Short Sword
In Elizabethan England, the short sword was the normal single-handed sword. The term especially refers to the medieval one-handed knightly arming sword in contrast to the hand-and-half outsized specimens, called the long sword. It is shorter than both the long sword and the long rapier. George Silver states that the short sword has a blade of perfect length and is ideal for combat unlike the long rapier and the long sword.
Compare related swords of similar bladelengths - 2 to 3 feet ( ≈ 60 to 90 cm):
- Spatha
- Viking sword
- Arming sword
- Swiss degen, a 15th-century Swiss weapon derived from the baselard;
- Katzbalger, the German short sword of the Renaissance;
- Estoc or more accurately the Panzerstecher, a sword designed for piercing armour; estoc is actually a term used for the short rapier (aka tuck),
- 1625 Darcie Hist. Q. Eliz. iii. 223 To fight..in Duels, with a Rapier called a Tucke, onely for the thrust. (OED);
Read more about this topic: Classification Of Swords, Size or Shape
Famous quotes containing the words short and/or sword:
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—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“your bones,
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I feel the skull, Mr. Skeleton, living its
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—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)