The year is 1232. Somewhere in northern Europe, a Saxon castle isunder attack. In the fields for miles around, thousands of soldiers viciously fight.Metal strikes metal, arrows strike flesh, rock strikes rock. No matter how goodthese soldiers are, the battle will ultimately be decided by weapons. These weapons can be divided into three categories. Melee, or hand-to-hand weapons, include clubs, swords, daggers, saxes, hand axes, and somespears. Small-scale missile weapons include other spears, bows and arrows,throwing axes, and crossbows. Siege, or large-scale weapons, includecatapaults and battering rams. Melee weapons were, perhaps, the most important ones in any medievalbattle. The earliest melee weapons were clubs. Existing from neanderthaltimes, these simple thick sticks were quickly replaced by blade weapons.However, some tribes continued to use clubs as throwing weapons. Othersgave clubs to their leaders as batons of command. Still other tribes placedspikes on the ends of the clubs, turning them into maces. Soon enough, macesevolved into morning stars. These were much like maces, except there was achain between the handle and the spiked head. These turned out to becumbersome, and for the most part, ineffective, so they were retired totournaments and torture chambers. Swords quickly became the most important weapon of medieval times.This weapon was incredibly valuable to the medieval warrior.
Since they wereso difficult to make, they were very expensive, and they were passed down fromgeneration to generation. Once a warrior had a good sword, he protected it withhis life. Swords can be divided into three main parts. They are, in order ofimportance, the blade, the hilt, and the scabbard. The blade of the sword was usually small and heavy. The averagedimensions were 2.25′ by 2.3″, and the average weight was 1.5 pounds. Untilthe invention of steel, blades were made by a very complex process calledpattern-welding. With the arrival of steel, the welding of hard, sharp bladesbecame very easy. The blade was flat, straight, and double-edged. It had agroove down the middle called a fuller. Romantically, it was called the ‘blood-channel,’ but realistically, it was a method for lightening the blade. The hilt of the sword is commonly called the grip, but in addition to thegrip, the hilt includes the pommel and the upper and lower guards (upper andlower from the perspective of the blade being at the bottom).
The Essay on The Joy Luck Club 8
Please refer to the book, The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. Turn to page 35(for those with the red cover version by the series editor, Judith Baxter) and refer to the story Scar. Extract: I was sitting at the top of the stairs when she arrived. I knew it was my motherShe cried with a wailing voice that was so sad. And then I remembered the dream with my mothers voice. (till page 37) Question 1: ...
Most hilts can beclassified according to three types. Type one had short, fat guards, an indentedgrip to make it easy to hold, and a small flat pommel. Type two had wideguards, a wavy, difficult to hold grip, and a decorative pommel. Type three hadfat guards, a simple, flat grip, and a smooth, round pommel. The scabbard was the tight case the sword was carried in. Its purposewas not only to protect the wearer and nearby people from the blade, but also toprotect the sword, as swords were very valuable. The scabbard was made ofthin wood slats, bound together with leather, parchment, linen, or velvet. It alsohad a fur or linen lining to protect the sword itself. The scabbard was mountedwith metal chaps, with different kinds of mounting for each of the three kinds ofhilt. Similar to swords was the elegant dagger. These miniaturized swords didnot become important until the 12th or 13th century, at which time they became astandard part of any knight’s reportoire. The most popular type of dagger wasthe rondel dagger. This dagger had a double-edged, tapered blade, and asimple hilt with circular guards. Another popular form of dagger was the ballockknife, also known in England as the kidney dagger.
The distinctive feature ofthis knife was the hilt. “Where grip joined blade, the grip swelled out each sideinto two lobes. These acted as a hand-stop.” 1 All blade weapons may have evolved from the sax, a short, northernEuropean knife used for combat in close quarters, especially by the Saxons. Infact, it is believed that the Saxons were named after this weapon because theyused it so much. The Saxon sax was an average of six inches long, and wasinscribed with Runic inscriptions, which were more for identification than forgood luck. In other areas, the sax was usually used for chores on the farm or athome, much as we use a carving knife today. It would only be used as aweapon when the average man had to take up arms. The Norse sax was anaverage of 21 inches long, and was the first sax to include a hilt. Finally, therewas the Frankish sax, which was an average of ten inches long. A similar weapon to the sax was the ax. This too, was used mainly fordomestic work, rather than combat. However, the ax maintained the same basicshape throughout Europe for hundreds of years, with one exception;Scandinavian axes have a slight difference from other axes. “This is the form ofthe socket, the hole in the top of the axehead through which the haft goes.
The Essay on Long Sword Business Book Schools
The wind book The wind book focuses on the faults of other schools in combat. In this section Musachi evaluates other schools and their styles. He points out the faults of the various styles. There are three main teachings of these schools. The first is to rely on an extra long sword. Secondly, is to how to fix your eyes. The last strategy or teaching Musachi evaluates how to use your feet. ...
Inthe Scandinavian axes there is a sharp projection in the metal of the axe at eachside of the hole whereas in the Frankish one this projection is at the top of thehole with another similar one at the bottom.” 2 Some axes were used as throwing weapons. A particular one is theFrancisca, a small axe with a peculiarly-shaped shaft and head. The Franksused this axe quite often, leading to the belief that the Franks were actuallynamed after the Francisca. How ironic that the entire French civilization wasnamed after a rude little throwing axe. The last important melee weapon is the spear. This is a long woodenshaft with a sharp metal tip on the end. There are three types of spears: thethrowing spear, or javelin, the thrusting spear, and the Norse hoggspjot, ahewing spear. The differences between these are superficial, and in somecases, may only be observed in the way they are used. All spears ranged fromfive to eleven feet long, this being the choice of the soldier using it. Spearfighters need a great deal of agility and speed, to dodge a quick spear. Some ofthe best fighters could even grab a javelin in mid-air, turn it around, and throw itback at the enemy in a fraction of a second. One particularly interesting variety of javelin is the Angon, used mainly bythe Franks and Saxons.
The Term Paper on Global Security: Weapons of Mass Destruction
Since the Cold War, introducing nuclear weapons into the global system was one of the biggest changes that created a global phenomenon even after the year 1945 to the contemporary global politics. It has shaped the crucial aspects of the strategic actions of the states and transformed the international system. After experiencing two catastrophic global conflagrations, the global system has not ...
The Angon had a barbed head, causing it to lodge inan enemy’s shield or flesh. Normally, a soldier would use his sword to cut off theshaft of the spear, but the Angon had a long metal neck, making this impossible.Thus, once a soldier was hit by an Angon, he would have to drag it along withhim, making him easy prey. The second class of weapons is that of small-scale missiles. There arefar fewer of these than melee weapons, because the first missile weapon to beinvented, the bow and arrow, remained in effective use all through the MiddleAges, so no more were invented. When Europeans overcame the cowardice associated with use of the bowand arrow, it became one of the most important weapons of medieval times.This is reflected in the poetic nicknames for arrows, such as ‘Swift-Flyer,’ ‘Hail ofBattle,’ and ‘Corpse-Twigs.’ The arrow was an average of two to three feetlong, and was made of “four flights bound in with tarred twine. They were oftendecorated with gold, and some bore Runic inscriptions or their owners’ names.” 3The arrowheads, or piles, as they are correctly called, were long and narrow,and could be barbed or not.
As for the bow, it was an average of five or six feetlong, and consisted of a curved piece of wood and a taut string. In general,bows are very uninteresting, but they are very important. The only major variation on the bow and arrow was the crossbow, alsoknown as the arblast. It was made of a short bow set at a right angle to astraight stock, which held the intricate mechanism that drove the crossbow. Asoldier using the crossbow had to use all his strength to load the crossbow witha quarrel, the crossbow’s equivalent of an arrow. Even though the crossbowwas condemned by the Pope, it still became even more important in combat thanthe regular bow and arrow. The third and final class of weapons is large-scale, or siege weapons.These were used when attacking an entire castle or town. One of these is thebattering ram, which consists of a long log with a metal knob or point, hung byropes from the roof of a movable shed. The shed was covered with animal hidesto protect the operators of the ram from oil and other things dropped by thedefenders. The operators would swing the log back and forth against a city orcastle’s wall or gate. Hopefully, the wall or gate would crumble or fall, allowingthe attackers to enter the city. Another siege weapon is the catapult. This weapon was used to propelstones, spears, or darts at or into a city. Technically, though, a catapult is aweapon to throw arrows or darts, while a ballista is used to throw stones.However, this distinction has not usually been made since the Middle Ages.Most catapults propelled the projectile by a release of tension on rope orwooden beams. One type of catapult, the trebuchet, used a system ofcounterweights. The weapons of the Middle Ages were diverse in appearance andfunction. From swords, to crossbows, to catapults, weapons make the battle.The soldiers may be the ones fighting, but without the swordsmiths andarrowmakers, there is no way to win.
The Essay on The Fight for Equal Rights Black Soldiers in the Civil War
Black soldiers were among the bravest of those fighting in the Civil War. Both free Blacks in the Union army and escaped slaves from the South rushed to fight for their freedom and they fought with distinction in many major Civil War battles. Many whites thought Blacks could not be soldiers. They were slaves. They were inferior. Many thought that if Blacks could fight in the war it would make them ...
