Basic Sword Parts

Blade - The length of steel that forms the sword.

Back - The part of the blade opposite the edge. Double-edged sword has no back.

Cross - The typically straight bar or "guard" of a Medieval sword, also called a "cross-guard". A Renaissance term for the straight or curved cross-guard was the quillons (possibly from an old French or Latin term for a type of reed).

Edge - This is the sharpened portion of the blade. A sword may be single or double-edged. For example, a Japanese katana has a single edge but a Scottish claymore is sharpened on both sides.

Hilt - The lower portion of a sword consisting of the cross-guard, handle/grip, and pommel (most Medieval swords have a straight cross or cruciform-hilt).

Quillions - A Renaissance term for the two cross-guards (forward and back) whether straight or curved. It is likely from an old French or Latin term for a reed. On Medieval swords the cross guard may be called simply the "cross", or just the "guard".

Forte' - A Renaissance term for the lower portion on a sword blade which has more control and strength and which does most of the parrying. Also called prime or fort.

Foible - A Renaissance term for the upper portion on a sword blade which is weaker (or "feeble") but has more agility and speed and which does most of the attacking.

Fuller - A shallow central-groove or channel on a blade which lightens it as well as improves strength and flex. Sometimes mistakenly called a "blood-run" or "blood-groove", it has nothing to do with blood flow, cutting power, or a blade sticking. A sword might have one, none, or several fullers running a portion of its length, on either one or both sides. Narrow deep fullers are also sometimes referred to as flukes. The opposite of a fuller is a riser, which improves rigidity. The fullers function is analagous to the spine of the human body. When a fuller is forged onto a blade it repacks the crystaline structure and forms it into a flexible spine that reduces weight and gives the sword both strength and flexibility.

Grip - The handle of a sword, usually made of leather, wire, wood, bone, horn, or ivory (also, a term for the method of holding the sword).

Lower end - the tip portion of a Medieval sword

Pommel - Latin for "little apple", the counter-weight which secures the hilt to the blade and allows the hand to either rest on it or grip it. Sometimes it includes a small rivet (capstan rivet) called a pommel nut, pommel bolt, or tang nut. On some Medieval swords the pommel may be partially or fully gripped and handled.

Ricasso - The dull portion of a blade just above the hilt. It is intended for wrapping the index finger around to give greater tip control (called "fingering"). Not all sword forms had ricasso. They can be found on many Bastard-swords, most cut & thrust swords and later rapiers. Those on Two-Handed swords are sometimes called a "false-grip", and usually allow the entire second hand to grip and hold on. The origin of the term is obscure.

Shoulder - The corner portion of a sword separating the blade from the tang.

Tang - The un-edged hidden portion or ("tongue") of a blade running through the handle and to which the pommel is attached. The place where the tang connects to the blade is called the "shoulder". A sword's tang is sometimes of a different temper than the blade itself. A full tang is preferred in European swords, while a partial tang is best for Japanese swords.

Upper end - The hilt portion of a Medieval sword

Waisted-grip - A specially shaped handle on some bastard or hand-and-a-half swords, consisting of a slightly wider middle and tapering towards the pommel.

Tip - The end of the sword furthest away from the hilt. Most swords taper to a point at the tip, but some blade lines are straight until the very tip. A few swords, such as a U.S. Civil War saber, are curved along their length.

Annellet/Finger-Ring - The small loops extending toward the blade from the quillions intended to protect a finger wrapped over the guard. They developed in the middle-ages and can be found on many styles of Late-Medieval swords. They are common on Renaissance cut & thrust swords and rapiers they and also small-swords. For some time they have been incorrectly called the "pas d`ane".

Compound-Hilt/Complex-Guard - A term used for the various forms of hilt found on Renaissance and some late-Medieval swords. They consist typically of finger-rings, side-rings or ports, a knuckle-bar, and counter-guard or back-guard. Swept-hilts, ring-hilts, cage-hilts, and some basket-hilts are forms of complex-guard

Medieval and Renaissance Types of Swords and Daggers

Arming Sword - after the 14th century, with the appearance of the longsword the simple, single-handed weapon became known as a short sword or arming sword, since it hung from the belt of the knight, while his longsword hung from the saddle. In the mid-15th century treatise How a Man Shayl be Armyd, the author advises: “hys shorte swerde upon hys lyfte syde in a rounde ryunge all nakid to pulle out lightlie....and then hys long swerd in hys hand.’

Backsword - The backsword was so named because it only had one cutting edge. The non-cutting edge (the back of the blade) was much thicker than the cutting edge thus creating a wedge type shape which was said to increase the weapons cutting capacity. Also known as a "Mortuary Sword", or the German "Reitschwert."

Basilard - a two-edged, long bladed dagger of the late Middle Ages, often worn with both civilian dress and armour.

Bastard Swords - developed in the mid 1400's as a form of long-sword with specially shaped grips for one or two hands. These swords typically had longer handles which allowed use by one or both hands. The sword's hilt often had side-rings and finger rings to defend the hand, and a more slender, or tapered, narrowly pointed blade. Bastard swords continued to be used by knights and men-at-arms into the 1500's, and for a time, enjoyed the civilian side-arm role that would later be superceded by the sidesword and rapier.

Broadsword - A term popularly misapplied as a generic synonym for medieval swords. The now popular misnomer "broadsword" as a term for medieval blades actually originated with Victorian collectors in the early 19th century.

  The term " broadsword" seems to have originated in the 17th century, referring to a double-edged military sword, with a complex hilt. A medieval sword was simply called a "sword," a "short sword" (in the works of George Silver), or an "arming sword."

  Further complicating the issue is a "true broadsword," which is actually an 18th century short naval cutlass. The term did not take on the meaning of a wide-bladed medieval sword until the later 19th century. Since then, it has entered popular use by collectors, museum curators, fight directors, and authors. What should modern students call it? The word "sword," seems to work very well.

  Medieval swords appeared in a variety of forms, but generally had a long, wide, straight, double-edged blade with a simple cross-guard (or "cruciform" hilt). The typical form was a single hand weapon used for hacking, shearing cuts and also for limited thrusting which evolved from the Celtic and Germanic swords of late Antiquity. Over time, the sword became more tapered and rigid, to facilitate thrusting, and began to add a series of protective rings to the hilt, to defend the fingers and hand. This was the birth of the "cut and thrust" or "sidesword."

Claymore - Identified with the Scot's symbol of the warrior, the term "Claymore" is Gaelic for "claidheamh-more" (great sword). This two-handed broadsword was used by the Scottish Highlanders against the English in the 16th century and is often confused with a Basket-hilt "broadsword" (a relative of the Italian schiavona) whose hilt completely enclosed the hand in a cage- like guard. Both swords have come to be known by the same name since the late 1700's.

Compound-hilt - a term used for the various forms of swept, basket, and cage hilts found on Renaissance swords. The compound hilt is comprised of the quillon, side-rings, and a knuckle bar in a variety of configurations.

Cross-guard - the steel, cross-piece between the hand and blade of a Medieval sword.

Cut-and-Thrust Sword - the spada filo or spada da lato of the Italian Renaissance masters. The sword was a thinner, more tapered sword than the earlier Medieval forms, but still shorter and wider than the nearly edgless rapier. They were used for hacking, slashing, stabbing, and had compound hilts used to employ a "fingered" grip. Unlike the later rapier, which was wholly a civilian weapon, the cut & thrust sword was a military weapon that became popular for civilian use until superseded by the rapier. Various forms of later military cut & thrust swords include the: schiavona, spadroon, hanger, and Espadon. These are the swords discussed by such Masters as George Silver, Achille Marozzo, and Di Grassi.

Dagger - a knife, usually in the form of a sword. Daggers came a variety of forms, with both single and double edged varieties. Like swords, were usually fitted with a pommel and guard, and throughout the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, also developed progressively more complex hilts.

Dirk - a long, usually single-edged dagger that developed from the Medieval ballock and kidney daggers.

Espada - Spanish for sword.

Espee/Epee - Old French and Modern French terms for sword, respectively.

Estoc - A form of long, rigid, pointed, triangular or square bladed and virtually edgeless longsword designed for thrusting into plate-armor was the estoc. Called a "stocco" in Italian and a "tuck" in English, they were used with two hands - similar to great-swords. They were used in two hands with the second hand often gripping the blade. Rapiers are sometimes mistakenly referred to as tucks, and may have been referred to as such by the English.

Falchion - a single-edged, heavy-bladed sword, usually widening noticably towards the tip. A form of sword that was little more than a meat cleaver, possibly even a simple kitchen and barnyard tool adopted for war. Indeed, it may come from a French word for a sickle, "fauchon". It can be seen in Medieval art being used by warriors of all stations, especially in close quarters fighting. The weapon is entirely European in origin, and is similar to the German "dusack," and has been linked to the Dark Age long knife or "seax." The falchion was used throughout the Middle Ages, predominantly by foot soldiers, but occassionally as a side-arm for mounted knights. More common in the Renaissance, it was considered a weapon to be proficient with in addition to the sword. The falchion appeared in several forms, but mostly all forms have a single edge and rounded point or "clipped" point. This wide, heavy blade was weighted more towards the point, and could deliver tremendous blows, making it ideal for combating heavy armours.

Flamberge - An unusual waved-bladed rapier popular with officers and upper classes during the 1600s. It was considered to look both fashionable and deadly as well as erroneously believed to inflict a more deadly wound. When parrying with the flamberge, the opponent's sword was slowed slightly as it passed along the length. It also created a disconcerting vibration in the other blade. The term flamberge was also used later to describe a dish-hilted rapier with a normal straight blade. Certain wave or flame-bladed two-handed swords have also come to be known by collectors as "flamberges", although this is inaccurate. Such swords are more appropriately known as "flammards" or "flambards".

Great-Swords - are infantry swords which cannot be used comfortably in a single-hand. The term "great-sword" has come to mean a form of long-sword that is still not the specialized weapons of later two-handed swords. They are, however, the weapons often depicted in various German sword manuals. Length was usually measured against the wielder's body - usually from somewhere between the diaphragm to the armpit. Blade shape could be flat and wide, or narrow and hexagonal, or diamond shaped. These larger swords were capable of facing heavier weapons such as pole-arms and larger axes, and were devastating against light armour. Long, two-handed swords with narrower, flat hexagonal blades and thinner tips were an evolutionary response to plate-armour.

Longsword - the Medieval hand-and-a-half sword, which forms the basis of most surviving Medieval fighting treatises. Longswords are the classic "hand and a half" or "war sword," of the 14th and 15th centuries. Between 4 - 4.5' long, and with an average weight of 3 - 4 lbs, the longsword was typically straight, double-edged, and with a simple cruciform hilt. It grew naturally out of the older, single-handed sword, as a means of combating heavier mail, and reinforced mail armour. References to longswords appears as early as the 1180s, but they do not seem to have been common until the late 13th century, and became the principle battlefield sword for the knightly class in the early 14th c.

Main-gauche - the left-handed, parrying dagger used with the rapier.

Misericorde - from the word “mercy.” A straight, narrow dagger, commonly seen on knightly effigies. It was so-called because it was often used to give the final “mercy” stroke to the mortally wounded.

Pommel - the large steel knob that counter-balanced the sword, and provide a secondary weapon in its own right. Pommels came in a variety of shapes: disks, balls, brazil-nuts, crescents, a sort of mushroom cap, etc., and changed in popularity as much with changes in fashion sense as martial usage

Quillons - A Renaissance term for the cross-guard.

Rapier - a long, double-edged, slender bladed, single-handed sword, designed to emphasize the thrust. Rapiers first appeared in the mid-16th century, and were used through the next century. The rapier may be the first, purely civilian sword, devised. The exact origins of the rapier are still debated between Italy or Spain, but in either case, its popularity grew with the new, deadly “fad” of the duel (one no doubt directly influencing the other) and it began the process towards an exclusively thrust-oriented form of swordplay, which would see its final martial evolution in the smallsword of the Enlightenment.

Rebated - a sword that has had its point and edge blunted for training or tournament.

Ricasso - the unsharpened portion of the sword blade neares the hilt.

Rondel dagger - a military dagger witht he pommel and hand-guard formed of roundels. The dagger was often 18” long or more, with a single-edged, or even triangular, blade.

Sax/Saex - a long, heavy single-edged knife favored by the Nordic peoples, with a recognizable modern descendant in the Bowie knife. The Saxon race is said to have taken its name from this weapon, which originally meant stone. Some saxes could be as much as three feet long, and hilted like swords.

Scabbard - a sheath for a sword or dagger. Most scabbards were made of thin wood, lined with felt of sheepskin, and covered in leather.

Schiavona - A form of agile Renaissance cut & thrust sword with a decorative cage-hilt and distinctive "cat-head" pommel. So named for the Schiavoni or Venetian Doge’s Slavonic mercenaries and guards of the 1500’s who favored the weapon. They are usually single edged back-swords but may also be wide or narrow double edged blades. Some have ricasso for a fingering grip while others have thumb-rings. The Schiavona is often considered the antecedent to other cage hilt swords such as the Scottish basket-hilted "broadsword".

Small-Sword - Sometimes known as a "court-sword", a "walking-sword", or "town-sword", small-swords developed in the late Renaissance as a personal dueling tool and weapon of self-defense. Most popular in the 1700's it is sometimes confused with the rapier. It consisted almost exclusively of a sharp pointed metal rod with a much smaller guard and finger-rings. Its blade was typically a hollow triangular shape and was much thicker at the hilt. Most had no edge at all, and were merely rigid, pointed, metal rods. They were popular with the upper classes especially as decorative fashion accessories, worn like jewelry. In a skilled hand the small sword was an effective and deadly instrument. Until the early 1800s it continued to be used even against older rapiers and even some cutting swords. It is the small-sword rather than the rapier which leads to the epee and foil of modern sport fencing.

Spada - Italian for sword.

Spatha - the Roman long (36”), cavalry sword. One of the origins of the “knightly” sword, and the Latin origin for spada, espada and espee.

Two-handed sword - a specialized type of great sword that became popular in the 16th century. The size and weight of the weapon, made it unsuited for close formation fighting, and its use was reserved for banner defense, guarding breeches in siege warfare, and forming skirmish lines. The grip was very long in proportion to the blade, and the overall sword could be 5 1/2’ - 6’ long.

Two-handed Swords are really a classification of sword applied to Renaissance, rather than Medieval, weapons. They are the specialized forms of the later 1500-1600's, known in German as "Dopplehander" ("both-hander") or in English as "slaughterswords" (named after the German "Schlachterschwerter" -- battle swords), or in Italian as "lo spadone". In Germany and England they seem to have enjoyed a vogue for use in single-combat, but their precise military role is still in debate. True two-handed swords have compound-hilts with side-rings and enlarged cross-guards of up to 12 inches. Most have small, pointed lugs or flanges protruding from their blades 4-8 inches below their guard. The lugs provide greater defense, and can allow another blade to be momentarily trapped or bound up. They can also be used to strike with. Although collectors have come to call certain wave or flame-bladed two-handed swords "flamberges", these swords of the early-to-mid 1500's and are more appropriately known as "flammards" or "flambards" (the German" Flammenschwert").

Waster - a wooden practice sword. Also called a bevin, bavin or cudgel

Medieval and Renaissance Other Weapons Terminology

Angon - the Frankish and Anglo-Saxon throwing spear of late Antiquity and the Dark Ages. The angon had a long slender iron neck with a barbed head, and was roughly 6’ long. It was essentially indentical to the Roman pilum.

Arbalest - (Ger. Armbrust, Crossbow) The correct term for a crossbow, introduced early in the 14th century. The crossbow consisted of a bow mounted on a stock that could be cranked or pulled into place using more leverage than could be used on a conventional longbow. The result was a very high-powered, lower trajectoried weapon of great destructive potential. It fired a bolt, a shorter version of an arrow. However, the firing time on a crossbow was slow compared to the longbow, and for that reason and owing to the vastly higher expense during the period, the longbow remained the favored missile weapon of the 14th and 15th century in England and in France. From time to time the crossbow was banned by various laws, but it remained a weapon of great popularity during the late 14th century in the low countries, the Swiss states, in Germany and in Italy.

Axe - one of the first tools developed by humans, and nearly from its origins a comon weapon. A variety of forms, single and double-handed were in use throughout the Medieval and Renaissance periods.

Bec de Corbin - a type of polehammer used in the 15th century. (See polaxe)

Bec de Faucon - a polearm with a large hammer head instead of an axe, and backed with a spike or curved fluke. The weapon either terminated in a heavy steel counterweight, or a sharpened buttspike, and seemed to range anywhere from five to seven or more feet long. (see also hache or polaxe)

Bill - also called a Brown Bill or a Black Bill. A polearm with a wide cutting blade, with or without spikes and hooks in various locations, derived from the common agricultural tool. The billhook became the mainstay of English infantry forces during the High Middle Ages, and remained such for centuries. This fearsome weapon was capable of killing both armoured opponents and horses, an important factor when facing cavalry forces. Billhooks came in a large variety of shapes and dimensions.

Catapult - A class of siege engines designed to throw spears and heavy bolts.

Coronel/Cronel - a crown-shaped lance head used for jousts of peace (jousts a plaisance)

Flail - a jointed weapon consisting of a spiked, flanged or knobbed steel bludgeon joined by a chain to a short wood or steel haft. Use of the large two-handed flail continued to be taught in fight schools into the 17th century. It was derived from the simple agricultural flail, still used in some parts of the world today.

Francisca - the light throwing axe of the Franks, used alongside the angon.

Gisarme - a massive, ornate spear-like polearm of the 15th century.

Glaive - A broad-bladed, single-edged polearm. Essentially an 18” butcher-knife on a 6 - 7’ pole.

Godendag - the Flemings gave this name, which means “good morning,” to their broad-bladed halberds.

Hache - Also "Bec de Faucon" or "Pollaxe" or "Polaxe" -The "pollaxe" is something of a misnomer, for a variety of reasons. Firstly, the term "poll" is a period reference to the skull, not a "pole" on which the axe head rode. Secondly, the hache was often not an axe at all. Based on surviving examples, there seem to have been two principle forms of hache. The first bore an edged, axe shaped cutting blade on the front side, a small hammer head or curved spike on the back, and was surmounted with a long rectangular or diamond cross-sectioned spike at the top of the haft. The second form, usually referred to as the "Bec de Faucon" sported a large hammer head instead of an axe, and was backed with a spike or curved fluke. Both weapons either terminated in a heavy steel counterweight, or a sharpened buttspike, and seemed to range anywhere from five to seven or more feet long. Thalhoffer and De Liberi both provide many instructional plates on the use of the hache, but the most important document is the anonymous "Le Jeu de la Hache," of the mid-15th century, and translated into modern English by Dr. Sydney Anglo.

Haft - the wooden portion of a polearm that primarily cuts, such as an axe or halbard.

Halberd - a weapon that emerged along with the glaive and guisarme, and for the same purpose - to better combat heavy armour. The halberd had a broad, short axe blade on a 5 - 6’ long haft, with a spear point at the top, often a back-spike and occassionally, a butt-spike.

Hammer - despite its name, the military hammer often was more of a pick. The war hammer gained popularity in the 15th century as a side-arm for combating plate armour.

Lance - the quintessential weapon of the man-at-arms. The lance initially began as a long spear (about 9’) but became progressively longer and heavier, it’s late Medieval form being a specialized weapon unsuited to use on foot.

Langet - metal strips riveted to the the shaft of polearms to reinforce the torque against the head, and to provide protection to the potentially weak juncture between weapon-head and haft.

Longbow - The weapon of the archer, used for launching arrows, developed in Europe. Compare it with the shorter composite bow of the Saracen, which had a shorter draw but was easier to use from horseback. Longbows were the preferred weapon of the English after the middle 14th century, Edward III recognizing the power of massed artillery (archers) used in combination with dismounted cavalry and infantry. The longbow, with a draw from 30 - 36", could launch an arrow more than 300 yards, deadly against opponents not defended by plate armour.

Mace - another of the human race’s oldest weapons, directly tracable back to the stone-topped club. The Medieval mace was an armour-fighting weapon, developing from a steel ball on a wooden handle, to an elaborately flanged, all steel, war club. Maces also have been symbols of power or rulership, from ancient times.

Partisan - another guisarme-type of polearm, this variant had a broad, sword-like blade ranging from 2 - 2 1/2 feet in length. This blade was double-edged and had lugs of various designs at the bottom.

Pike - a long infantry spear used in formation. The pike grew to lengths of 18 feet or more, and really was only affective when used in massed numbers.

Pilum - the Roman throwing spear, with a small, leaf-shaped head set on a long, thin iron neck riveted to a wooden shaft. The pilum was an anti-shield weapon, meant to stick in enemy shields and way them down. The Franks and Saxons adopted it at the angon.

Quarterstaff - a long, stout pole, caarried for personal defense, and sport, in England. The English swordsman, George Silver, said the staff should be as tall as the user’s outstretched finger tips, when he lifted his hand above his head, and as thick as a wrist. The quarter staff was so called because, when being used, the first hand gripped the staff a quarter of the way from the bottom, and the second hand gripped it at the mid-point. Although a simple, “commoner” weapon, the staff was truly fearsome in the hands of a master, so much so, that Silver felt it was superior to any form of sword, used alone, or with a buckler or dagger.
The shortstaff eventually became known as the quarterstaff, and could vary in length between 6 feet to 9 feet, while the longstaff would be around twelve feet in length. The English shortstaff fighting system was a composite of quarter-staffing and half-staffing. The former took its name from the fact that a quarter of the length of the staff was held between the hands with the tip of the weapon pointing directly at the opponent. The latter from the fact that half the length of the staff was held between the hands, with the hands being held equidistant from each end of the staff. Half-staffing, because the staff was held at right-angles to the body, was for close-in fighting, whereas quarter-staffing was used to fight at longer range . Ironically, thanks to theatrical performances and stage combats of the 17th - 19th centuries, what we think of as "quarterstaffing" is really "halfstaffing."

Spear - with the club, perhaps the first human tool designed specifically as a weapon, the spear is simply a long-shafted weapon designed principally for thrusting, although many spears were also capable of slashing blows.

Volgue - an archaic term for a spear, which probably came to be synonymous with a glaive