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Huge swords - the Montante

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Sir James A:
A quick post on some of the largest more commonly used swords in history. Cartoons / anime sometimes show comically over-sized swords. And most of us are familiar with the "they weigh 20 pounds" myths. Here's a few pictures of historical swords, with specs:


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(Specs are directly off the post I got the picture from, I just added the equivalents in inches)

General
Overall Length: 177.8 cm (70 inches)
Weight: 3.576 kg (7.88 pounds)
Balance point from quillon block: 9.4 cm (3 3/4 inches)

Grip
Hilt overall length: 47.7 cm (18 3/4 inches)
Grip Length: 41.1 cm (16 inches)

Blade
Blade Length quillon block to tip: 130.1 cm (51 inches)
Blade Width at quillon block: 4.7 cm (1.85 inches)
Blade Width 2 inches from tip: 4.8 cm (1.89 inches)
Blade Thickness at quillon block: 0.7 cm (1/4 inch)
Blade Thickness 2 inches from tip: 0.15 cm (0.06 inches)

Yes, the crossguard / quillions are on backwards / upside down. They said the pommel is welded on and the museum will not let them disassemble to fix it. Curse you, Victorian era reconstructionists!

But note, that at just shy of 6 feet long, the sword is still slightly less than 8 pounds. And these are BIG swords.

The typical longswords weighs in at 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 pounds.

These swords were regional, and only used towards the end of the era of armor. You wouldn't see them with crusaders or transitional knights. But they did exist, and they are historically accurate if used in the proper time and region.

Sir Edward:

Yeah, the really huge zweihanders and the like are at the outside edge of what you might consider useful, and they still tend to be in the 6-8 pound range. If they're any heavier than that, they're probably just bearing swords (use for parade, not fighting).

Thorsteinn:
Hassan can haz chop?

Sir Nate:
Great swords are great. Sort of like... Great Helms

Sir Douglas:
I believe the technical term for those is: "Big Friggin' Swords". ;)

So what was the purpose of a sword that long? Were they handled kinda-sorta like a polearm?

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