#greatswords

[asoiafreadthru]

A Game of Thrones, Arya II

It was not just a stick, but a true wooden sword complete with grip and guard and pommel. Arya picked it up and clutched it nervously with both hands, holding it out in front of her. It was heavier than it looked, much heavier than Needle.

The bald man clicked his teeth together. “That is not the way, boy. This is not a greatsword that is needing two hands to swing it. You will take the blade in one hand.”

“It’s too heavy,” Arya said.

“It is heavy as it needs to be to make you strong, and for the balancing. A hollow inside is filled with lead, just so. One hand now is all that is needing.”

Arya took her right hand off the grip and wiped her sweaty palm on her pants. She held the sword in her left hand. He seemed to approve.

“The left is good. All is reversed, it will make your enemies more awkward.

“Now you are standing wrong. Turn your body sideface, yes, so. You are skinny as the shaft of a spear, do you know. That is good, the target is smaller.”

[momojiji-radar]

Swordid goes something like this ^^

credits in thread for the talent behind this trailer:

video edit: gesugesu music: purple-planet.com

[racefortheironthrone]

Is it weird that Ned (and Tarly) takes their ancestral GREATswords with them? Ned specially since the realm is in peace and those swords are mostly ceremonial since theyre too unwieldy to use in battle?

No, it's not weird.

Indeed, the fact that the realm is at peace makes it more likely that you'd see leading noblemen and royal officials carrying ceremonial greatswords that symbolize the power and influence of their houses.

[honourablejester]

This entire video is excellent, but that last little note on the end just makes me want a fantasy story about barbarian witches who fly down onto the battlefield on magical zweihanders to massively fuck shit up.

I have been wondering about this for years and I need to know, how would someone carry a zweihander that is almost as tall as them? You can't really carry it in a normal scabbard

Great question! Here's a hastily thrown together video answer:

Essentially, scabbards are for conveniently carrying weapons when you don't expect to use them right now. Weapons of this size are so bulky that you simply wouldn't carry one /unless/ you intended to use it (even if what you intend to use it for is intimidation rather than actual combat). In which case, you want it in your hands, and ready for use.

(That's not to say that you couldn't make a scabbard design for a huge sword, and I've seen some viable options, but for the most part I don't think there's much point. I've taken weapons of this size to a LARP, and even if you can strap it to your back, you end up taking it off any time you want to go through a door, bend over, walk in a group, run, sit down, climb a tree, do a flip, tie your laces, or basically do anything that's not carefully walk in a straight line.)

[superdaisypowerhour]

There are two schools of thought on the locked tomb series; there are the people who took tazmuir at her word when she said gideon had a longsword and drew it as such; then there are the people who know what a longsword is and know that the thing gideon swings is at the bare minimum a fucking claymore.

[wearemercs]

Ratkin Knights (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) by Gemi Ningen

[knightwithakay]

New sword goofin!! It really is incredible how different the steel feels from the wood I’ve been practicing with. This thing wants to move. I’m excited to play with it more! (Sword specs under the cut)

This is Regenyei’s spadone, ordered through Purpleheart Armory. We looked at a few options based on my measurements and this was the one that looked best, and I’m very happy with it! Length is 5’3” (shorter than me, barely) and weight is a little over five pounds. It’s super lively and well-balanced. My one small complaint is the hilt; it’s cord coated in some kind of acrylic(?), presumably to protect it from wear, but given that I’m never going to spar with this and won’t be using gloves I wish it were a little easier on the hands.

[marlynnofmany]

Well that's a pose made for fanfic if I've ever seen one.

The whole greatsword scabbard discourse gets me because, like, we know the answer to this one. We've got primary sources talking about it. The answer to "how do you carry a weapon that's more than a yard or so long" is:

If you don't think you'll need it on short notice and you're lucky enough to have access to a wagon or other means of transport, you don't carry it at all – you stick it in the wagon.

If you do think you'll need it on short notice or you don't have a wagon, you just carry it in your hands everywhere you go and constantly complain about how dumb and awkward that is, unless you're a professional mercenary and/or independently wealthy, in which case you hire a guy to follow you around carrying it in his hands everywhere you go and he complains about how dumb and awkward that is (though probably not while you're listening).

[ss-bullseye]

Bowgun Prep vs. Greatsword Prep

[voidedjuice]

Dark knight

[asoiafreadthru]

A Game of Thrones, Sansa I

At first Sansa did not notice the third stranger.

He did not kneel with the others. He stood to one side, beside their horses, a gaunt grim man who watched the proceedings in silence.

His face was pockmarked and beardless, with deepset eyes and hollow cheeks. Though he was not an old man, only a few whisps of hair remained to him, sprouting over his ears, but those he had grown long as a woman’s.

His armor was iron-grey chainmail over layers of boiled leather, plain and unadorned, and it spoke of age and hard use.

Above his right shoulder the stained leather hilt of the blade strapped to his back was visible; a two-handed greatsword, too long to be worn at his side.

Sansa could not take her eyes off the third man. He seemed to feel the weight of her gaze. Slowly he turned his head.

Lady growled. A terror as overwhelming as anything Sansa Stark had ever felt filled her suddenly.

[athelind]

Please, do NOT apologize for this! It's fascinating, and exactly the kind of detailed response I needed!

Amusingly, I stumbled upon the "you'd need to take advantage of the momentum of this thing and keep it moving" back when I was a teenager fucking around with homemade quarterstaves. I had no idea that it was a legitimate combat technique.

Seriously, thank you. And please feel free to do more deep dives into historical weapons and techniques; I LOVE this kind of thing.

Hey do the kids of today know about the vast overlap between flails and greatswords

[rocketbirdie]

guess what i learned yesterday.

[k-liiang]

One more post for today before i go eep ♥

[blumineck]

I love me a fantasy monster-slaying greatsword, but the historical greatsword has a pretty badass purpose too!

Art refs, tutorials and more!

[dummy-dot-exe]

by lack@lalalalack