[Glen A Cleeton]

Forgive a somewhat whimsical topic header but something that always confuses me is but a rose by any other name;)

I'm feeling that what may be lacking (at least from my perspective) is a cross reference of terms and designations. I just stumbled on a nice German list and wondered if others might wish to share both modern and archaic definitiions of swords from other languages (for now, all arms would be interesting too).

FWIW:
German        English
------------  ---------------
Klinge        blade
Schwert       sword
Kurzschwert   shortsword
Breitschwert  broadsword
Langschwert   longsword
Stoßschwert   thrusting sword
Krummschwert  scimitar, sabre
Bidenhänder   two-handed sword
Flamberge     wavy-bladed sword (?)
Säbel         sabre, scimitar
Krummsäbel    sabre, scimitar
Säbelschwert  saber (?)
Degen         sword, epee (OE thegn); warrior (someone wielding a sword
Haudegen      sword; veteran warrior
Stoßdegen     smallsword
Rapier        sword, rapier
Stoßrapier    foil
Haurapier     sword, rapier
Schläger      sword, rapier
Florett       foil
~~~~~

A hasty cut and paste from elsewhere, so I hope it pasted well.

Thoughts? Additions? References?

Cheers

GC

[Chad Arnow]

Cool stuff. I posted some diagrams here that are also helpful for me: http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=7685

[Johan S. Moen]

From Hjalmar Falks "Altnordische Waffenkunde" we have the following Norwegian terms for swords:

Sverd - sword (still in use, the normal word for sword )
Sax - a sword that can have one or two edges
Mækir - a sword that can have one or two edges
Skolm - a sword wielded by supernatural creatures, possibly the sword is of a magic or supernatural nature itself.

For the different parts of the sword we have:
Blad - blade
Underhjalt - crossguard
Overhjalt - pommel
Sverdknapp - pommel
Grep - grip
Mellomhjalt - i've seen this term used for the grip as well, though it might be of a more modern origin.

Modern definitions of sword types are:

Sverd - general term, often used to describe single-handed types
Langsverd - longsword
Bastardsverd - bastardsword
Tohåndssverd - two-handed sword
Rapir - rapier
Kårde - rapier, foil, epee
Breisverd/bredsverd - broadsword

Johan Schubert Moen

[Jean Le-Palud]

For what I know, here is the french for some of the english terms:

English French
Sword Epée
Blade Lame
Thrusting sword Estoc
To thrust Frapper d'estoc
Scimitar Cimeterre (oriental sabre)
Sabre Sabre
Cutlass Sabre d'abordage (navy)
Two-handed sword Epée à deux mains
Rapier Rapière

[Vincent Le Chevalier]

I can add a number of French terms:

Coup de taille - a cut
Fauchon - falchion
Epée de cour - small-sword
Fleuret - foil
Epée à garde panier - Basket hilt sword
Epée à une main et demie - Hand and a half sword
Emoussé - blunt

For the parts of the sword:

Pommeau - pommel
Fusée - grip
Soie - tang
Tranchant - edge
Faux tranchant - false edge
Gorge, gouttière - fuller
Fort - strong
Faible - weak
Arc de jointure - knuckle guard
Anneaux de côté - side rings
Pas d'âne - finger rings

Fourreau - scabbard
Gaine - sheath

And some other weapons:

Masse d'armes - mace
Fléau d'armes - flail
Marteau d'armes - War hammer
Bouclier - shield
Framée - a spear used mainly by the Franks
Angon - a throwing spear used by the Franks (akin to the pilum)
Guisarme - bill
Corsèque - spiedo
Pertuisane - Partisan

And I'm sure I still forget many things :-)

Regards

[Glen A Cleeton]

Thanks for the additions folks.

The etymology of words is always fascinating to me and every little bit feeds that. What we see as the English description/definition often has much more distant roots. It is helpful to me, in more than just arms study.

Cheers

GC