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:
“Woe to that nation whose literature is cut short by the intrusion of force. This is not merely interference with freedom of the press but the sealing up of a nation’s heart, the excision of its memory.”
—Alexander Solzhenitsyn (b. 1918)
“When the sword of rebellion is drawn, the sheath should be thrown away.”
—quoted in letter, Aug. 6, 1775, by painter John Singleton Copley on the subject of the American Revolution. British proverb.