Something I noticed

[hils]

I've been capping Excalibur to make icons and I just noticed something which made me laugh



Look how blunt Excalibur is! There's no point at all at the end. You could barely use that sword for spreading butter. LOL!

Comments

[lex-a-like.livejournal.com]

That's because it's effectively an infantry sword, it's not designed for fighting against armour, but it was quite common in the medieval age, even as men wore armour, it tended to be light. With a sword like this you were battering at your opponent, good use of the sheild renders points, pointless, once you had your opponent prone you could hammer in harder, aiming for breaks in the armour with a slash rather than a stab. Plus slashing at the enemy kills their momentum, forces them backwards, where a lunge can be dodged, and bring your enemy in towards you with no hope of defence.

Of course bastard swords (hand a half), and two handed swords therefore rarely had points, they were glorified sticks. In the battles, most of your opponents were unarmed peasants anyway, cutting swathes through them was far more valuable than stabbing, where your sword could be stuck.

This exaclibur is a broad sword, so it fits quite well. Though it may seem dishonourble, this is how combat was.

A century or so later than when Merlin seems to be set, would have had a thinner version of the broadsword, it was just as long but had a false point, this was designed for plate armour, as the false point increased the pressure at the tip, allowing it to cut through plate armour, and then widen the whole, cutting deep, and weakening the armour.

It's actually something they've done pretty well, imho, since most of the armour they wear is chainmail, rather than plate.

That said, the allure of a Celtic leaf blade still sways me, as that would be accurate for the period the legends first appeared in writing. Post Roman, it had the length of a Roman short sword, but the leaf meant it was good for punching through the light armour of the time (some metal, but mostly studed leather, and wood and metal sheilds) - wholly inappropriate for the knights of the round table of medieval lore though.

See, I can still say nice things about Merlin, even after last week.

[hils.livejournal.com]

Hee!! Well, I consider myself educated. Thank you :)

[lex-a-like.livejournal.com]

one thing I know is swords - I once spent £800 on lessons, many moons ago when I was a teenager and a lot fitter than now. Broadswords are my favourite, they take a remarkable amount of skill for what is affectively meant to be a fast moving, heavy slab of metal.

If I weren't in the middle of typing, I could probably explained what I meant better, just read it back, ah well... no one's purpose, and you get the idea.

[hils.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I got the gist of it :)

[lex-a-like.livejournal.com]

Pity the poor people who'll feel generous enough to read my novel - for 50,000 words they'll be trying to get the gist of it lol

[hils.livejournal.com]

Hehe! That's what editors are for

[lex-a-like.livejournal.com]

That's for people who get paid to write... if only

Besides, I'm not sure I could live with anyone else editing my work. They might cut pieces I love, and want left in. The only use I'd really have for editors is to catch all the SPG issues I miss.

[hils.livejournal.com]

Yeah, you need a beta rather than an editor

[lex-a-like.livejournal.com]

Probably, but I'm thinking seriously of when this is done, never allowing it to be read by anyone. It's kind of atrocious, when I read it back.

There's this little thing called reality - which is kind of missing

[hils.livejournal.com]

Take the advice of Stephen King. When you've finished put it away for six weeks. Don't think about it. Don't look it. Then, after six weeks, you can go back to it with fresh eyes and start editing. He does that with all his novels

[lex-a-like.livejournal.com]

Aye, that's how I do it, when I've actualyl finished a story before (excluding fic) - I have a little book or writing, and in it tehre are seven stages of editing, two of which are complete, or near complete re-writes of the novel. Takes about eight months from the completion of the novel writing stage, to the actually finish of the novel. Which seems ages, but in between there's room for other writing.

[hils.livejournal.com]

Exactly :)