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Encyclopedia > Guard (weapon)

Hilt of Szczerbiec
Hilt of Szczerbiec
silver damascened rapier guard, between 1580 and 1600. Fake blade.
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silver damascened rapier guard, between 1580 and 1600. Fake blade.

The hilt of a sword is its handle, consisting of a guard, grip and pommel. The guard may contain a crossguard or quillions. A tassel or sword knot may be attached to the guard or pommel. Download high resolution version (1675x2330, 194 KB) This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Download high resolution version (1675x2330, 194 KB) This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Hilt of Szczerbiec Szczerbiec (literal meaning: jagged sword) is a sword that was traditionally used in the coronation ceremony of Polish kings. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (724x984, 54 KB) fr: Garde de rapière, damasquinée, en argent, entre 1580 et 1600. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (724x984, 54 KB) fr: Garde de rapière, damasquinée, en argent, entre 1580 et 1600. ... silver damascened rapier guard, between 1580 and 1600. ... Swiss longsword, 15th or 16th century A sword (from Old English sweord; akin to Old High German swerd, lit. ...

Contents


Pommel

The pommel (The name is derived from the Latin for a "little apple") is a counterweight at the top of the handle. Even the lightest of modern fencing weapons use the weight of the pommel to provide a balance that the wielder prefers. In this sense, the pommel has remained one of the few parts of a sword that has more than any other retained its ancient function. Pommels have come in a wide variety of shapes, including crescents, oblate spheroids, semicircular, and disks. Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Binomial name Malus domestica Borkh. ... Russian Ivan Tourchine and American Weston Kelsey fence in the second round of the Olympic Mens Individual Épée event at the Helliniko Fencing Hall on Aug. ... The bayonet, still used in war as both knife and spearpoint. ...


Grip

The grip is the handle of the sword. It was usually of wood or metal, and often covered with shagreen leather or shark skin. Shark skin proved to be the most durable in temperate climates but deteriorated in hot climates, and consequently rubber became popular in the latter half of the 19th Century. Whatever material covered the grip, it was usually both glued on and held on with wire wrapped around it in a spiral. Swiss longsword, 15th or 16th century A sword (from Old English sweord; akin to Old High German swerd, lit. ... A tree trunk as found at the Veluwe, The Netherlands Wood derives from woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs. ... Hot metal work from a blacksmith In chemistry, a metal (Greek: Metallon) is an element that readily forms ions (cations) and has metallic bonds, and metals are sometimes described as a lattice of positive ions (cations) in a cloud of electrons. ... Shagreen is a type of untanned leather, formerly made from a horses back, or that of a wild ass, and typically dyed green. ... Orders Hexanchiformes Squaliformes Pristiophoriformes Squatiniformes Heterodontiformes Orectolobiformes Carcharhiniformes Lamniformes Sharks are a group (superorder Selachimorpha) of fish, with a full cartilaginous skeleton, a streamlined body plan, with normally 5, but up to 7 (depending on species) gill slits along the side of, or beginning slightly behind, the head (in some... Rubber is an elastic hydrocarbon polymer which occurs as a milky emulsion (known as latex) in the sap of a number of plants but can also be produced synthetically. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... A wire is a single, usually cylindrical, elongated strand of drawn metal. ... In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which turns around some central point or axis, getting progressively closer to or farther from it, depending on which way you follow the curve. ...


In full armored battle, however, the grip was often only used with one hand (even on two-handed swords), and the blade was gripped partway up, thus allowing the fighter to thrust the blade horizontally, with both hands, into the opponent. A human hand typically has four fingers and a thumb The hand (med. ... A two-handed sword, used as a general term, is any large sword that requires two hands to use. ...


Guard

The guard protects the user's hand from the opponent's sword. In early swords it simply did not exist. Later it was usually a straight crossbar ("quillions") perpendicular to the blade. Beginning in the 16th century in Europe guards became more and more elaborate, with additional loops and curved bars to protect the hand from cuts. Ultimately, the bars could be supplemented or replaced with metal plates that could be ornamentally pierced. "Basket hilt" eventually came into vogue to describe such designs. For other uses of the word blade, see Blade (disambiguation) A blade is the flat part of a tool or weapon that (usually) has a cutting edge typically made of a metal, such as steel used to cut, thrust or strike like knife dagger sword sabre axe bayonet machete cleaver... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... Europe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...


Simultaneously, emphasis upon the thrust attack with rapiers and smallswords revealed a vulnerability to thrusting. By the 17th century, guards were developed that incorporated a solid shield that surrounded the blade out to a diameter of up to two inches or more. Older forms of this guard retained the quillions or a single quillion, but later forms eliminated the quillions, altogether. This latter form is the basis of the guards of modern foils and epees. silver damascened rapier guard, between 1580 and 1600. ... The Smallsword is a sword intermediate in historical period between the rapier and the classical épée, ancestor to the modern sporting épée. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... Mid-19th century tool for converting between different standards of the inch An inch is an Imperial and U.S. customary unit of length. ... FOIL was the name for two different programming languages. ... An épée is a modern version of the duelling sword. ...


Tassel

 German cavalry officer's stichdegen (undress sword) with its sword knot. When the sword was in its scabbard, the strap would normally be wrapped several times around the guard so that it didn't get in the way. Often called 'troddel' in German.
German cavalry officer's stichdegen (undress sword) with its sword knot. When the sword was in its scabbard, the strap would normally be wrapped several times around the guard so that it didn't get in the way. Often called 'troddel' in German.

The tassel or sword knot is a lanyard - usually of leather - looped around the hand to prevent the sword being lost if it is dropped. Although they have a practical function, sword knots often had a decorative design. For example, the British Army generally adopted a white leather strap with a large acorn knot made out of gold wire for infantry officers at the end of the 19th Century; such acorn forms of tassels were said to be 'boxed' which was the way of securing the fringe of the tassel along its bottom line such that the strands could not separate and become entangled and ripped from the body mould. Thus the real tassel form ceased to exist as most armies adopted this more 'efficient' form to the extent of the nineteenth century use of embossed foils upon paper mache forms to avoid the use of precious metal as in the true bullion (gold wire) of which the original tassels were made. Many sword knot lanyards were also made of silk with a fine, ornamental alloy gold or silver metal wire woven into it in a specified pattern. The sword knot is sometimes looped though a slot in the guard. Download high resolution version (972x221, 48 KB)Late 19th/early 20th Century German cavalry officers stichdegen (undress sword) with its sword knot. ... Download high resolution version (972x221, 48 KB)Late 19th/early 20th Century German cavalry officers stichdegen (undress sword) with its sword knot. ... See also: Hilt (band) and Peter Hilt The hilt of a sword is its handle, consisting of a guard, grip and pommel. ... Some knots: 1. ... a lanyard fixed on an infantry sabre handle A lanyard is a rope or cord often worn around the neck or wrist to carry something. ... The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ... Acorns of Sessile Oak The acorn is the fruit of oaks (genus Quercus, in the family Fagaceae). ... General Name, Symbol, Number gold, Au, 79 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 6, d Appearance metallic yellow Atomic mass 196. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...


The art and history of Tassels is part of the story of Passementerie, or Posamenten as it was called in German. The military division of such artisans of 'passementiers' (trimmings makers) is evident in catalogs of various military uniform and regalia makers of centuries past. The broader art form of Passementerie, with its divisions of Decor, Clergy and Nobility, Upholstery, Coaches and Livery, and Military are treated of in a few books on that subject, none of which are in English.


Indian swords usually had the tassel attached through an eye right at the end of the pommel.


See also


  Results from FactBites:
 
IFGS Weapon Construction (1869 words)
When a weapon is completed, it must not have too much play or "whip." When swung in a normal fashion, a weapon's tip should not flex more than three inches out of line from the main shaft.
The guard should be stiff but pliable enough that it will not bend in such a fashion as to trap or damage the hand of the user.
Sharp edges are not allowed anywhere on the weapon, including non-striking areas (such as the guard on the sword).
  More results at FactBites »


 

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