Anatomy of a sword: a glossary

A

Arming sword

The single handed European sword of the eleventh to fifteenth centuries, carried with a shield or a buckler. Blade usually 75 to 85 cm, whole sword 1.0 to 1.4 kg.

Austenite

The structure plain carbon steel takes above its critical temperature, in which carbon dissolves into the iron. Every hardening operation depends on reaching it.

B

Blade presence

The felt weight of a blade in motion, set by how mass is distributed along it. Two swords of identical total weight can feel completely different in the hand.

Blister steel

Iron carburised in a sealed chest of charcoal over several days, from the sixteenth century onwards. Named for the blisters raised on the surface of the bars.

Bloom

The spongy mass of iron and slag taken from a bloomery furnace. It has to be consolidated by forging before it can be used for anything.

C

Centre of percussion

The point along a blade where a transverse impact produces the least shock in the hand. It is a property of the whole sword, not a mark on the steel.

Chape

The metal fitting at the tip of a scabbard, protecting the end of the sheath and the wearer's leg.

Cross

The straight guard of a medieval sword, its arms called quillons. Oakeshott numbers the cross styles from 1 to 12, separately from the blade type.

Crucible steel

Steel melted in a sealed pot and cast as an ingot, with a carbon content of roughly 1.0 to 2.0 per cent. Called wootz in English and, after its trading centre, Damascus steel.

D

Distal taper

The reduction in thickness from hilt to point, often from 6 to 8 mm at the shoulder to about 2 mm near the tip. It decides how a blade handles more than the outline does.

E

Edge geometry

The angle and shape of the cutting bevel. A convex bevel is more durable, a flat one cuts more keenly, and the choice is a trade off rather than a ranking.

F

False edge

The short back edge sharpened near the point on some blades, used for rising cuts and for finishing a bind.

Foible

The weak third of the blade, nearest the point. Fast, precise, and easily displaced by a stronger part of an opposing blade.

Forte

The strong third of the blade, nearest the hilt. Where parries are taken and where leverage lies.

Fuller

The groove running along a blade, forged or ground. It lightens and stiffens the blade in the way the web of a beam does. It is not a blood groove and has nothing to do with suction.

G

Grip

The part actually held: a wooden core over the tang, covered with leather, cord or wire.

Guard

Everything between blade and grip that protects the hand, from a plain cross to rings, knuckle bow, shells or a full cup.

H

Half swording

Taking hold of the blade with the second hand in order to drive the point accurately, used above all against an armoured opponent.

Hamon

The visible hardening line left on a differentially hardened blade, best known from Japanese practice but not exclusive to it.

Hilt

The whole assembly of pommel, grip and guard, considered together. Hilts were repaired and replaced, so a hilt and its blade need not be the same age.

I

Inlay

Wire or letters of one metal hammered into channels cut in another. Used for names on Viking age blades and for maker's marks later.

L

Langets

Short straps extending from the guard down over the blade or over the mouth of the scabbard.

Lenticular section

A blade cross section shaped like a flattened lens, with no central ridge. The typical section of a cutting blade.

M

Maker's mark

A stamped, inlaid or punched sign identifying a workshop. Copied at least as often as it was earned, so it identifies a reputation rather than a maker.

Martensite

The very hard and very brittle structure formed when hot steel is cooled fast enough to trap carbon in place. Tempering turns part of it into something usable.

Midrib

The raised central ridge on a diamond or hexagonal section blade, doing the stiffening job that a fuller does on a flatter blade.

N

Normalising

Heating a forged blade just above its critical temperature and letting it cool in still air, to refine the grain before hardening. Usually repeated two or three times.

O

Oakeshott type

A classification of medieval European blade geometry, running from type X to type XXII, published from 1960 onwards and still used on museum labels.

P

Pattern welding

Building a blade from rods of different iron and steel, welded together, twisted and drawn out, so that the joins show as a pattern once the surface is etched.

Peen

The end of the tang, hammered over the pommel to hold the hilt together. A loose peen is the reason never to lift an old sword by its grip alone.

Petersen type

A classification of Viking age swords by hilt form, published in 1919 and lettered from A onwards.

Point of balance

Where a sword balances on one finger, usually 5 to 15 cm ahead of the cross. Quoted constantly, and only half the story, since distribution matters more than the single point.

Pommel

The counterweight at the end of the grip. It balances the sword, secures the hilt, and in armoured fighting is a weapon in its own right.

Q

Quenching

Cooling hot steel quickly, in oil, water or brine, to trap carbon and form martensite. The moment at which a blade is made or ruined.

R

Rain guard

A leather flap fitted at the base of the blade, also called a chappe, covering the mouth of the scabbard against water.

Ricasso

The unsharpened section of blade just above the guard. Gripped in half swording, and standard on later blades with complex hilts.

Running wolf

A stylised wolf mark inlaid on blades associated with Passau and later with Solingen. Widely imitated, so it marks a tradition rather than a workshop.

S

Scabbard

The sheath, typically a wooden core covered in leather with a fabric or fleece lining. It is not a storage place: it holds moisture against the blade.

Shear steel

Blister steel bars cut, stacked, welded and drawn out again, repeatedly, to even out the carbon content.

Side ring

A ring standing out from the cross on a Renaissance hilt, protecting a finger hooked over the guard.

Swept hilt

The characteristic rapier hilt of curved bars sweeping from the cross towards the pommel.

T

Tang

The extension of the blade that runs through the grip to the pommel. Broken tangs, not broken blades, are what usually end the life of an old sword.

Tempering

Reheating a hardened blade to between about 180 and 320 degrees, to give back some toughness at the cost of some hardness.

Throat

The metal fitting at the mouth of a scabbard, also called the locket.

W

Watered pattern

The flowing light and dark figure on crucible steel, produced by bands of carbide inside a single homogeneous ingot. Not to be confused with pattern welding.

Wootz

The English name for South Asian crucible steel, and the material behind the historical Damascus blades.