Looking at those pommels and hilts, I’m reminded of how some medieval euro weapon manuals call for bashing your opponent over the head with the hilt of the sword.
They look like they’re designed to disarm the enemy, you block their strike causing their sword to lock into the hook at the hilt, then performing a twisting motion should lock their sword in. You can either choose to wrench their sword away from them or step inwards with it under control to stab them with a dagger or something in your other hand.
I think a lot of fighting was done at full sword extension because of this. You only want to hit the opponent with the very tip of the sword rather than clash blades fully with someone.
Not sure what the spike is for on the opposite side to the hook though.
The hook at the hilt actually has another purpose - it’s a finger-ring, a feature that starts popping up on swords to facilitate a particular fencing technique where you wrap an index finger around the (usually unsharpened) base of the blade, which brings your hand more in alignment with the central axis of the blade and allows greater control over it, especially when thrusting
(although early examples where the ring often isn’t fully enclosed are always a bit scary to me, like I’m sure technically it’s pretty improbable that an opponent’s blade will manage to slide down your own blade at just the exact angle necessary to go past the ring and slice your finger off, but still)
We do see blades with features for locking blades, although usually on daggers
more
like the so-called “swordbreaker” (whose name seems to be a bit of a misnomer, as it’s more likely to be a swordcatcher, you’re unlikely to manage to break a blade by just catching and twisting it unless you’re dealing with some sloppy metallurgy)
and also, more commonly, highly upswept quillons to catch the blade and help against it sliding off by keeping it trapped inside of the curve
there’s also the more extreme form of this, the trident dagger
or having some cutouts and grooves in the blade to help with binding (so sort of like a much less extreme version of the swordbreaker from above)
and we also see projections for catching blades on the side of greatswords sometimes
a lot of fighting was done at full sword extension
Such techniques would actually develop, but somewhat later. Rapiers already led to techniques where the hand is held further out, but the arm is still usually a little bit folded
the Spanish would take this to its most extreme form, and develop techniques where the sword is indeed held at full extension. That’s why cup-hilt rapiers became a thing, since when you’re exposing your hand that far forward you really want it to be fully covered with a solid layer of steel frontally (for example in this picture, the guy with the simpler-hilted sword on the right, which is a much earlier style than the cup-hilt, would be quite vulnerable to quick little cuts done to his fingers and the back of the hand - which aren’t going to be fatal injuries by themselves, but if you get your sword hand fucked up and are unable to keep actually holding your weapon properly, that leaves you exposed to actually fatal attacks)
Looking at those pommels and hilts, I’m reminded of how some medieval euro weapon manuals call for bashing your opponent over the head with the hilt of the sword.
They look like they’re designed to disarm the enemy, you block their strike causing their sword to lock into the hook at the hilt, then performing a twisting motion should lock their sword in. You can either choose to wrench their sword away from them or step inwards with it under control to stab them with a dagger or something in your other hand.
I think a lot of fighting was done at full sword extension because of this. You only want to hit the opponent with the very tip of the sword rather than clash blades fully with someone.
Not sure what the spike is for on the opposite side to the hook though.
The hook at the hilt actually has another purpose - it’s a finger-ring, a feature that starts popping up on swords to facilitate a particular fencing technique where you wrap an index finger around the (usually unsharpened) base of the blade, which brings your hand more in alignment with the central axis of the blade and allows greater control over it, especially when thrusting
(although early examples where the ring often isn’t fully enclosed are always a bit scary to me, like I’m sure technically it’s pretty improbable that an opponent’s blade will manage to slide down your own blade at just the exact angle necessary to go past the ring and slice your finger off, but still)
We do see blades with features for locking blades, although usually on daggers
more
like the so-called “swordbreaker” (whose name seems to be a bit of a misnomer, as it’s more likely to be a swordcatcher, you’re unlikely to manage to break a blade by just catching and twisting it unless you’re dealing with some sloppy metallurgy)
and also, more commonly, highly upswept quillons to catch the blade and help against it sliding off by keeping it trapped inside of the curve
there’s also the more extreme form of this, the trident dagger
or having some cutouts and grooves in the blade to help with binding (so sort of like a much less extreme version of the swordbreaker from above)
and we also see projections for catching blades on the side of greatswords sometimes
Such techniques would actually develop, but somewhat later. Rapiers already led to techniques where the hand is held further out, but the arm is still usually a little bit folded
the Spanish would take this to its most extreme form, and develop techniques where the sword is indeed held at full extension. That’s why cup-hilt rapiers became a thing, since when you’re exposing your hand that far forward you really want it to be fully covered with a solid layer of steel frontally (for example in this picture, the guy with the simpler-hilted sword on the right, which is a much earlier style than the cup-hilt, would be quite vulnerable to quick little cuts done to his fingers and the back of the hand - which aren’t going to be fatal injuries by themselves, but if you get your sword hand fucked up and are unable to keep actually holding your weapon properly, that leaves you exposed to actually fatal attacks)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTxm74bIlJU
@GrouchyGrouse@hexbear.net also tagging you for the explanation
Awesome! This was great to read on my break, thanks for the tag
I found YouTube links in your comment. Here are links to the same videos on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
Link 1:
Link 2:
Link 3:
Link 4:
Maybe it’s there to pair with a certain scabbard design? I can imagine it preventing the blade from going all the way to the hilt.