Size or Shape
Terms classifying swords as "great", "long", "broad", "bastard", "small", "short" or "two-handed" have different meanings in different contexts and may be ambiguous.
In the Elizabethan context the size of swords from smallest to biggest would be as follows:
- Short-sword (arming sword), backsword --> bastard sword, broadsword (two-handed sword) --> long sword --> two-hander ("great sword" although this is a recently coined term).
In the German context the size of swords from smallest to biggest would be:
- Katzbalger, Degen --> Reitschwert, Schwert (langes Schwert) --> Rappier --> Bidenhänder.
In the French context the size of swords from smallest to biggest would be:
- Épée --> épée batarde (épée de passot), espadon --> longue épée --> épée à deux mains.
In the Italian context the size of swords from smallest to biggest would be:
- Spada --> spada bastarda, spadone --> spada lunga --> spada a due mani.
Read more about this topic: Classification Of Swords
Famous quotes containing the words size and/or shape:
“Men of genius are not quick judges of character. Deep thinking and high imagining blunt that trivial instinct by which you and I size people up.”
—Max Beerbohm (1872–1956)
“To the intelligent, nature converts itself into a vast promise, and will not be rashly explained. Her secret is untold. Many and many an Oedipus arrives: he has the whole mystery teeming in his brain. Alas! the same sorcery has spoiled his skill; no syllable can he shape on his lips.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)