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Mark Morris





Joined: 16 Sep 2005

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PostPosted: Sun 14 Oct, 2018 12:51 pm    Post subject: Wielded a 100 lb. sword. Is it true?         Reply with quote

I read this article and am wondering if it is possible that the
Sultan Murad IV really wielded a 100 lb. sword. I find this difficult to believe.


https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/08/17/sultan-bans-coffee/?fbclid=IwAR31fdeitamE8TdRmCR4WxkjFQc9IdKHbEyaEXSsM-Va0Ek2PuGW16ToLt0
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Mikko Kuusirati




Location: Finland
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PostPosted: Sun 14 Oct, 2018 1:27 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

No. It's impossible to cram that amount of metal into any kind of shape even remotely resembling a sword.
"And sin, young man, is when you treat people like things. Including yourself. That's what sin is."
— Terry Pratchett, Carpe Jugulum
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Harry Marinakis




PostPosted: Sun 14 Oct, 2018 4:55 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Even if you could make a 100-lb. sword, why would anyone want to do so?
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JG Elmslie
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Location: Scotland
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PostPosted: Sun 14 Oct, 2018 5:28 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

(We assume the cow is spherical for this moon jumping experiment.)

lets assume the sword is, by definition, the same length as a normal sword. lets say 83cm, a 32 inch blade. lets further assume that 1/3rd of the mass of the whole sword is the hilt. That makes the blade is "only" about 66lbs. 29.937096kg.

For simplicity, lets assume that its straight, doesn't have any profile tapering going on, a "broad" blade, lets say 2 inches, 5cm wide. and lets assume for simplicity its a simple two-edged diamond section.


Now, why the diamond section? simple geometry. A 2 inch wide diamond section, is exactly the same volume as a 1 inch wide rectangular section of the same width. Therefore, we can calculate how much material this sword would need.

and how much material would this broad sword need to have a blade that weighs 66lbs / 29.9kg?

It would have to be 183mm thick.
no, there isn't a typo there. one hundred and eighty three millimetres thick. 7 1/4 inches thick. If it had any taper, that would be the average. as a two-edged sword, diamond section, the edges would be significantly more obtuse than the mid-rib of this sword that's 3 1/2 times as thick as it is broad.

Pretty unlikely, really.

but what if its the normal thickness for a sword?
Well, we can also assume that it is the normal thickness for a sword, about 5mm.
in that case, to match the 66lbs target, the blade would have to be 3,050cm long. 30 metres. or about 100 feet long.
I dont think that's going to fit on the hip.



All in all, I think we can safely say a 100-lbs broad sword is about as likely as the lunar bovine leap.
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Don Stanko




Location: ohio
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PostPosted: Sun 14 Oct, 2018 7:25 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

That would have to be one massive pommel!

After reading the article, I got the sense that the author was taking some creative liberty when describing the sword, probably to make the story more interesting to read. After all, if he was in disguise, where would he put his 100 lb sword? And I bet the coffee drinker would be able to outrun him if he has to lug that huge sword.
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Sam Barris




Location: San Diego, California
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PostPosted: Mon 15 Oct, 2018 5:40 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Don Stanko wrote:
That would have to be one massive pommel!

All the better for ending him rightly! Laughing Out Loud

Pax,
Sam Barris

"Any nation that draws too great a distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards, and its fighting done by fools." —Thucydides
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J. Nicolaysen




Location: Wyoming
Joined: 03 Feb 2014
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PostPosted: Tue 16 Oct, 2018 5:44 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Guys guys, I know this is a weapons and armor type site, but you all are missing the real message here.


Bastard killed coffee drinkers for DRINKING COFFEE!!! For that let us invoke the Ceremony of Eternal Damnation and Memory Obliteration!!! *runs to get black cloak, begins chanting in strange tongue*



But really nice breakdown James.Should put all this heavy sword nonsense away.
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Dan Howard




Location: Maitland, NSW, Australia
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PostPosted: Tue 16 Oct, 2018 2:50 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Coffee is the Devil's work. It has created an entire subclass of people who are so dependent on it that they can't function in the morning without it. The Sultan had simply foreseen what would happen if this Devil's brew continued to be permitted in his kingdom and tried to take action before it was too late. If there was ever a legitimate use for a 100-pound sword then this was it.
Author: Bronze Age Military Equipment, Pen and Sword Books
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Mikko Kuusirati




Location: Finland
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PostPosted: Wed 17 Oct, 2018 4:52 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Well, I mean, I'm sure there's a way to use a 100lb sword as a ship anchor. Or for grinding coffee beans. Or raw material for thirty actual swords.

Also, if Murad IV was right and coffee is the drink of rebellion, FRIGGING GIMME. Once more with rallied arms to try what may be yet regain'd in Heaven, or what more lost in Hell!

"And sin, young man, is when you treat people like things. Including yourself. That's what sin is."
— Terry Pratchett, Carpe Jugulum
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James Arlen Gillaspie
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Location: upstate NY
Joined: 10 Nov 2005

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PostPosted: Fri 19 Oct, 2018 10:48 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Is it just me, or has proof reading of articles, due to 'spell check', hit a new low? I have the Washington Post on my Kindle Fire, and I can't believe some of the misprints that occur in what is supposed to be one of the U.S.'s major papers. Repeated paragraphs, for Pete's sake! My suspicion is that the 10 lb broadsword of popular myth accidentally got another zero, which, of course, 'spell check' didn't flag.
jamesarlen.com
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Dan Howard




Location: Maitland, NSW, Australia
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PostPosted: Fri 19 Oct, 2018 2:24 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

James Arlen Gillaspie wrote:
Is it just me, or has proof reading of articles, due to 'spell check', hit a new low? I have the Washington Post on my Kindle Fire, and I can't believe some of the misprints that occur in what is supposed to be one of the U.S.'s major papers. Repeated paragraphs, for Pete's sake! My suspicion is that the 10 lb broadsword of popular myth accidentally got another zero, which, of course, 'spell check' didn't flag.


It has hit a new low in all publications. Budget cuts mean that there is no money for editing and proof reading. Writers are expected to do all that themselves, which is impossible. A writer can't proofread nor edit their own work. It requires someone who has never seen it before.

Author: Bronze Age Military Equipment, Pen and Sword Books
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Graham Shearlaw





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PostPosted: Sun 21 Oct, 2018 4:15 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Here's a 46lb "sword" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Un1M7xbCCIs you see how he more just leavers over his head and not swing it, a 100lb sword would be even worse and less mobile.
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Mikko Kuusirati




Location: Finland
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PostPosted: Sun 21 Oct, 2018 4:40 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

But then, Mike Craughwell has always been the first to point out that what he makes are NOT real swords, but more something like "functional sculpture" (IIRC how he phrased it)...
"And sin, young man, is when you treat people like things. Including yourself. That's what sin is."
— Terry Pratchett, Carpe Jugulum
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