Single-handed
* Bronze Age swords, length ca. 60 cm, leaf shaped blade.
* Iron Age swords like the xiphos, gladius and jian 劍, similar in shape to their Bronze Age predecessors.
* Spatha, measuring ca. 80–90 cm. also called a "viking sword"
* The classical arming sword of Medieval Europe, measuring up to ca. 110 cm.
* The late medieval Swiss baselard and the Renaissance Italian cinquedea and German Katzbalger essentially re-introduce the functionality of the spatha, coinciding with the strong cultural movement to emulate the Classical world.
* The cut & thrust swords of the Renaissance, similar to the older arming sword but balanced for increased thrusting.
* The Turkish blade; yatagan ( Yatağan in Turkish) used from 16th Century to 19th century.
* Light dueling swords, like the rapier and the smallsword, in use from Early Modern times.
* The Japanese short sword, or wakizashi
* The ida of the Yoruba tribe of West Africa. It can also be regarded as a two-handed sword.
* The Indian tulwar
* The Arabian scimitar, the similar Persian shamshir.
* The East Indian kris, with a wavy double-edged blade.
* The Fillipino itak, (image) used by pre-Spanish Filipinos or Austronesians as a primary weapon in protecting its boundaries.
* The Korean Fandudaedo, or a sword with a short handle and a ring-shaped pommel with nothing/a pheonix/a head of a pheonix/a dragon in it. It has an iron-string grip.
[edit] Two-handed
Katana of the 16th or 17th century, with its saya.
Katana of the 16th or 17th century, with its saya.
* The Japanese samurai sword, or katana, tachi and nodachi
* The Indian Khanda
* The longsword (and bastard sword/hand-and-a-half sword) of the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
* The 16th century Doppelhänder or Zweihänder (German for "double-hander" or "two-hander").
* The Chinese anti-cavalry sword, zhanmadao of the Song Dynasty.
* The Scottish Highland claymore, (or claidheamh mór-gàidhlig, great sword); in use until the 18th centur
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Subject: sword event 
Sat Jun 21, 2008 6:25 am
