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Devin McCarthy





Joined: 26 Mar 2004

Posts: 10

PostPosted: Fri 26 Mar, 2004 10:12 pm    Post subject: Was their a german 2 man sword.? Biggist sword ever?         Reply with quote

Ok. I would like to ask some one some help on finding a sword type but the problem is i don't know what counter makes these types of swords or the name of the sword. and i am looking for reference of the sword but i don't know what its called and any obveuse names for it have failed to come up with a result. my question is i hurd a rummer that some time in germany that their was a really really big sword made that was meant for 2 people to use to dismount calvary but i am unsure of this in any way. i hurd about this sword but i cant find any info that would say it was real. a reasion i'm wondering about this sword is i'm wondering if this type of sword is the source of the common big sword cliche that happens in japanese games and such like Berserk. i'm guess that some one found info on sword type and though wouldn't it be cool a persian could use it all on his own. But this is just my guess

any help on finding info on this sword type would be much help. if you don't know any info on this sword could you at least post your Knolage of what the biggist sword ever made is?

thanks for any help that can be given
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Douglas Peters




Location: Baton Rouge,LA
Joined: 17 Nov 2003

Posts: 25

PostPosted: Fri 26 Mar, 2004 11:36 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

The biggest sword I know of was probably a two handed sword(zweihander?), which is a sword meant to be used with 2 hands by one person. These two handed swords and variants would have been used throughout much of Europe. I may have heard these were used against cavalry sometimes, but I assume pole-arms and pikes are always the main defence against cavalry(not too mention shooting their horses). Someone please correct me if I'm wrong about anything.

http://www.arms-n-armor.com/2000/catalog/item912.html (two-hander example)
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Brian M




Location: Austin, TX
Joined: 01 Oct 2003

Posts: 500

PostPosted: Sat 27 Mar, 2004 12:02 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Nathan might come down on me for this, but is this a joke post? Fess up, "Devin." This has to be someone's idea of humor. God help the United States if it isn't.

Brian M
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Bill Grandy
myArmoury Team


myArmoury Team

Location: Northern VA,USA
Joined: 25 Aug 2003
Reading list: 43 books

Spotlight topics: 2
Posts: 4,194

PostPosted: Sat 27 Mar, 2004 1:12 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Brian,
I don't think that's fair. Just because most people who are into this hobby might consider something unbelievable doesn't make that person laughable. God knows I used to believe all of the magical katana hype once upon a time, and if a Dungeons and Dragons book had told me that a sword weighed fifty pounds, I would have believed it. Devin wasn't being inflammatory, he was just asking a question, and everyone has to start somewhere. I've seen on many forums where new people who ask questions that seem silly to the seasoned hobbiest are either laughed away or called a troll, and I just don't see what good that does any of us.

Devin,
There are indeed very large swords, such as the zweihander that Douglas pointed out, but a sword that would require two people to use would be impractical. There are also swords known as bearing swords which were ceremonial and were never intended for combat. These bearing swords were exceptionally large and often weight two to three times the weight of a typical two handed sword. If you look through the albums here on this site, you'll see many examples of large swords. Some two handed swords were up to six feet, though keep in mind that these were very specialized weapons, and were not in use by the common fighter, but by specialized soldiers to perform jobs such as breaking up pike formations.

Oh, and welcome to myArmoury. Happy
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Kenneth Enroth




Location: Finland
Joined: 04 Dec 2003

Posts: 288

PostPosted: Sat 27 Mar, 2004 3:20 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

That post seems like spoof to me.
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Nathan Robinson
myArmoury Admin


myArmoury Admin

PostPosted: Sat 27 Mar, 2004 3:22 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Thanks, Bill. That's a perfect response.
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James Byrnes




Location: Denver
Joined: 24 Aug 2003

Posts: 135

PostPosted: Sat 27 Mar, 2004 9:02 am    Post subject: Zweihanders         Reply with quote

Devin,

Bill said it rather succinctly, but could you also be thinking of the term "dopplesoldner"(spelling?) This term roughly translates to double soldier, referring to their status as double pay shock troops, often armed with either a zweihander or halberd. I personally have never heard of a " two man sword". By the way, let me second Bill's welcome to the forums. The only stupid question is one where you ignore evidence to the contrary.


JB

"Farewell sweet friend, I was a thousand times more evil than thou. "

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Devin McCarthy





Joined: 26 Mar 2004

Posts: 10

PostPosted: Sat 27 Mar, 2004 11:05 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

well actually it was a real post but i was wondering were pop culture got the big sword stereo type. also i wanted to know what the biggest sword in the world was called. i made another post about originans of the love of swords but it got messedup or something basically said, i love swords because it reminds me of a golden age even though i know that age never existed. its not a stupid reasion to love swords, why do any of us care fro things that are no more?

I probably got the translation wrong or bad sorces or whatnot. thank you to the people who posted positive remarks and did not take my post as a joke. i just hurd that thier was a german sword that took 2 people to use and was used to dismount men on hoursback and it was the base model for alot of the large fantisy type of swords. its quite posible it was a 2 handed sword or the dubble solder thing.

ps does anybody know of a good reference on the web that tells were the balance point of good swords are and the different types and were it is on these types. and whats typical of commonly flawed swords
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Kenneth Enroth




Location: Finland
Joined: 04 Dec 2003

Posts: 288

PostPosted: Sat 27 Mar, 2004 1:47 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

In the articles section on this site you should find some about sword types and dynamics. Big swords are seen as more suitable for a hero to wield. That has to be something wired into the human brain. Big swords are attributed to heroes like William Wallace and Robert de Bruce for ex. The Celtic warriors placed emphasis on personal prowess with long slashing blades. That is an ancient tradition that is reflected in popculture of today.

Many times you'll hear people on this forum voice the opinion that big cutters are more manly than thrusting blades.

I'm sure the golden age you think of has existed sometime somewhere. "when shining kingdoms lay strewn across the land like mantles beneath the stars" And they sure are not dead things. We still remember it.
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Brock H




Location: West Central ND, USA
Joined: 17 Dec 2003

Posts: 58

PostPosted: Sat 27 Mar, 2004 7:17 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Welcome to the forum, Devin.

I have some information that will probably be of interest to you. It's from the Wallace collection catalog on European arms. In case you don't know, the Wallace collection is a huge collection in England consisting of a number of sub-collections. Among the sub-collections is one concerning arms and another of armor. Here are brief descriptions of two swords. BTW, a ricasso is a part of the blade left unsharpened and generally has no edge whatsoever. It was a part of the blade that a user could grip when he wanted to shorten up on a long sword, a technique known as half-swording. Very useful for a hand-and-a-half or two-handed sword in close quarters or if you wanted to step in close to your opponent.

A468 German, mid-16thC. L. blade 50 1/4", L. grip 23 3/4", L. ricasso 4 1/2", W. 1 3/4", Wt. 8 lbs 6 oz.

A469 German, about 1580. L. blade 58 3/4", L. grip 19 11/16", L. ricasso 17", W. 2 3/16", Wt. 14 lbs 3 oz.

Just from its size, almost twice as heavy as the next heaviest two-handed sword in the catalog (A468), I'd say that A469 had to be a bearing sword. A468 has to be just about the top limit of a sword that could be used effectively in battle. The other two-handed swords listed weigh 5 lbs 6 1/2 oz, 5 lbs 14 oz, 6 lbs 6 oz, 6 lbs 10 oz and 7 lbs 4 oz.
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Devin McCarthy





Joined: 26 Mar 2004

Posts: 10

PostPosted: Sat 27 Mar, 2004 7:25 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

thats pritty cool. their was a persion who told me about the 2 man sword thing but i twisted it in my mind. I finely got ahold of him and he said that it was really just one persion. one persion to carry it and another to use it. Got my facts messed up. but thaknks for the info. thoese are huge swords. any chance of pictures?
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Brock H




Location: West Central ND, USA
Joined: 17 Dec 2003

Posts: 58

PostPosted: Mon 29 Mar, 2004 2:27 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Sorry, Devin, but any pictures I scanned even after seriously cropping them and at low resolution still ended up too large a file for posting. I could e-mail a picture to you, but it'll be at least 250 kB, so you'd better have a fast connection and make sure there's room in your inbox for it.

BTW, I suggest that in the future you give your posts a rigorous proof reading and use the spell checker feature provided. Proper grammar and spelling not only gets you taken more seriously, but it is also more clear just what you're saying. Those who thought you a troll at first probably wouldn't have if you had done that.
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