Tell Techno.

Started by Techno, 22 August 2018, 01:30:39 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Westmarcher

Quote from: Techno on 14 December 2018, 08:03:56 AM
Throughout the periods, where the sword was the 'main' or secondary weapon of choice....Would a right handed chap always have worn the scabbard on the left hip.
My thought is, that it would be far easier/quicker to reach across your body.

If a soldier was carrying a long spear, or similar, in his right hand at the start of a battle.....and he had a large shield being carried on the left arm, would that ever have meant that it would be 'better' to have the scabbard on his right hip, so he didn't have to reach behind the shield ?

Depends on the length of the sword, perhaps? I would say it would be easier for a right handed person to have the scabbard on the left but apparently the Roman gladius was worn on the right (see video at 1.14, below)

I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.

Techno

Thanks chaps !!

Cheers - Phil

Duke Speedy of Leighton

Romans sword was carried on the right. Reason being it was drawn in the left and held there until the pila were used up.
You may refer to me as: Your Grace, Duke Speedy of Leighton.
2016 Pendraken Painting Competion Participation Prize  (Lucky Dip Catagory) Winner

Ithoriel

I believe the wearing of the gladius on the right was to avoid fouling of the draw with the scutum and/or to avoid jostling neighbours in close formations.

As shields grew smaller, swords grew longer and formations more open Roman foot soldiers took to carrying their swords on the left. It is often asserted that this was formally approved for all ranks by Septimus Severus somewhere either side of 200AD but I've seen no actual evidence for that.

I doubt legionaries drew with their left hand, at least as standard practice.
There are 100 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who can work from incomplete data

Techno

Interesting.

Thanks again, chaps.

Cheers - Phil

FierceKitty

Just off the top of my balding head, perhaps if you were jammed up against a foeman, your shield might be pressed against your body and render a sword on the left impossible to reach, let alone draw?
I don't drink coffee to wake up. I wake up to drink coffee.

Last Hussar

If that is the case you have a very effective weapon in the shield. If you are waiting that late until you draw your sword you're an idiot. And even then you wouldn't be able to use it- it becomes very one dimensional, and the enemy is already inside your point.
I have neither the time or the crayons to explain why you are wrong.

GNU PTerry

O Dinas Powys

Quote from: Westmarcher on 14 December 2018, 09:46:57 AM
Depends on the length of the sword, perhaps? I would say it would be easier for a right handed person to have the scabbard on the left but apparently the Roman gladius was worn on the right (see video at 1.14, below)



I'm sure it's probably, but it looks a very cack-handed and awkward-looking way of doing it!  :-\

I have seen re-enactors grip the sword, twist it so that the blade is orientated up then draw it using a sharp, downwards motion.  Since he gladius is quite short and worn high on the hip there is plenty of clearance for the blade and it comes out in the blink of an eye.  Unfortunately I can't find any video or pictorial evidence for this technique  :-[ ;)

Cheers!

Meirion
(I know, even though it's fantasy  :o  ;)  )

Techno

OK.

I can picture that technique, Meirion, Ta  :)....and I've just looked up the length of a gladius (24-27 inches...60-68cm.)

How long was the sword that 'Joe average' would have been able to wield, throughout history ?.....Up to about 3 feet ?

Cheers - Phil

Westmarcher

Still on the gladius (sorry, Phil, can't give you a definitive answer on later sword lengths), another video which includes a demonstration of drawing the gladius (although I think he cheats slightly) together with evidence of wearing the sword on either hip (officers often wore theirs on the left). I didn't watch the whole video (got what I wanted within the first 4 minutes) so I don't know what the conclusion was regarding wearing swords on the back.

I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.

Ithoriel

16 December 2018, 12:17:53 PM #130 Last Edit: 16 December 2018, 12:27:30 PM by Ithoriel
The spatha, which superseded the gladius as the legionaries main weapon, was roughly 0.75m to 1m (approx 29" - 39") long. Of that 150mm - 200mm (approx 6" - 8") would be the hilt.

The spatha was the model for European swords through to the 10th/11th centuries.

Blade lengths for Japanese katana, as another example, are similar.

However, "how long is a sword blade?" is up there with "how long is a piece of string?" :)

Largest sword I've actually seen is a ceremonial blade housed in the museum in Chambers Street in Edinburgh.

There are 100 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who can work from incomplete data

Techno

 :o :o :o :o

How the 'hell' would anyone ever been able to use that !
Get inside 'the swing' and a penknife would have been of more use, to kill the 'wielder'.

I don't know how tall matey is, standing by the cabinet...But that sword could be anything up to 10 to 12 feet. (Is it ?)

Mike....Go and take measurements.  ;).....I need to know. :)

Cheers - Phil

Westmarcher

So, are you saying, size isn't everything?  :-\

.... I knew it! ....
I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.

fsn

Lord Oik of Runcorn (You may refer to me as Milord Oik)

Oik of the Year 2013, 2014; Prize for originality and 'having a go, bless him', 2015
3 votes in the 2016 Painting Competition!; 2017-2019 The Wilderness years
Oik of the Year 2020; 7 votes in the 2021 Painting Competition
11 votes in the 2022 Painting Competition (Double figures!)
2023 - the year of Gerald:
2024 Painting Competition - Runner-Up!

Ithoriel

16 December 2018, 07:01:42 PM #134 Last Edit: 16 December 2018, 07:05:30 PM by Ithoriel
Quote from: Techno on 16 December 2018, 02:55:17 PM
:o :o :o :o

How the 'hell' would anyone ever been able to use that !
Get inside 'the swing' and a penknife would have been of more use, to kill the 'wielder'.

I don't know how tall matey is, standing by the cabinet...But that sword could be anything up to 10 to 12 feet. (Is it ?)

Mike....Go and take measurements.  ;).....I need to know. :)

Cheers - Phil

Standing next to it in the museum and estimating how far it extended above my height I reckon eight-and-a-half to nine feet.

As said, it was ceremonial, carried in procession before the kings of Scotland by their champion IIRC.

"Freud's mystic world of meaning needn't have us mystified
It's really very simple what the psyche tries to hide:
A thing is a phallic symbol if it's longer than it's wide
As the id goes marching on
Glory glory psychotherapy, glory glory sexuality
Glory glory now we can be free as the id goes marching on" - Melanie Safka Psychotherapy  ;)


There are 100 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who can work from incomplete data