5 Historical Weapons That Look Like Fantasy 

That Spanish saber looks like somebody sneezed while trying to draw a picture of a kopesh.

You have to imagine that 'tacticool' has existed for all time, so you get weapons that are over-specialized and probably didn't last long beyond their initial inception.

"oh look, Sir Whackass has arrived with his Whackass Blade." "I really wish you'd stop calling me that sire."

"Historical Weapons that look like fantasy" Medieval India: Allow us to introduce ourselves

Woah, those crystal arrows are from my city! Didn't know such antique weapons have been found so near me hahahaha

"That's the problem with distinguishing between reality and a dream, they're both ridiculous."

This is why I like Skallagrim so much. His appreciation for paleolithic, neolithic and calcolithic tools is really rare. To me they are the best example of our humble beginnings.

That Spanish sword looks like a loony toons sword that got crumbled up from stabbing a knife shield.

Smith: "So, what kind of sword do you want? Saber? Flamberge? ...Khopesh...?" Spanish Knight: "Y E S"

These were all planted by time travelers who wanted to prank historians.

Skal: theres no possible way you could use it as a weapon Jackie Chan: hold my beer

Skall: This rips right through gambisons. Shad: *Triggered*

People back then weren't that different form us, they liked crazy looking stuff and they were making crazy looking stuff. Even if those were useless in combat they probably still looked good hanging on a wall, making your friends' jaws drop whenever they visited your residence.

As someone who has collected semi precious gemstones most of his life, and knows a lot about their properties, I'd argue that a quartz dagger, especially with such a thick cross-section, would actually be quite a bit stronger than regular flint. It's a much harder mineral, which one might assume makes it more brittle, but in the case of quartz, which is much denser and has a different fracturing pattern, it's remarkably resilient against shock and even bending. So long as it's shaped/polished along the correct fracturing orientation (I can't remember the correct technical term right now, but you get my drift), has enough thickness and isn't too long, it'll deal with soft flesh targets like it's absolutely nothing, and it won't break easily, even at the tip, when hitting bone. Definitely not a one time use item. I can see exquisite pieces like that being passed along through generations.

Imagine if in the future they find an AR-15 and they look at it like "this must have been used for ceremonial purposes"

"The curviture under the flare tips could be effective for decapitation, I haven't done tests yet."

The Spanish blade was clearly created during a golfing fad. Cut down your enemies, then shoot some holes with their eyeballs.

"It looks impractical, so it must be CEREMONIAL " *metatron screaming from a distant "It is made of COPPER ALLOY" *screaming intensifies*

On these ceremonial overdone African weapons, there is a wealth of information about them and their cultural role in the book: "Striking iron the art of african blacksmiths"

14:17 "...or gambesons in particular, this rips right through" Shadiversity has entered the chat

The Ikakalaka swords reminded me of the ones that the uruk berserkers in LotR use. Might have served as inspiration for the designers?

You should do an entire episode on African arms and armament.

The Ikakalaka is such a unique sword, yet people don't remember it for its real life use. They only remember the one sound associated with a blade of its shape: "DORIYAH!"

11:12 That double pronged dagger "Shona" looks like a "sword breaker", intended to catch the opponents blade while parrying the attack.

You know your sword is unusual when you have to swing it to stab someone

Fun fact about the african swords: In the video game Hades, the sword of poseidon is based on this design. It could just be because it's a cool fantasy look, BUT it could also be a reference to the Iliad. Homer wrote that Poseidon traveled from Ethiopia, which he was probably using as a catch all term for inland subsaharan Africa. If the game designers knew that tidbit (and based on how they wrote Achilles and Patroclus they clearly read Homer to make the game) it's possible that they referenced it by basing Poseidon's sword on real African swords. Could just be coincidence, but even if it is, it's a neat coincidence.

Im from a small north american tribe in the southwest of the continent, and we have made daggers out of various minerals and rocks depending on context. I suggest that the quartz crystal dagger may have been for cutting ceremonial herbs, and possibly more of a tool and “holy” object than a weapon. I think thats why they took the time to make it out of that specific material. Or maybe it just looked cool, im also just speculating here 😄😆

Me, upon seeing the crystal dagger: "Anyone else getting 'Dune' vibes? The crysknife? 'May thy knife chip and shatter'?"

The spanish sabre kind of looks like the weight would be in the center of the curve at the top. I think that would put a bit more heft into the blade, and make it feel like your swinging a pick almost, but for the purposes that swords serve, it looks a bit heavy.

7:32 You see those warriors from Hammerfell? They have curved swords. Curved. Swords.

The Antler Mattock is literally the first Pickaxe you make in Valheim haha, nice to see it is actually historical!

Hello from Spain the Spanish saber that appears in min 5:20 was not used to cut the tendons of the horses. It was used to cut the bridles, straps or straps of the saddles to throw the rider to the ground. Thanks for the videos

Thinking about the armorslayer, that would be insanely effective against mail: the heavy tip would create incredible amounts of force, with the point entering a ring and breaking it from the inside while the taper increases.

The Zulfiqar looks like a sword you'd find in Prince of Persia; Warrior Within. Especially the serrated one.

One weapon that I love the design of is the Japanese seven branched sword. Would it be effective in actual combat? Probably not! But it is a gorgeous design, and works really well in fantasy as a magical weapon.

There's a Persian martial art, the name eludes me as I'm commenting, but it is often fought with a curved sword and a small buckler. During it's time there was alot of engineering of the tools of this art like melding firearms into the hilt and such. Those S blades could be another attempt to make an advantageous design for this sort of martial art that slices at tendons and joints. Ah here it is, Razmafzar. Interesting art.

5:21 THE SCABBARD LOOKS LIKE A HOCKEY STICK LMAOOOO

5:32 Huh. It's rare you can see EXACTLY when the drugs kicked in.

you're looking much healthier/happier in these new videos. Keep the cool content coming!

its cool when you guys do weapons from other continents .the Ikakalaka looks just like the doom slayer's crucible

Lol, this kinda looks like the third part of "unrealistic things in history' with "plot holes in history' the designers in the game of reality were super unrealistic and lazy, they didn't even research.

When talking about the quarts dagger i was expecting Skall to say it was ceremonial, but he restrained hinself.

Knights: okay, we need something practical Designers: Yeah, but what if hooks and spikes?

Skallagrim, 2 weeks ago: "Something I don't think many people know, which is the Antler Mattock." Valheim: "Hold my mead."

8:38 Half expected you to go "And the blade might be from Final Fantasy" the heck is that, lmao

"Aah, you were at my side, all along. My true mentor... My guiding moonlight..."

I really enjoyed the format! And the out-takes afterwards. XD

You know I’m glad skal talks about African and other indigenous weapons. I think it’s easier for channels like this to become very Eurocentric.

Really interesting, still thinking about that weird middle era sparring manual in which they used to coat sword's handles with goose fat to enhance grip

I known i said this in one of your videos before, but here we go again. African weapons inspiration are used in Every fantasy setting ever, and they never got the appreciation they deserves. You should do a videos about African non-firearms weapons because you gonna find a lot of it, more than any variation a Katana can came up with.

Man, you've been here a long time, thanks for always giving us something to think about. I always come away learning something

Yes, please, more of that! And more outtakes!

Hey Skal if you make a part two I recommend including these weapons. Dahomey kingdom artistic swords known as Fon Swords from modern nation of Benin Ada royal ceremonial sword called the Ada from Nigerian Benin kingdom. The practical version of the blade is the Uzomo sword. And ofcourse the Kapinga and Hunga Munga. And the Urumi swords

The shona dagger, 11 minutes in, looks a lot like a fishing spear tip almost.

I personally like these dives into odd weapon designs, their history and/or some speculation about their use and merits.

I’d love more episodes in this series. I’m getting loads of inspiration for DND magic weapons.

Doom Slayer approves of the Ikakalaka Sword 😂🤣

Minor correction: Zimbabwe is in southern Africa.

Really like that format !

Forged in Fire has made a number of these and they generally rip the "crash dummies" for the KEAL test to pieces...

I love when Shad and Skall upload close to each other

The bifurcation could be more as a psychological effect after a cut is made. The two tines ringing loudly especially when contact is made.

Looking good Skal! Keep it up!

Great video. I would love to see more like it.

As a Galician (Spain) I can confirm that the anticavalry sabre's shape was intended to play golf with the heads of your fallen enemies, just as that one Baggins intended.

Blanka is not a Neolithic man, if anyone’s wondering , he’s brazilian, and grew up in the jungle as a result of a plane crash.

I could see that Shona dagger being used in knife fighting or duels. The two blades could have been meant to be used defensively to catch your opponent's dagger. They wouldn't be good at killing, but that kind of fight usually wasn't meant to be to the death (as far as I know, anyway).

Heck yes make more of these!!!

Oh, those must be CeReMoNiAl!

I'm all for this becoming a series.

This was very cool I'll stay tuned for more

RE: the glass dagger as a one-shot weapon, I'm reminded of a science fiction novel (I forget which one, possibly Susan R. Matthews' Jurisdiction books) which had the idea of a glass dagger with a hilt containing a very powerful speaker/vibrator and power supply. The idea being that the dagger is used in a stabbing attack and then a trigger on the hilt is hit, and a powerful vibration/sound on the blade's natural frequency is produced. The blade shatters explosively inside the target, leaving you with lots and lots of transparent fragments designed to be very hard to detect by most imaging techniques (that bit is sci-fi, but not entirely implausible). Obviously intended as an assassination weapon, not a combat one.

6:01 I feel like this weapon would work better with a different more reversible handle cause from one side it looks like a saber on the other hand that heavy head looks like it would be a great chopper like a falcata or a kopis

Fun video, and always happy to see Zimbabwe mentioned. Small nit pick - not central Africa, but Southern Africa ^^

I love these, and this series.

More videos like this Skall learning about all those badass weapons and the different countries that made them was not only entertaining but educational 👍😎👍

Central African weapon designs are absolutely insane. It's such an interesting topic. It's just a shame there isn't a lot of reliable information available regarding the majority of them (thanks a lot colonialism).

that double bladed dagger looks a lot like an effective parrying dagger.

This video was both incredibly informative and interesting. You have earned yourself a new subscriber my friend!

Congrats! I love audible

Zulfiqar means "the spines one" I think the Zulfiqar sword was serrated in bothe sides of the blade, not double edged sword.

Ian McCollum: gun jesus Skallagrim: sword jesus Backyard Bowyer: bow jesus

Stumbled on this channel. Brilliant content.

I love seeing outtakes at the end of videos. I think it creates a bit more... humanity (?) in the creators that look like they just nail all of their lines first take.

I honestly thought that the split tip swords, esp. the ones designed to resemble talons, were belly splitters used by adherants of Kali , the whole "By sword or silken rope" thing.

If Jesus was a Viking and reviewed weapons he would look like you

love the bloopers at the end!

Loved the vid and would love to see more

Wow, those axe sword hybrids was awesome. I really thought that those types of weapons weren't real. Make more of these videos

I love this channel

I just figured out that I actually started with Sanderson's books because of this channel (Shardblade video), now they are my favorite series by far. Thanks :)

The beginning of that sponsored segement reminded me of listening to Brandon Sanderson audiobooks. Sure enough, Skall recommends them seconds later. I can only second that. They're absolutely amazing!

The Spanish saber, sideways slash towards a running horse leg. The blade slides along the leg with the ribs acting as serration and the angle for a final cut. The hook side might have been used to pull people off of horses. All speculation, of course.

It's armor rather then weapons, but Aztec Tlahuiztli warsuits w.helmets, as well as Ehuatl warsuits (wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nezahualcoyotl.jpg being an excellent depiction) look pretty fantastical: For the former, you have what's essentially a full body gambeson garment covered in tens of thousands of feathers, some iridescent, with the differing feather colors arranged to make different patterns (geometric designs, jaguar spots, skeletal/gore motifs, etc) based on the rank and division of the wearer, and with hardwood helmets fashioned after eagles, jaguars, mythological creatures, etc. Ehuatl is the same concept, but as a tunic or vest with skirt armor of leather strips (like Greek/Roman examples) and/or larger deathers, and often more esoteric designs and motifs to the garment and the helmet and fancy jewelry/regalia, as it was more exclusively worn by royalty or very high officier/generals, at least for some groups (this was the case for the Mexica of Tenochtitlan, the group most associated with the "Aztec" label, but not, say, the Tlaxcalteca, who used ehuatl a bit more liberally). Both would have also had huge back-mounted banners (used by officers and captains to coordinate troops on the field), of cosmological shapes, glyphs, animals, etc, which would have further given them a pretty out there fantasy look by western standards, and both of these types of armor would have been worn over the Ichcahuipilli, which was a more basic, thicker padded gambeson vest or tunic which would have been worn alone by mid-rank/status soldiers, and keep in mind that many other Mesoamerican civilizations, like the Maya or Mixtec, had their own equivalent, as well as armor unique to them, too. Also, by the way, that image of Ehuatl I linked is depicting Nezalhualcoyotl, the most famous king of the city of Texcoco, who was a renowned intellectual and engineeer, designing many aquaduct systems in both Tenochtitlan and the retreat for Texcoca royalty at Texcotzinco; and the dike that bears his name in the largest of the lakes in their valley. We also have surviving poetry of his, though there is some debate over how many of the poems ascribed to him were really made by him (much of what we know about him comes from accounts by his descendants in the late 16th/early 17th century trying to claim better standing in the Spanish Colonial administration, so stuff like him rejecting human sacrifice is probably revisionism) Another really fantastical-looking piece of Mesoamerican armor is this: d20.cz/data/C/4736/twohand.jpg garment, but I've never seen it disscussed in any academic source (the two handed sort of "glaive" used there I also never see discussed in any depth). Sadly, the true diversity of Mesoamerican armor and weapons will probably never be known to us, since while we have more records then most people realize, the Spanish mass burning of Mesoamerican texts does still limit us.There's lots of obscure variations of armor or weapons you see in a manuscript here or there that's not seen anywhere else or disscussed in any 16th century textual sources, or modern academic ones, at least not that I've read. But that image and that weapon, along with others i've seen, does illustrate that these armies did have a wide variety of different types of armor and weapons: People only talk about Macuahuitl, but there were many other variations of sword-like weapons, different clubs, different pole-arms, etc. If you ever want to cover Mesoamerican weapons and armor on the channel, I'd be happy to shoot over information, references, and resources. (I'm Majora__Z on twitt)

Wonderful job to father them in one materiał,please do more then just two episodes.

New level of cool. Great episode.

Skal: "Or should I say, 'sword-like object'" Me, with EFAP on the brain: Is that a reference?

As a rule of thumb, some of the best "fantasy" designs on real life weapons come out of India and central Africa. I also suspect that a lot of the designs with multiple points, barbs, waves, and serrations were likely ceremonial or just for showing off, especially from the late eighteenth century onwards. People have always liked cool designs -- that's never changed -- so why not get yourself an "everyone look at me sword" to go with your EDC weapon?

Really cool video. I hope you will be able to test some of those weapons in the future. It would be amazing to watch ;)

Make a part 2 this was great.