Types of swords
This is a list of types of swords.
The term sword used here is a narrow definition. This is not a general List of premodern combat weapons and does not include the machete or similar "sword-like" weapons.
African swords
North African swords
- Flyssa (19th century Algeria)
- Kaskara (19th century Sudan)
- Khopesh (Egyptian)
- Mameluke sword (18th to 19th century Egyptian)
- Nimcha (18th century Morocco and Algeria)
Central African swords
- Ikakalaka
- Mambele
Asian swords
China
Japan
- Nihonto (日本刀; にほんとう)
- Bokken (木剣)
- Chokutō (直刀)
- Guntō (軍刀0
- Kyū guntō (旧軍刀)
- Shin guntō (新軍刀)
- Hachiwara(鉢割)
- Iaitō (居合刀)
- Jintachi (陣太刀)
- Katana (刀; かたな)
- Kenukigata tachi (毛抜型太刀)
- Kodachi (小太刀)
- Nagamaki (長巻)
- Ninjato (忍者刀)
- Ōdachi/Nodachi (大太刀/野太刀)
- Sasuga (刺刀)
- Shinai (竹刀)
- Shinken (真剣)
- Shikomizue (仕込み杖)
- Tachi (太刀; たち)
- Tantō (短刀; たんとう)
- Tsurugi (剣)
- Wakizashi (脇差; わきざし)
- Dōtanuki
- Chanbara
Korea
- Hwandudaedo (환두대도; 环首大刀)
- Saingeom (사인검)
Southeast Asian swords
Swords and knives found in Southeast Asia are influenced by Indian, Chinese, Middle Eastern, and European forms.
Indonesia
Myanmar
Philippines
Bhutan
Bladed Weapons of Indian subcontinent
Sri Lanka
West and Central Asian swords
- Acinaces (Scythian short sword)
- Chereb (חֶרֶב, modern Hebrew khérev): ancient Israelite sword mentioned 413 times in the Hebrew Bible.[1]
The Ancient Greeks and Romans also introduced various types of swords, see #Ancient Europe.
Post-classical period
All of the Islamic world during the 16th to 18th century, including the Ottoman Empire and Persia were influenced by the "scimitar" type of single-edged curved sword. Via the Mameluke sword this also gave rise to the European cavalry sabre.
Terms for the "scimitar" curved sword:
European swords
Ancient Europe
- Bronze Age European swords
- Harpe: mentioned almost exclusively in Greek mythology
- Iron Age European swords
- Falcata/Kopis: one-handed single-edged swords – blade 48–60 cm (19–24 in) – with forward-curving blade for slashing
- Falx: Dacian and Thracian one-handed or two-handed single-edged curved shortsword for slashing
- Gladius: Roman one-handed double-edged shortsword for thrusting (primary) and slashing, used by legionaries (heavy infantry)[2] and gladiators, and late Roman light infantry. 3rd century BCE Roman Republic – late Roman Empire.
- Makhaira: Greek one-handed, single-edged shortsword or knife for cutting (primary) and thrusting
- Rhomphaia: Greek single-edged straight or slightly curved broadsword – blade 60–80 cm (24–31 in) – for slashing (primary) and thrusting
- Spatha: Celtic/Germanic/Roman one-handed double-edged longsword – blade 50–100 cm (20–39 in) – for thrusting and slashing, used by gladiators, cavalry and heavy infantry. 3rd century BCE Gaul/Germania – Migration Period.
- Xiphos: Greek one-handed, double-edged Iron Age straight shortsword
- Xyele: The short, slightly curved, one-edged sword of the Spartans.[3]
- Migration Period swords
- Spatha: continuation, evolved into
- Ring-sword (ring-spatha, ring-hilt spatha), Merovingian period
- Viking sword or Carolingian sword
- Krefeld type
- Spatha: continuation, evolved into
Post-classical Europe
- Arming sword: high medieval knightly sword
- Curtana: a medieval term for a ceremonial sword
- Longsword: late medieval
- Backsword
- Falchion
- Estoc: thrust-oriented
- Claymore: late medieval Scottish
- Paramerion: Eastern Roman Byzantine sword
- Seax: shortsword, knife or dagger of varying sizes typical of the Germanic peoples of the Migration Period and the Early Middle Ages, especially the Saxons, whose name derives from the weapon.
- Viking sword or Carolingian sword: early medieval spatha
- Zweihänder: 1500-1600 Germany
Modern Europe
- Cutlass
- Early modern fencing
- Modern fencing (sport equipment)
North American swords
- U.S. regulation swords (sabres, and in some instances fascine knives shaped like short swords)
References
- "Strong's Hebrew: 2719. חָ֫רֶב (chereb) -- a sword". biblehub.com. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
- "Romeinse Rijk §3.1 Landmacht". Encarta Encyclopedie Winkler Prins (in Dutch). Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum. 2002.
- Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898), Xyele
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