This is (inadvertently or not) a reproduction of a parade sword. These were meant to look impressive, as you said. Anything over, say 7 lbs., wasn't really designed for combat. Sometimes called "bearing swords," these particular swords were meant for ceremonial occasions. It's certainly usable by way of construction but would be like swordfighting with a sledgehammer. lol
The name Flamberge carries it because of its wavy (flamed, so flame-shaped) blade. It was mainly used to blow alleyways into enemy pikemen ramparts (so-called "street tusks"), so that their own infantry could move through them and thus get through to the enemy pikemen, as well as fend off enemy soldiers who penetrated between the pike rows. The mercenaries recruited for this task, the so-called double mercenaries or sword players, were paid double the pay. The double mercenaries were highly paid specialists during their mission, but they usually did not have a long life. The length of the blade of a flaming sword was different. The swords were often made individually, especially as the wearers had different body sizes. In the Swiss city of Chur you can see various flaming swords from the years between 1200 and 1550 in various museums.greetings from germany
I own one of these and I use it strictly as a training weapon, but with how I've used it, I could see functional use if one controls range and posture well enough. The weight is about twice as much as a normal bidenhander/dopplerhander, which definitely takes time to get used to, but is definitely not impossible to surmount. The most arduous part of the sword is the elaborate guard and its weight, due to it being wrought iron and the design. Bashes to the head while trying new techniques have happened, but those were my fault from improper stance and grip, and I've been using the weight to my advantage with conserving momentum and stamina. Overall, yes it's more of a parade thing, but given how many swords I've had snap or break in training, it feels solid and the composition of it is still bringing me to new heights in skill and form.
Considering it's pretty much only usable as a parade sword, you'd think they'd have lavished more care and attention on the hilt. Apart from the ornate crossguard, it looks... functional, at best.
Not bad, definitely on my to buy & must have, but I wonder if I can get the simple blade design as this once looks a bit to ornamented with the teeth effect that makes it look a bit like flamberge
This has always been my favorite looking zweihander. I would love to see a review of the cheaper version post on kult seeing as to how it's half the weight and dirt cheap at the moment.
PS. I did try this blade at a friends weapon shop years ago, and I found it was balanced, and easy to wield, but, I question the quality of the blade steel. I have done cutting with Ritter Steel blades before, and had them bend. I did not do cutting with this one, as I was only doing a display with it to help my friend make a sale, it was not the time or place.
Do you think someone who is quite strong could wield it well? I understand they could use a lighter sword even better but if you could humor me it would be appreciated. :)
Yes certainly someone really strong could wield it will enough, however there are many things to consider as well; momentum of a heavy sword will still make even a strong person struggle, and a song person with a lighter sword will still be better. Unnecessarily heavy swords are never better.
Hi Thomas. As someone who has been involved in the manufacture of e sword I would have to ask you to increase it's functionality rating that you gave it. Otherwise your video is great and made me want to aquire the swords. It ctually only had ONE function. It was too big nd bulky for swinging which wouldlevae it unable to damage a charging pike. That is like shooting to 6 guns pointed in opposite directions and creating one hole in a target in front of you. It was actually meant to impale enemy horseback soldiers The Spikes were to make sure a body would not slide don too far to dump them off of the blad and to keep the blade from reaking froman of balance weight. I hope have helped in some way.
The prime use would be to swing it in a constant figure 8 pattern to knock spears out of the way. The weight actually makes it ideal for that practice, and often they would be dropped in favor of a smaller sword once the fighter moved into closer ranges. It's not designed to be used as a primary weapon.
Sirus Gaming There are apparently accounts of people using these swords dropping back to second line defenses and swinging the swords over the heads of front line fighters... or so I'm told. I've never seen these accounts, but you are correct.
well it was used in early modern times, 16th century second half, you can#t cut of a pikes head(they are stury and often fitted with iron or steel feathers sop no no cutting) it was used to push the pikes aside or down
I want one! It's actually not as expensive as one would imagine on Kult of Athena. But still a hefty price drop for something you really won't be carrying around at SCA events or renaissance fairs. Still a beautiful show piece for display.
+Medieval Review Some tangs are welded to the blade after the blade has been forged. You'll usually see them called "welded tangs". Theoretically, a forged tang should be a tang that's made from the same solid piece of steel.
+Sparrowhawk In the 1500s an Italian historian Paulus Jovius wrote about how the Landsknecht at the battle of Fornovo disengaged from combat and circled around the enemy, using two-handed swords to cut down spearmen and parry their spears. This appears to be the source of the "cut through a pike" myth. Another source, referenced by wikipedia and the Landsknecht website is the "Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Technology", which mentions cutting "down" pikes. However, this book was published in 2010, and all the sources it cites are from the 1960s onwards. This is far too modern to be used as proof by anyone. To date I have not seen a single primary source that recommends attempting to break a spear or pike clean in two using a zweihander/bidenhander. They were definitely used to defeat spear and pike wielders, but it appears they knocked aside the heads of the pikes, they didn't cut them clean off.
Yes, these things are very nuanced. Cutting "down" a pike...I mean yeah if you hit it hard enough you can hit it out of the way. "Lopping" off the head...ehhhhhh. When someone holds something in their hands and it is very long, and you hit the end of it with something, even something sharp, it tends to absorb the blow. You might be able to weaken it if it were to take several huge hits to the exact same spot, and it might splinter and break off eventually, but I am assuming armies were very interested in using the best wood they could find and the best construction techniques for their pikes that they possibly could. If I had more expendable income I'd almost be tempted to test it out....but I don't.
There are a lot of "facts" about ancient weapons that don't bear fruit. Do this test if you can, have someone hold a wooden pole and then strike it with a sword..I can 100% guarantee you won't cut it off. Unless Superman is holding the pole the force of the strike will knock it to the side absorbing the impact. Stick the pole in the ground or in a vice where it is more rigidly held and possibly you could splinter it. But if a human is holding it, and it isn't already cracked and splintered, you're not going to cut the pole off. It's not a Lightsaber.
I'd say it is a recreation of a ceremonial sword that would be owned by an entire village and only brought out for weddings and the like. Those oversize ceremonial swords were not used for fighting.
Landsknecht were a kind of mercenary soldier. zweihander means two-handed, so a large 2 handed sword. this sword is a zweihander named after the landsknecht.
Sorry, it's not you, but I literally burst out laughing watching you try and swing that crowbar around in the gymnasium (it's beautiful to look at though)
It seems, with the massive size and weight, it would be better fitted for a cleaving style of combat as opposed to a thrusting style. Against flesh, the peculiar shape of the blade would cause irregular cuts and prevent them from healing normally.A variant of this weapon made for combat would be a perfect tool against an unarmored opponent. Due to the weight, it would be somewhat difficult to parry, as well as add the additional force to cleave through flesh and bone. I personally would give the weapon a 4.5/5 for the simple fact that the way its use was described, did not fit for the best intention of the weapon.Take, for example, the video game Dark Souls. The greatsword weapon class is a hard hitting, *wide swinging* set of weapons. The same can be said for this weapon. The weight may be a detrimental attribute in your eyes, but to me, it seems to be a bonus.
+Anthony Maguire No... So I'll go into some detail here. First off the weight of this particular sword is because it is made as a slightly more decorative purpose over functionality. The historical usable counterpart would have weighted between 7 and 10 pounds at the most. This kind of sword had an expressed purpose as I described in the video, you are suggesting that using it outside that purpose would be better, but that makes little sense; the right tool for the right job. You don't use a hammer on a screw. Going against a mounted opponent or pikes, I would absolutely want this sword. Going against an unarmored opponent I'd much rather have a longsword. Real life is not a video game. The historical weapon design and use are not vetted against some standard of assumed purpose, stats, or hit boxes, but rather what would actually keep a person alive, and kill an opponent. For every wide arching high momentum swing you could get with this sword, you would also be off balance, open, slow, and exhausted. As someone who is active in HEMA and uses swords regularly, there is no way I'd give this sword a 4.5. The 3 I gave it is generous enough. =)
+Anthony Maguire every guy with a buckler and a dagger would kill u while wealding that sword. this weapon was 99% made for looks, to impress nobles or to make the opponents shit there pants. maybe it could be used against a horse, but a spear would do the same and would be much cheaper. against plate armor swords are nearly useless because there momentum sucks. it could be a weapon for a guy like "the mountain" from GoT slashing pawns but nothing more. dont take dark souls to serious, there is very much nonsense in it. well ok, maybe butchering demons could be a good idea with this weapon.^^
+TheValinov Hmmh.. Landsknechts were German (und swiss) mercenaries, known for being supreme spearmen and swordsmen. The swordsman Landsknecht were called 'Doppelsöldner' (~Double soldier), because they received the double pay for being in the frontline. Their duty was to cut the spearmen's weapons. Their twohanded sword (Zweihänder) had the 'flammberge' (~ Flame blade), that was meant to make the cutting more efficient (saw like), while retaining the fighting value of the sword against other types of troops. It had the ''Ricasso' (~ Place above the guard, where you hold hand), that made the sword efficient against horsemen, because you could use it like a spear and thrust with it easily. It weighted about 3- to 5 kilograms max, and was usually about 160 centimeters long.
Your probably the wrong person for the sword it'd be for a 6 to 8ft tall person 7kg isn't super heavy, if you lift more than that weight in the first place. The major Con is being too short to use it and then probably not knowing how to use it as well.
The object is much too heavy and thigh and so blunt. The ones I have seen, ware around 5mm at the handle (up to 7mm with fullers) and from the hooks to the tip 4mm tapering to 2,5mm I thing, sharpness close to a good bred knife with waves. The other thing that I have never seen like on this one are the scrolls that are bend to the tip. They are normally bent to the guard (ore more often attached to the guard and bent outwards) so that you have more length to grip on the lather between guard and hooks. If you like I can search for photos I made from such swords.
Medieval Review Good I am finally getting the hang of this European fighting thing. I know a fare amount of far eastern martial arts. However I am just barely dipping my toe, as it were, into H.E.M.A's vast lake of knowledge. Thanks for the videos, keep them coming!
Jesus, 14 lbs 11oz?? I've handled a reproduction of one close to the size of the one in the video, but it weighed in at only 7.5-8lbs. It'll tire you out after a few swings if you're not conditioned, but it's much more manageable and doesn't feel like it's going to pull your arms out of their sockets.
+Mikhail Blagodarov Problem #1: I speak English... problem #2: I'm American... I'm cursed with the inability to speak foreign languages, but I do my best. =) Besides, "land-snail" would be an accurate description of the speed with which you could wield this monstrosity.
+Medieval Review Indeed this sword is a beast ^^ Well German is a rather difficult language for non-germans i heard. But your way of saying the word does not lower the quality of your videos don't worry. Trying is all that matters :)
+Medieval Review HEY HOW'S IT GOING ANYWAYS I ALREADY LEFT A PUBLIC COMMENT AND I WOULD LIKE 2 KNOW WHAT U THINK REPLY BACK 2 ME WHEN U CAN...AFTER U READ MY PUBLIC COMMENT 1ST. THANK U
"this sword was constructed using proper techniques that make it usable and not just a wallhanger". This piece is over double the weight of historical swords of the same type. The heaviest true two handers, including the piece that this is based on weighed 7lbs at most. It looks incredibly sluggish in the video you showed. I feel like if Ritter had done their homework and used proper construction techniques it wouldn't be so overweight. I would judge this as a pretty facsimile of a two hander that is ultimately only useful as a display piece and certainly not a functional weapon for sparring, drilling or cutting.
+Jack Traveller He did point out that a sword of this type was a frontline battle weapon, so it wouldnt make sense to use it in sparring.. And just a little info about "true 2 handers": www.thearma.org/essays/2HGS.html#.VeCNTfmqpBc The thing is, that swords of this size and weight was most likely ceremonial swords, so they were probably not built for combat. Also, a lot of people seem to think that 2 handers and longswords are the same thing, which they arent. 2 handers were designed to be frontline weapons, and while longswords were the "greatswords" of the 12th to 14th century, ultimately they're not that same type of sword.
@@Bru741iX It's over the weight of a standard sledgehammer. Do you think it would be usable is any situation, other than against an opponent unable to defend?
@@Direwoof Yes it is. It's over 2x the weight of historical swords used for combat. It could go for a bearing sword, which was never meant to be used for combat, but for parade and looking impressive.
so... it is usable, and you can wield it, but it requires to change your way of fiting, you dont cut up or down but you actualy do circles and curves, because it is a heavy mofo and a realy hard to stop blade, so you fight doing circles and using the weight of the blade to follow curves because you dont want to stop the blade from moving, the technic behind thoses king of giant swords are totaly different from your regular technics, and you have to think more of your way of moving than on your strikes because the wave of a flamberge can actualy break a sword by causing stress to the flat edge of you opponent sword.
So wrong on so many levels... It's still way too heavy, rendering it ineffective. Spins have to be executed quickly, which you can't do with that hunk of metal. There is no way you're gonna break a well made sword with something just because the blade shape. Flamberge blades are for more effective cutting.
+Doyle Goregutz A sword of that size doesnt need to be shaving sharp to kill someone. In fact it makes sense to have a sword of this size a bit duller than you would with a longsword or arming sword, since these large swords were frontline battle weapons, so they'd be going up against pikes, poleams and a lot of armour(chainmail, chest plates, helmets).
'This sword has the frills' if ever there was a quote for me not to buy a sword it has to be that one, and also the 14+ pounds. Sounds like a dog to me. A wall hanger if ever I saw one.
Wow that was quick ! I'm just now watching part 7 manufactures. I have just taken possession of an Regenyei Feder and am just tossing up who to spend my money with for a live sword. Albion is the top choice but I'm in Australia and a or dollar is crap. Then there is Dark sword Armoury they're half the price and come with a scabbard. and the there's Valiant Armoury. They all seem to get positive reviews on line so I'm at a bit of a quandary. The next is in your opinion which of the Oakshot styles are the better cutters? I want to do the cutting stuff and would be annoyed if the sword I dropped a $1000 or dollars on was more stabby than cutty. I need a long and I quite like the Ringeck and love the wasted handle got the exact same on my Regenyei feder and it handles like a dream. I will also be needing a nice single hand and yes I have a Viking styled one but I'm liking the Yeoman and the sheriff well pretty much anything that Albion do actually. So back to your video and I'd be very interested on your opinions on my little essay here (sorry bout that) Bloodaxe.
from a medieval sword perspective any balde that has wide parrallel edges was usually design for cutting. any later period sword: bastard sword, long sword, etc begins to focus more on thrusting. From the perspective of getting the best cutter out there, you would want to go for a curves blade sword, maybe a fachion if you want to limit yourself to medieval sword. I'd say stay away from heavily tapered blades, as those swords do focus much more on thrusting, however, like in my Ringeck review, they cut just fine.
it too big by maybe 2 or 3 inches i would say... The weight is not that bad. I would like to see what someone who specialized in training "greatswords" would say.. Review dudes seems to be a longsword type.
3 out of 5 seems much for a reproduction that is basically unusable because of its weight. yes i know you can still swing it around but with that kind of weight it looses all historical credibility and the user doesnt really get a feeling for how such a sword would have handeld. and thats kinda waht im looking for in a reproduction.
THIS IS 4 EVERY1 WEIGHTING N ON THIS SWORD...BTW I'M NOT YELLING I ALWAYS TEXT N CAPS AND N SHORT FORM...BACK 2 THIS SWORD I PERSONALLY HAVE THIS SWORD AND I'VE HAD HER 4 OVER 5YRS. N THAT TIME I'VE GOTTEN BIGGER/FASTER/AND BETTER AT USING HER...I NAMED HER LILITH...AT 1ST. I WOULD DEFINITELY SAY SHE WAS HEAVY AND I WASN'T AS PREPARED AS I THOUGHT I WOULD HAVE BEEN,BUT NOW AFTER 5YRS. I GOTTA SAY SHE IS A GREAT SWORD(NO PUN INTENDED)AND YES SPEED/DEXTERITY AND FATIGUE R STILL FACTORS EVEN 4 ME BUT I MUST SAY THIS IS A SWORD U MUST DEVOTE URSELF 2 N ORDER 2 USE PROPERLY AND I STRONGLY AGREE THAT IT DEFINITELY COMES DOWN 2 PERSONAL PREFERENCE BTW I'VE TAKEN CARE OF HORSES AND I'VE ALWAYZ BEEN A FAN OF BIG HEAVY OBJECTS AND ESPECIALLY SWORDS SO AGAIN THIS SWORD IS MY PERSONAL PREFERENCE ALSO I'M 5'8"280LBS. A MIX OF MUSCLES AND FAT LOL N THE END I WILL AGREE N A PROLONGED BATTLE FATIGUE/SPEED WOULD B UR DOWNSIDE THIS SWORD 3/5 IS FAIR MY SCORE 4/5 LOL I ALSO HAVE A HANWEI LOWLANDER MUCH LIGHTER AND ONLY AROUND 3INCHES SHORTER IT'S A LOT FASTER BUT I FEEL BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF WEIGHT IT'S CUTS AREN'T AS IMPRESSIVE...SRRY THIS IS SO LOONNNGGGG BYE
None of these sword types where ever used in battle or combat. Most are made around 1870. And originals from the 16th. cent. where used as parading and cerimonial swords only.
@@medievalreview Thank you! You saved me a lot of money. As beautiful as it looks I want a combat useable one. I just found a site that sells 6150 steel greatswords (and other medieval weapons). Im gonna customize the "No. 8" from Regenyei Armory now. :) Its one of the heaviest they sell at 6.9lbs but its about 6ft tall so I'm excited to have a sword almost as tall as me lol
i feel like if you cut off everything from the main hilt downward and use it as if the secondary hilt is the main hilt it could actually be somewhat wieldable
Wow 14 pounds, that is one heavy sword! I did a quick search for Landsknechte and zweihander weights from museum examples, the heaviest I found was only 7 pounds. It's certainly great for display, I wonder if there are any actual examples that reach that weight though
Medieval Review I have seen one of these displayed during a Ren Faire, and the guy giving the demonstration stated that these would have been used for 1 on 1 combat say when facing a knight on horseback to parry the lance and attack the horse. The guy seemed to have done a great deal of research into the topic and was also former military, but I am curious about any original literature that might be available.
wizardseye Here is some literature: www.amazon.com/Landsknechts-Men-At-Arms-Series-Douglas-Miller/dp/0850452589 www.amazon.com/Landsknecht-Soldier-1486-1560-Warrior-Richards/dp/1841762431 The guy at the renfaire is partially correct, but it sounds like he confused one of the recorded uses of the sword. It is not meant to parry lances, it is meant to knock aside and cut off pike heads. Pikes are not lances. Pikemen are foot soldiers who would hold tight formations. These swords were used to break the formations. These swords has a secondary use of being able to cut the legs out from under horses. There is really never a case where 1:1 fighting in a battle would have occurred. 1:1 is a misnomer, and he probably meant "head to head". As a side note, be careful when someone from the modern military speaks like an authority on historical combat, and historical warfare. Because there can be very few correlations drawn between modern military practices, and that of historical warfare. His military experience doesn't make him an expert on 16th century warfare. I bring that up because its common to see really bad misinformation spread this way, just look at the travesty of R. Lee Ermey's take on medieval weapons sometime. You are much better off reading books from more vetted historical sources.
Medieval Review Thanks for the quick reply! To my recollection everything you are describing about the zweihander being used against pikemen is consistent with what he was saying with regards to the "usual" size zweihander. The comments concerning lances was specific to the oversized zweihander. Perhaps if I see him again I'll ask if he has any source material that he got his information from in order to cross check.
+KraljevicPavle D, S, K, and N are never pronounced together in an English context. We often pair more than two consonants together (4 is the limit) but that particular grouping is foreign. I'm not certain I could do it myself without a little coaching. Many non-Western languages never even pair two consonants together, much less four. Japanese and Hawaiian would be two examples. Both of those languages only pair one consonant to one vowel at a time (ex. CV or CVCV). Because of this I would say that linguistic competence isn't a sign of either intelligence or stupidity, just experience.
Great review! I saw this sword in comparison to the other cheap stainless steel flamberge sword and was intrigued since I love the kris style blade, but now that I've seen this review, I might consider otherwise.
Radomid Yes, as a production sword it is one of the only ones with a flamberg blade, but if you want a good functional one you'll have to have one custom made.
+kiba BG They usually wouldn't have to do to the weight of the weapon itself, it could still hack through a man in boiled leather simply off mass alone. But they'd use any other method of cleaning or sharpening it, most we're long blades and could be cared for as short sword would. However a Landsknecht would use Zweihanders and other Flamberges aswell as Rittersteels.
+Walrushashbrown "They usually wouldn't have to do to the weight of the weapon itself". No, no, no, no. If you want a weapon without a sharp edge, go get yourself a hammer. The idea European swordsmen were fine with heavy, blunt swords is an awful myth and I won't have it spread on a good channel like this. Wave bladed swords like this one are difficult to sharpen, but you sharpen it essentially like any other sword. You just have to follow each curve with the whetstone, and slowly make your way along the blade. It is reportedly extremely time-consuming. Also, "boiled leather" was not used as armor in this time period. I don't want to get into it here, because we're discussing swords, but you might want to read up a bit on how the Landsknecht actually dressed. They were famously flamboyant.
G-Man Excuse me, I guess you misunderstood me. This weapon would be highly impractical compared to the other swords in Europe. Like you said,"extremely time-consuming" and this weapon would also be very difficult to build, let alone using it in a battle. This weapon looks more for show than combat, a representation of the skill blacksmiths had in their time. And I'm sorry for bringing up that stupid myth about Europe but that again wasn't what I was making it out to be. The sword itself would demolish shields easily because it could be used to push with, using the sword as an extension of ones body. Then defending my statement about "boiled leather", it was not used during this time, yes. But I apologize for my incompetence in my previous statement.
that sword is designed for guys no less than 6.2 and with strong physicue. so deal with it. it has to be heavy to knock those galloping knights down. i own CS two handed great sword. similar design and price. but slightly lighter.
