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Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 1 year agowell swords were also used for personal defence, i would argue that’s the main use-case historically.
A short sword and a buckler hung on your belt is very portable and extremely useful to have if you need to suddenly defend yourself while out on a road. Compare this to a polearm, which while better at keeping the nasty man away so he can’t poke you with his sharp stick, is also a big clunky thing that you have to lug around.
Swords were a personal defense status symbol. They were fairly expensive, required training, and were often legally restricted deoending when and where we are talking about. This is why they continue to have sich mystique.
Most peope who needed self defense used a stick
While to some degree that’s true, it’s not like a sword was some impossibly expensive thing, just like how most people can afford a car nowadays most people could probably find some sort of sword in the past, or at least a particularly large dagger/knife.
As for legality, that’s what messers are for.
Oh yeah, large dagger was definitely an option too. Bollucks dagger was a standard, for instance
Yepp, also part of the reason why students and the watch tended to get on badly in Europe. The students lived under university laws and didn’t mind showing it off by, among other things, carrying a sword.
zephr_c@lemm.ee 1 year ago
That’s one of the things I meant by ending up in a melee unexpectedly. Presumably most people aren’t going around doing things they know will end up with them needing a weapon for self defense. It happens, but it’s not usually plan A. You are right though. That was a reason to have a sword. The theme is that swords were good when you needed something you could carry without it getting too much in the way. That’s what they’re good for. If you expected to be fighting you’d bring something better.