|
Post by sombersamir18 on Jan 22, 2018 0:28:22 GMT
What are the most ridiculous myths about historical arms and armor that you have heard of?
Here are some that I know of:
medieval plate armor was so heavy that it was a disadvantage to wear it
knights needed help mounting their horses while wearing armor
medieval swords were not sharp enough to cut well
katanas cutting through other swords, armor, and gun barrels
bamboo samurai armor
|
|
|
Post by legacyofthesword on Jan 22, 2018 0:42:20 GMT
What are the most ridiculous myths about historical arms and armor that you have heard of? Here are some that I know of: medieval plate armor was so heavy that it was a disadvantage to wear it knights needed help mounting their horses while wearing armor medieval swords were not sharp enough to cut well katanas cutting through other swords, armor, and gun barrels bamboo samurai armor Medieval armor was so heavy that knights had to be hoisted into the saddle with a crane. The "Samurai Armor is Made of Bamboo/Wood" is one I've heard/read a lot, and I have no idea where it comes from. I've never seen any Samurai armor that wasn't made out of iron or some kind of metal. I constantly hear "Japanese swords are folded steel, which makes them very strong." Which isn't true at all, but the idea is correct in a way... Folding the steel back in the day did make for a better made blade, but not for the reasons everyone seems to think.
|
|
|
Post by Jordan Williams on Jan 22, 2018 1:01:57 GMT
Military swords weighed in surplus of 8 pounds. I encountered this one in a fencing club ironically.
A medieval plate helmet was 40 pounds and was like having a small child perched on your head. This was from an old book that claimed to mix fiction with historic events and places.
Military sabres were specially designed to be blunt heavy impact instruments.
Thrusting swords were never sharpened as there was no reason to.
|
|
|
Post by leviathansteak on Jan 22, 2018 1:56:53 GMT
"Rapiers were extremely flexible thrusting swords"
"Medieval swords are for chopping. Katanas are for slicing and slashing"
|
|
pgandy
Moderator
Senior Forumite
Posts: 10,296
|
Post by pgandy on Jan 22, 2018 2:06:53 GMT
Rapiers can not cut.
Rapiers had no cutting edge.
|
|
|
Post by legacyofthesword on Jan 22, 2018 2:07:49 GMT
"Rapiers were extremely flexible thrusting swords Rapiers are extremely light and fast weapons is probably one of the most prelevent myths about swords I've come across. Also, "The fullers on a blade are there to let the blood stream out of a wound, thus preventing a sword from getting stuck in someone's body." I'm not even remotely sure how that's supposed to work.... Leather armor. That's all I need to say.
|
|
|
Post by Timo Nieminen on Jan 22, 2018 2:52:56 GMT
The "Samurai Armor is Made of Bamboo/Wood" is one I've heard/read a lot, and I have no idea where it comes from. I've never seen any Samurai armor that wasn't made out of iron or some kind of metal. The "bamboo armour" stuff probably comes from early kendo armour (18th or 19th century), made with vertical bamboo splints. There is a fair bit of non-metal Japanese armour out there, but you can't tell from photos, since it looks pretty much the same as metal armour. Iron and rawhide lamellae, lacquered, look similar. The main difference is that the rawhide lamellae are much thicker, but that's hard to spot in photos. Given the armour in-hand, you should be able to see it, and you can a magnet to see if it's iron. There are a couple of nice pictures in a paper: Suzanne Dalewicz-Kitto , Fiona McLaughlan , Emma Schmuecker & Jamie Hood (2013) Japanese armour and the conservation of a Sakakibara family armour at the Royal Armouries, Journal of the Institute of Conservation, 36:1, 35-52, DOI: 10.1080/19455224.2013.774250 Fig 1 shows some rawhide lamellae laced together and Fig 2 is an x-ray of an interesting shoulder guard, where 3/4 of it is rawhide lamellae, and a patch of about 1/4 the total size is alternating iron and rawhide lamellae. What might be the same lamellae as in Fig 1 mentioned above, or at least very similar lamellae: can be seen in the article at www.nippon.com/en/views/b02309/
|
|
|
Post by legacyofthesword on Jan 22, 2018 3:41:38 GMT
Thanks, that's something good to know. Was horn ever used?
|
|
|
Post by Timo Nieminen on Jan 22, 2018 4:14:17 GMT
|
|
|
Post by legacyofthesword on Jan 22, 2018 4:45:37 GMT
Awesome. The last one looks like dragon scale armor. Is there any evidence for horn used in European armor?
|
|
|
Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Jan 22, 2018 4:45:44 GMT
Movie/tv: Steel swordblades are casted first and then hammered/forged (Conan, GoT). All vikings had (horned) helmets and armor, but no shields (or throw them away after building a testudo formation shieldwall and then run a attack like idiots). Back mounted swords. Two handed viking swords (no shield, see above) In a fight your first aim is to destroy your opponent's shield.
|
|
christain
Member
It's the steel on the inside that counts.
Posts: 2,835
|
Post by christain on Jan 22, 2018 4:50:25 GMT
At last year's Ren-fest, I was walking by as a father was explaining to his two kids---''A medieval knight's armor was so heavy, they could barely move." At this point, I beckoned to the children, found a wall, and did a hand-stand---in *almost* full plate. The kids eyes lit up, and the father looked like a whipped dog. Never even lost my great helm.
|
|
|
Post by legacyofthesword on Jan 22, 2018 4:51:43 GMT
Movie/tv: Steel swordblades are casted first and then hammered/forged (Conan, GoT) This. Annoys the heck out of me, haha.
|
|
LeMal
Member
Posts: 1,085
|
Post by LeMal on Jan 22, 2018 5:02:26 GMT
Movie/tv: Steel swordblades are casted first and then hammered/forged (Conan, GoT) This. Annoys the heck out of me, haha. Well, I still argue that Conan's father's sword wasn't actually steel but bronze. ;) Hence the "riddle" and Thulsa Doom SEARCHING for true steel. And, either way, keep this in mind: when it went up against the (only example of true steel?) Atlantean version ... it broke!
|
|
|
Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Jan 22, 2018 5:07:36 GMT
... because it wasn't folded!
|
|
|
Post by elbrittania39 on Jan 22, 2018 5:10:57 GMT
The weakest soldiers would be equipped with longbows
Rapiers and Katana are the lightest swords
It would take an hour to don or remove plate armor, so knights would just wear it all day
Shashka had a groove in the pommel to let you throw it like a javelin while dismounting a horse
A good enough sword could cut plate armor
Just about anything to do with Ninjas is a myth
|
|
|
Post by elbrittania39 on Jan 22, 2018 5:12:21 GMT
Military swords weighed in surplus of 8 pounds. I encountered this one in a fencing club ironically. A medieval plate helmet was 40 pounds and was like having a small child perched on your head. This was from an old book that claimed to mix fiction with historic events and places. Military sabres were specially designed to be blunt heavy impact instruments. Thrusting swords were never sharpened as there was no reason to. Lol, I remember that book you're referencing.
|
|
|
Post by Jordan Williams on Jan 22, 2018 5:14:11 GMT
Military swords weighed in surplus of 8 pounds. I encountered this one in a fencing club ironically. A medieval plate helmet was 40 pounds and was like having a small child perched on your head. This was from an old book that claimed to mix fiction with historic events and places. Military sabres were specially designed to be blunt heavy impact instruments. Thrusting swords were never sharpened as there was no reason to. Lol, I remember that book you're referencing. I only remember that page too, must've triggered something inside me lol.
|
|
|
Post by legacyofthesword on Jan 22, 2018 5:19:14 GMT
A good enough sword could cut plate armor On that theme: armor is just decorative (happens in way, way too many movies and other media). I remember seeing Aragon kill an orc by slicing it across the breastplate during a LotR battle scene.
|
|
|
Post by elbrittania39 on Jan 22, 2018 5:22:13 GMT
A good enough sword could cut plate armor On that theme: armor is just decorative (happens in way, way too many movies and other media). I remember seeing Aragon kill an orc by slicing it across the breastplate during a LotR battle scene. Cutting clean through armor is so common in Hollywood movies, I'm always more surprised when armor actually works. Like Ser Jorahs duel against the Bloodrider in GoT.
|
|