tons of force on a small area. But the point must also have the support of a stiff blade in order to exert the force needed to penetrate. Even the unarmored human body can offer a surprising amount of resistance if the thrust is not straight on or a bone is hit.

  RAPIERS

  The most obvious sword that one thinks of in regards to thrusting is the rapier. Hollywood has made it seem that the rapier must have a highly flexible blade. How many times have you seen the hero flexing his rapier before engaging in a deadly duel with the villain? Hollywood was so in love with fencing that it borrowed many fencing conventions and passed them off as real combat methods. Many fencers will flex their blades before a bout. This limbers up the blade, and it will also give it a slight set. This slight bend will allow a fencer to go over an opponent's blade, while it will also assure that the blade will bend, which you want in a sport fencing blade. Fencing swords are designed not to hurt people, exactly the opposite of real swords. A good fighting rapier needs to be stiff enough to puncture, but not so stiff as to be brittle should the sword be hit a hard blow in a parry to drive it aside. This combination of stiffness and flexibility must be achieved through tempering. Merely adding material to the sword blade to make it stiffer only adds weight, and this would slow down a rapier.

  Spanish cuphilt rapier, circa 1750, 47 inches overall length. HRC25A.

  As the rapier became established as the European civilian weapon of choice, starting in the 1500s, efforts were made to improve it. This led, at first, to extremely long rapier blades, swords with a blade length of 54 inches, or even more. The idea was that if your blade was longer, then you had a chance of hitting your opponent before he hit you. This is only partially correct, as a slightly longer blade helped, but not a great deal. It was found that they were quite clumsy, and an opponent could close inside the point and then you were at his mercy. Just as bad, and maybe even worse, they were damnably hard to wear, as you were forever knocking over things and causing people to trip. Having attended some events where many were wearing rapiers, I can testify that they can be quite annoying when the wearer does not hold it close to his body.

  As a fencing style of swordplay became more and more popular as a method for settling various disagreements of a serious social nature, efforts were made to improve the sword. Early in the 17th century the cup hilt was developed, and then the dish hilt. Various blade lengths and sections were tried, until the small sword was developed. This is considered by many to be the ultimate fencing weapon. Generally a hollow triangle in cross section, with a blade length between 31–36 inches, it was very light and very fast. One variation, called the "colichemarde," had a blade that thickened at the forte of the blade. This allowed it to be used to parry cuts from heavy blades. Although, as stated, it was quite fast, it suffered from the problem of not having any edges. In a really nasty fight this made gripping the blade a viable and useful tactic.

  The colichemarde blade thickens at the forte of the blade.

  THE TUCK

  However, this was done to another kind of thrusting sword, the tuck or the estoc from northern Europe. This long, straight sword of the 15th century was intended solely for thrusting and the earlier versions were designed to penetrate armor, either mail or plate. Some of the later versions do not have quite the thick, heavy blades of the earlier models, but have blades that are almost heavy rapiers. Many think that these weapons were the ancestor of the rapier, but I do not think it is possible to know this for sure.

  As an interesting side note: many are not aware that the Turks used a large number of estocs. There are many in the museums in Istanbul. Although I have not been fortunate enough to study them personally, a fellow sword lover has sent me some photos and descriptions. They are impressive, and are truly bars of sharpened steel. The blades appear to be about one-half inch in thickness, square in section, with a smooth, even taper and a very strong point. You have no doubt that in the hands of a strong man it would penetrate plate armor.

  Swiss tuck, 50.25 inches overall length. HRC25C.

  CUTTING SWORDS

  Not all swords are for thrusting, and for many the primary purpose is the cut. Even so, there are very few who wish to do away with the point entirely. Thus cut-and-thrust swords have a point, just not as pronounced as on the thrusting sword. The blade in back of the point is somewhat wider, and thus able to give a stronger blow than the narrow blade of a thrusting sword. It is an effective sword, doing both cutting thrusting with equal facility.

  But there is one type of point that has been generally ignored, and that is the cutting point. I know that it sounds like a contradiction in terms, but it really isn't.

  When you cut with a sword you usually try to hit with the optimal striking point. This is the area of the blade where you will encounter the least amount of vibration. This is the same as the sweet spot on a baseball bat or a tennis racket. Swords will have two such spots, one well up the blade and one close to the hilt. To find them all you need to do is to tap the sword on a stump or something of that nature (whatever you do, don't use a piece of furniture; wives are quite unreasonable about this sort of thing). When you find the area that does not produce vibration, this is the sweet spot. When you strike with this area you are able to deliver the greatest amount of force to the given area. But there is a problem with this. When you strike with this area, you are effectively shortening your sword. I have a superb recent copy of an early medieval sword. The blade is 32 inches long. However, the sweet spot is only 22 inches from the hilt. When I strike with this section, I am reducing the length of my sword. This is true with swords such as the katana, which don't have very long blades to start with. Now, the katana overcomes this problem easily. The Japanese developed a very effective cutting technique.

  The sweet spot is indicated on this reproduction cut-and-thrust sword. HRC181.

  The sweet spot is indicated on this katana. HRC105.

  But we are talking about the design of swords. So look at the history and the development of the rapier to small sword, and then look at the Japanese katana.

  There is no question that the katana is perfectly suited for the style of combat in which it is used. A relatively short blade (about 28 inches average) with a two-handed handle, it was capable of delivering some truly terrifying cuts, and also some perfectly acceptable thrusts. The sword was in use for close to a thousand years, and in that time there was very little change other than in materials and the skill of manufacture.

  Japan, having a very stable (some might say static) culture, with very little outside contact, saw no reason to change. Whereas Europe, quite dynamic, with plenty of outside contact, was constantly changing.

  If you cut with a broad-bladed strongly tapering medieval style sword you will use the optimal striking area. Should you happen to hit with the top 3–6 inches of the blade, you will not be able to deliver a very strong cut. A thickened thrusting point produces a great deal of drag, enough to reduce the depth of the cut fifty percent or even more.

  The katana has a point that is rounded, and every bit as sharp as the rest of the sword. This allows a cut with no drag, as the point slices its way through the material. In most cases the katana was used so that the attacks were made with the front 6 inches of the sword. This also prevented the sword from being hung up in the body of the opponent. Remember, we are talking war and killing. People do not remain still when hit with a sharp sword, and it is possible for the sword to be trapped in the body, and pulled from the hand. This was also one of the reasons that the curved cavalry saber was popular.

  This rounded cutting point is, however, also quite effective in the thrust.
The edges of the curve are sharp and are able to penetrate well by simply cutting its way in. The shape of the point, almost a quarter circle, is quite strong, and with sufficient force able to cut through mail.

  Katana (left) and Viking (right) points.

  Now, I can't say that the development of the curved point was done deliberately; it could have easily been accidental. But it does work.

  But the Japanese were not the only ones to develop a cutting point. The Europeans did it, particularly the Vikings. It has often been said that the Vikings and the medieval knight did not know about the thrust. This is based on the frequency of somewhat rounded points and that it is often said that the Viking and medieval sword are "far too heavy to fence with."

  Well, that's true, they are too heavy to fence with. But they were never made for fencing, they were made for fighting and killing your enemy. As for thrusting, the Vikings used spears a great deal, and the sagas record many instances of someone thrusting his sword into his opponent's body.

  For instance, in Njal's Saga, one sea battle is related that occurred between Hrut and Atli Arnvidarson, who was a pirate. When the two fleets converged and Atli found out that Hrut served King Harald Grey Cloak, battle was imminent. Atli remarked that, "your Norwegian kings have had much for my father and myself." And Hrut replied, "That's your hard luck, not theirs." Atli snatched up a spear and hurled it at Hrut's ship, where it struck a man and killed him. That was the beginning of the battle and it was quite a fierce one. The pirates had trouble gaining a foothold on Hrut's ship. Ulf the Unwashed (wonderful name, that) was laying about him with sword and spear when one of Atli's men, called Asolf, leapt on to Hrut's ship before Hrut became aware of him and turned to face him. Asolf lunged with his spear and drove it through Hrut's shield before Hrut, with a single blow, killed him. Ulf the Unwashed remarked, "That was a heavy blow, Hrut." At that very moment Atli noticed a gap in Ulf's defense and hurled a spear that went right through him. So the Vikings knew all about the dynamics of the thrust.