Hah, wow. Hell, it's to be expected though, mentioning the very thing you are trying to literally describe when it has so many specifics and variations.
Mhm, and since this is a video trying to help people remove their misconception and misuse of the now umbrella term known as broadsword, I'd say that it was pretty reasonable a number.
In the Elder Scrolls games, broadswords tend to be as long as arming swords, but the blade is almost twice as wide. The practicality of that design is questionable, but the name certainly fits.
The sword is a sword. It's the swordiest sword in the entire history of swords. Once, I sword a sword, that was being held by a hobgoblin. I could have sword that swording bastard had four sword-arms. Then again, it could have been the ten pints of ale I had at the Four Swords.
When referring to the "actual" broadsword, I would prefer saying "basket hilt broad sword" because it is obviously pretty hard to miss understand that.
Although, the broadsword was also called a "claymore" by the Scots who used it, but that just adds even more confusion with the large two-handed sword commonly called a "claymore." Historical names versus modern names can create a lot of confusion.
+There Be Game I know. I have a copy of George Silver's "Paradoxes of Defence," and he refers to the backsword as a "short sword," and to the rapier as a "long sword".
The basket-hilted broadsword was not the first broadsword. If it was, people would have only had to say broadsword, as the basket hilt would have been obvious and implied. Broadswords were simply swords wider than one might expect for a standard "arming" sword. Hey, nice sword. You, too. It's pretty wide. That's a pretty broad sword.
Just like paper books were simply called books, analog clocks were just clocks, landline telephones were simply telephones, acoustic guitars were just guitars, etc... ;) It's called a "retronym" a new word to describe old technology with a more specific term to differentiate it from a newer technology...
Stein Gauslaa Strindhaug The problem is that it's a "borrowed retronym" because the word broadsword *was* used In the Rennaisance to describe a double-edged basket hilted (usually Scottish) cut-and-thrust sword (the one edged version was called a "backsword").
I've always grown up knowing the "Scottish basket-hilted sword" as the Claymore, used by the great Clan Chiefs and Jacobite rebels. But then I'm scottish, and I guess we use our own terminology for our own swords.
Quite a lot of arming sword blades were later used in the construction of basket hilt broadswords. Nobody wants to throw away a perfectly good blade that has withstood the test of time.
Hey, you seemed to be struggling a bit for a proper term for the type of taper you were describing with regard to the side sword. The term in my opinion and what I see used a lot is profile taper.
When i was younger i did call arming swords, broadswords because or roleplaying games where they where refered to as broadswords. There you basicly had shortswords, broadswords, longswords, bastardswords and 2 handed or greatswords. And back then most of my "knowledge" about swords came for roleplaying games. Now when i know a lot more than i did back then i automaticaly think about the scotish baskethilted sword as soon as i hear the word broadsword. Normally i do know what people mean when they use the word broadsword and mean armingsword. But i kinda has to make a mental change everytime i hear people refering to armingswords using the the word broadsword
@@erojerisiz1571 What if "arming sword" meant "sword you're likely to be issued by an army in battle"? I mean. that's what it sounds like it means anyway.
Interesting video. I am clearly not a sword expert, but I always assumed that the term "broadsword" referred to a double edged sword with a wider - more cutting oriented - blade.
just a question, what is the name of the type of sword gandalf uses in the 70's animated version (don't know how else to identify it). is it just an arming sword?
Thank you for this video, I now 'get' rapiers. Since the blade is generally lighter and the hilt is heavier, the center of balance gets closer to your hand, and it becomes more like an extension of your arm. The speed of the tip (both slashing and thrusting) becomes more paramount and effective, versus arming swords that basically need to swivel at a point that's half a foot outside of where your physical body ends.
Oh my gosh this changes so much! I actually thought the arming sword was called the broadsword, and when I looked at a picture of a swept hilt broadsword I called it a rapier because of the hilt! thank you so much!
Hey Shad, new to your channel, also pretty new to this wonderful hobby, I would love to see a review of some of the swords you frequently picture in your vids. Also, unless I am missing it, would love to see a review of some of the 300 give or take dollar range for someone just getting in ( what sometimes feels like over my head lol ) a tally purchasing swords, there are so many different choices and specs it hurts my brain. I personally am like 5'11, 160 lbs but that was due to illness,natural weight should be around 200, moderate strength, I don't work out but I would say I'm of slightly above average strength, but only slightly lol, and feel the bastard sword is best for me but I just want something that's not 1000dollars but will hold up well. Thanks Shad, you have tough me very much, and always make me laugh!!!
This may seem a peculiar question, but where do you get those stock images that are on white backgrounds? (Like from 2:09 to 2:18) I see you use them in a lot of videos and they are really nice and minimalist. PS. I develop a tabletop game that endeavors to use realistic wounding and weapon classification, so if they _are_ stock images you will be helping me out a lot!
Those are actually free to use images of Albion swords as posted on Wikipedia. If you go to Wikipedia and search Albion swords or google Wikipedia and Albion swords you should be able to find them. I spent like several hours downloading as many as I could find. Their super hi-rez and beautiful.
this has always been a tough one for me to understand, so thank you. I watched the movie vikings with Kirk Douglas as a kid (probably a great one for you to analyze, and it has a castle with multiple gates getting stormed at the end), and I grew up calling those viking swords broad swords. Similarly, in The Two towers when Aragorn asks the boy to hand him his sword, and Aragorn then flourishes it and hands it back remarking that it is a good sword, that is also very much what I think of as a broad sword. To me, broad swords have wide blades who's sides run parallel almost to the end, and then more of a rounded, less stab-focused point. They are definite choppers, long, may or may not have fullers, and generally appear to have a rounded tip. This is also how I grew up thinking about viking swords, and later medieval period swords with their pointy blades not only look ugly to me but just wrong.
My idea of a broad sword is a wide, straight, double edge sword. Around 3 to 4ft long with a straight guard. Basically a knight sword with a very wide viking blade.
how much difference is between the Schianova and the scottish Broadsword? Is it okay to call all broadswords Schianova? Because I know the term Schianova much longer because of Assassin's Creed II.
I thought that the "Broadsword"/"Scottish Basket hilted Broadsword", was the actually called the Claymore? all though, that is confusing, because the name Claymore also refers to a type of Great Sward, so Could you make a video clearing up the name Claymore? This is one that I've had many troubles warping my head around, and I've been trying to no avail to figure out what are the criteria that cause each one separately to be called Claymores. (different criteria I am assuming) I am especially confused with the great swards, because I have seen these not terribly long(for a great sward) swards with gigantic two layer crass guards, of so I am calling them, and I have seen swards called Celtic Great Swards/Claymors, that have very small cross guards(don't stick out very far.), and shorter handles(for being great swards). Could you clear up this confusion please. I feel that I have three very different swards here all under the same name. Thanks.
I thought Claymores were the big two handed swords (not sure if it's a long or great sword, but I thought the later) as seen in films lile Brave Heart and the first Highlander for example. Pop culture gives a lot of misinformation (for example calling a magazine a clip or how the gun community, news, and government can't seem to agree on what an "assault rifle" is.)
I've been watching videos from Shad, Skall, Matt Easton and Loyd for a long time, but every time they talk about sword classifications my brain just turns off. I always find this topic incredibly convoluted.
I think the big diference between a broadsword and a sidesword is not only the profile but the cross section as well, been the boadsword tipicaly lenticular or hexagonal which is more cut oriented while the sidesword diamond section is more thrust oriented.
Hello Shad! Could you have a look at a new rpg kingdom come : deliverance? It seems as a pretty realistic medieval game. The story takes place in Bohemia, where Czech Republic lies now :) Thanks, love your videos :)
Shad, in Spain, and Mostly wester Europe, the medieval sword that had a pointy end, was called a Thrusting Sword ("Estoque" in Spanish, which the same word can be used for the Rapier) and the ones which their blades look like Rapiers (the medieval ones), are called Skewer/Large Pin ("Espetón" in Spanish). Maybe the using of theese Spanish names can help? Also, in Catalonia there was an especialized Falcion used by the "Almogàvers" (something like the Catalan equivalent of Berserkers, which were a nomad tribe living in the Pirinée) called "Coltell" It's bassically a bigger knive that we use today for cutting big fish in the fish shops. Its first half was wide and convexed, and then the curve ends with a pointy end, and others just like a big fish-knife. It was like an "inversed" falcion. It would be nice if you made a revew about it! 3.bp.blogspot.com/_fG4L2dQKqx4/SwnaOkC5bII/AAAAAAAAAEY/DGX2NV85BGw/s1600/cortell+caspolino+2.jpg perso.ya.com/txibi/aquelarre/bracamante.jpg i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv41/almogavares-teruel/coltellnuevo.jpg 1.bp.blogspot.com/_fG4L2dQKqx4/Swneye1glYI/AAAAAAAAAGA/a_2JqrzjpyU/s1600/almogavar.jpg
I'm not sure but another reason that the broadsword could have been refereed to as Scottish was that the Scots used to use heavy sticks with woven baskets to practice combat in the medieval period. I'm not sure on the time of the training but it would seem the idea for the sword could have come from the training weapon due to the basket being there so the trainees could take full swing at each other without causing harm to the hands of there opponents. Which in the context of the use of the sword could be more useful that earlier periods as swords got more accurate the chance of cross-guard catching a stab was becoming to low to contiue to be of use to the combats, and thus a larger guard might have been developed because whilst there are massive holes everywhere in the guard it was moving faster that the attacker could effectively aim at the weak points simlear to the baskets of the training swords. Also a note because I have handled a "reproduction" (well, it wasn't reproduced from a surviving artifact as I don't think there are any but the method is pretty simple and not hard to do and quite a few people still know how to make them though I'm not sure if that's from word of mouth or written down) that the baskets were surprisingly strong and without them I think not many people would come out of a hit to the hands without some harm. Just speculation and I have no idea if this is even slightly true or if it's just a coincidence? :)
I totally like you insight views. From a journalistic standpoint they are just a bit lengthy. I don't think you would get fewer view if you shorten the vids a bit but spice them up instead a little. Don't get me wrong, informazion is up to scratch!
If broad swords were of the Renaissance period. Can you show/give an example of an sword of Knights Templar (Poor Knights of Christ) of the Medieval Period? I have been under the impression that Knights Templar used a broad sword. Forgive me of being misinformed that for that I have just stumbled on to this channel.
Wasn't there the same kind of thing with the "Short sword" or "small sword" ??? Never an official medieval term, but something that has evolved in the modern day... Correct me if I'm wrong
Fun facts: In WWII, Lt. Col. Jack Churchill was known for leading his men into battle whilst carrying a Scottish broadsword in hand. The reason cited was that "An officer without his sword is improperly dressed." The same man also scored the last longbow kill in English war history, felling a German officer with a barbed arrow at the onset of a battle.
I would have referred to a particular type of arming sword with an almost non-existant crossguard and a shorter yet broader blade as a broadsword - basically a larger roman Gladius. I don't know if these kinds of swords were ever widely used, but that's what they were called in our fantasy setting and they were popular among civilizations with a less advanced metallurgy
I've seen basket hilt broadswords often incorrectly referred to as claymores far too often. I kind of vomit in my mouth a little bit every time I encounter it and I try to make it a point to correct someone when I do. Sadly we can't fix stupid and I've encountered people who were so ignorant as to argue about it.
In regards to the difference between the sidesword and the broadsword - these are not as similar as you make them out to be. Neither of them generally had "swept hilts" - the broadsword had a basket hilt, which is is both heavier and provides significantly greater coverage of the hand. By comparison, since the side sword was a transitionary weapon between the arming sword and the rapier, earlier ones had only a cross with rings above the cross for the fingers, and the classic side sword added only a knuckle bow to this. By the time you started to see more complex hilts on side swords, you were getting more into the early rapier period. The other thing to note is that the reason why we use different names for these two swords that were not really contemporary (the broadsword was a later weapon) is because at that point those swords both had very clearly defined names. "Side sword" is a translation of Italian "Spada di Lato", which is what it was referred to as by the bolognese sources, and "broadsword" is the name used for the basket hilted weapon. By comparison, there were no historical terms (that we know of) to distinguish between different arming sword designs.
I would assume that the men of the day would have simply called the place that we call broadsword and arming sword or a sidearm or even the service weapon possibly even so-and-so's standard Armory blade speaking of the Kingdom dictum or possibly even shier if it was a blacksmithing community, ( and you how the region where that blade is harrowed.)
It wasn't referred to as a broadsword in the Renaissance either. George Silver calls the basket-hilted backsword the short sword in Paradox of Defense... the term Broadsword is a much later term. Certainly it was in use during the 18th century maybe the late 17th as well. I would have to do a lot more research to give you a more solid date then that.
Hey man, the "Brode-Sode" is a magnificent weapon, and a fine name for such a weapon. Just look at 'Hero Quest.' ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CRynOXfqWkk.html
at the 7:02 mark, you show 3 baskethilts, 2 of which are correctly identified as broadswords, but the middle one technically is not a broad sword, it's a backsword, as it's only single edged.
I originally thought broadsword ment just arming sword. After I started to learn a bit more about swords , I thought broadsword could refer to any straight double edged sword more optimised for slashing , but a few months ago I found out the ful truth. Something I think you should have mentioned is that the real broadsword (the basket hilt) is also called claymore, but in movies and games the word claymore is always associated with the scottish two handed sword.
For what it's worth, the baskethilt broadsword need not be a _Scottish_ baskethilt broadsword. The English had broadswords, too, as did the Italians (and others). English and Scottish broadswords were quite similar, but the English used different hilts. Italian broadswords are better known as _schiavone_ (s. "schiavona"). So while it can be useful to refer to all broadswords as "baskethilt broadswords", it is somewhat unhelpful to refer to all broadswords as "Scottish baskethilt broadswords", as only one particular subset of broadswords were Scottish, and these carried a particular style of hilt.
It seems that the arming sword is what the D&D longsword is supposed to be, and the "broadsword" is redundant, in that context..Because the D&D "longsword" is supposed to be a 1-handed cruciform, double-edged sword, which of course (as you've pointed out) isn't what a real longsword was.
I remember reading that Broadswords were another word for claymores and other two-handers, but it could have been wrong. but if you want to argue medieval usage let me just point out that the only distinction they made between a longsword and a short sword was whether the blade looked long or short and nothing else. pretty much all of our terms for swords (Arming, zweihander, etc) are post-medieval
I dont think the term broadword refers only to the scotish style of basket hilted swords. In the video itself you show a schiavona which si an italian and dalmatian type of basket hilted sword. The bilbo sword is as well considered the spanish broadsword, and the walloon sword is basicaslly a germanic style of broadsword. All these swords are basket hilted double edge cut centric sword, aka, broadswords.
