Well, the first two entries in this series viewed, relatively, practical weapons, with the Master Sword being a better design than the Fierce Deity's Sword.
Now, this is the entry where we delve into the realm of the ridiculous. As I said in Part I, most of the weapons Link uses are practical from a perspective of someone that knows how swords should be used in combat, but this is an example where Link would be better off using any other type of sword.
Namely, the Razor Sword from Majora's Mask:
There are a number of problems with this weapon from a historical perspective, so let's get into it.
Again, for those just tuning in, I actually study historical European swordsmanship based on historical fencing manuals from the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
Anyhow, let's get into this review.
The sword itself easily takes its inspiration from single-edged European swords from the Middle Ages. There were largely two types, falchions and messers.
Here's a historical reproduction of a European falchion:
As you can see, it has all of the things that make a European sword. Good hand protection, as well as a pommel, but it's single-edged, making this a dedicated slashing and slicing weapon, and these things excel in that function.
As for the messer, it's a German weapon that's very similar to the falchion, but has some different characteristics to it.
Here's a reproduction made by Albion of a messer:
As you can see, the messer is very similar to the falchion, but the hilt assembly of the messer is more like a bowie knife, with a side guard called a nagal, or nail.
And in fact, this shouldn't surprise you if you know what messer means. Translated from German, it means "knife." These were made when swords were outlawed in some Germanic countries, and then there sprouted a "knife" making guild for making messers.
As with the falchion, the messer is a dedicated cutting and slicing weapon, and it absolutely excels at it.
So, in terms of the type of sword Link is using, that's great he, for a little bit, used a sword inspired, somewhat, by Medieval falchions and messers.
However....
There's a load of problems with the Razor Sword's design.
First of all, the blade. While the Fierce Deity Sword had a crazy design, it can be made functional, but with the Razor Sword, I'm seeing numerous weaknesses in the blade that would just cause it to shatter.
First of all, there's only a tiny bit of steel rivets holding the two blades of the weapon together. The Fierce Deity Sword has a construction that's similar to a multi-core Viking sword construction, something that has proved itself to be sturdy. The Razor Sword? Not so much. It isn't structurally sound. Why not just make one single edged blade?
Not only that, but the hilt assembly is also quite troubling. First, as you can tell from the falchion and messer I showed earlier, there's sensible hand protection. The Razor Sword has a small disc guard, sort of inspired by a Japanese katana's tsuba guard, but as you can see from the official art, it's not as substantial as the katana's disc guard.
Thus the hand protection doesn't serve any other function than to stop your hand from sliding off the handle and onto the blade. That only comes into play when you're thrusting, but the design of the blade also prevents thrusting, so it's quite an odd design from the series.
Not only that, but we also have a perfectly cylindrical grip that has some weird bumps and tumors.
Why is this a problem? Well, as we discussed in Part I, cylindrical handles don't allow you to intuitively feel where the edges of the blade are aligned. This throws off the edge-alignment, which is not what you want, as edge alignment is one of the fundamentals of cutting with any sword of any type.
On top of that, if your sword has a handle with all sorts of weird bumps and protrusions, you won't be able to grasp your hand firmly around it. Some of your fingers may flex more than others, and on top of it being uncomfortable, and possibly injuring your hand when you cut something, this leads to a weak grip. Meaning, your opponent will more easily disarm you.
On top of this, the pommel seems to have several spikes aimed right at the user. This is a fundamental problem in some fantasy designs. If you have any sharp protrusions aimed at you, you can easily injure yourself unintentionally.
So, this sword has a badly designed blade, a terribly uncomfortable handle, and no hand protection whatsoever to speak of.
"Well, Link has a shield, so a guard won't be as useful!"
Well, even regarding the sources on sword and buckler, or sword and shield, the swords they are using still have rather substantial guards, because the goal is to occupy the opponent's weapon.
When swords are touching, or bound, they will slide around, hence why there's cross-guards on European swords. If the blade happens to slide down, the guard will protect your hand.
To demonstrate what I'm talking about, here's some pictures from Hans Talhoffer's personal mansucript. You still aim to bind, even when the buckler is used to protect your sword hand.
A warning with Hans Talhoffer, his pictures are pretty graphic, so there will be some rather gruesome pictures. Ye have been warned:
Here, the opponent's weapon has been occupied by Talhoffer's messer and buckler, and the next picture shows one way how this typically ends:
A couple of others, showing how common, even with a buckler and good hand protection, the hands still get sniped:
We discussed MS I.33 in Part I for a bit, but we didn't discuss the context of one of the plays:
From this position, you then use your buckler to bash his buckler then follow up with a counter attack with your sword:
So why the Razor Sword has such little hand protection is rather foolhardy. Even with a defensive weapon like a shield or buckler in your off-hand, you still want to protect the hand that holds your weapon.
So how do we fix these issues with the sword?
First of all, we just make it a single edged, solid blade, and sharpen it so it comes to a nice, smooth, and acutely tapered edge, allowing it to slice and dice like Talhoffer demonstrated for us. The Razor Sword is gaining nothing by essentially being two blades riveted weakly together.
Next, we give it some better hand protection and put a cross-guard on it. That way, even with his shield, Link has better hand protection.
On top of this, we fix the handle to be ovate-to-round, or a rounded rectangle, and smooth. That way, it's more comfortable to grip, and improves his grip on the weapon overall so he isn't easily disarmed.
Finally, we fix the pommel to be more like the falchion or the messer, that is, solid, providing counterweight to improve the nimbleness of the weapon, and to give him a better way to use the pommel offensively.
Thus, my improved version of the Razor Sword, would be more akin to the messer I showed earlier. That's a quite efficient, elegant, and brutally effective design that I think will suit our hero far better. And, to me, it looks better overall.
If I were to give a score to the Razor Sword based on a historical and practical analysis, it doesn't look too good. It gets a 3/10. While it can be an effective cutting and slicing weapon, there are too many problems with the hilt assembly and the blade design impairs its ability to slice and thrust effectively to be a formidable weapon.
Again, let me know what you guys think, leave a comment! If there's a weapon you want me to cover, let me know!
Now, this is the entry where we delve into the realm of the ridiculous. As I said in Part I, most of the weapons Link uses are practical from a perspective of someone that knows how swords should be used in combat, but this is an example where Link would be better off using any other type of sword.
Namely, the Razor Sword from Majora's Mask:
There are a number of problems with this weapon from a historical perspective, so let's get into it.
Again, for those just tuning in, I actually study historical European swordsmanship based on historical fencing manuals from the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
Anyhow, let's get into this review.
The sword itself easily takes its inspiration from single-edged European swords from the Middle Ages. There were largely two types, falchions and messers.
Here's a historical reproduction of a European falchion:
As you can see, it has all of the things that make a European sword. Good hand protection, as well as a pommel, but it's single-edged, making this a dedicated slashing and slicing weapon, and these things excel in that function.
As for the messer, it's a German weapon that's very similar to the falchion, but has some different characteristics to it.
Here's a reproduction made by Albion of a messer:
As you can see, the messer is very similar to the falchion, but the hilt assembly of the messer is more like a bowie knife, with a side guard called a nagal, or nail.
And in fact, this shouldn't surprise you if you know what messer means. Translated from German, it means "knife." These were made when swords were outlawed in some Germanic countries, and then there sprouted a "knife" making guild for making messers.
As with the falchion, the messer is a dedicated cutting and slicing weapon, and it absolutely excels at it.
So, in terms of the type of sword Link is using, that's great he, for a little bit, used a sword inspired, somewhat, by Medieval falchions and messers.
However....
There's a load of problems with the Razor Sword's design.
First of all, the blade. While the Fierce Deity Sword had a crazy design, it can be made functional, but with the Razor Sword, I'm seeing numerous weaknesses in the blade that would just cause it to shatter.
First of all, there's only a tiny bit of steel rivets holding the two blades of the weapon together. The Fierce Deity Sword has a construction that's similar to a multi-core Viking sword construction, something that has proved itself to be sturdy. The Razor Sword? Not so much. It isn't structurally sound. Why not just make one single edged blade?
Not only that, but the hilt assembly is also quite troubling. First, as you can tell from the falchion and messer I showed earlier, there's sensible hand protection. The Razor Sword has a small disc guard, sort of inspired by a Japanese katana's tsuba guard, but as you can see from the official art, it's not as substantial as the katana's disc guard.
Thus the hand protection doesn't serve any other function than to stop your hand from sliding off the handle and onto the blade. That only comes into play when you're thrusting, but the design of the blade also prevents thrusting, so it's quite an odd design from the series.
Not only that, but we also have a perfectly cylindrical grip that has some weird bumps and tumors.
Why is this a problem? Well, as we discussed in Part I, cylindrical handles don't allow you to intuitively feel where the edges of the blade are aligned. This throws off the edge-alignment, which is not what you want, as edge alignment is one of the fundamentals of cutting with any sword of any type.
On top of that, if your sword has a handle with all sorts of weird bumps and protrusions, you won't be able to grasp your hand firmly around it. Some of your fingers may flex more than others, and on top of it being uncomfortable, and possibly injuring your hand when you cut something, this leads to a weak grip. Meaning, your opponent will more easily disarm you.
On top of this, the pommel seems to have several spikes aimed right at the user. This is a fundamental problem in some fantasy designs. If you have any sharp protrusions aimed at you, you can easily injure yourself unintentionally.
So, this sword has a badly designed blade, a terribly uncomfortable handle, and no hand protection whatsoever to speak of.
"Well, Link has a shield, so a guard won't be as useful!"
Well, even regarding the sources on sword and buckler, or sword and shield, the swords they are using still have rather substantial guards, because the goal is to occupy the opponent's weapon.
When swords are touching, or bound, they will slide around, hence why there's cross-guards on European swords. If the blade happens to slide down, the guard will protect your hand.
To demonstrate what I'm talking about, here's some pictures from Hans Talhoffer's personal mansucript. You still aim to bind, even when the buckler is used to protect your sword hand.
A warning with Hans Talhoffer, his pictures are pretty graphic, so there will be some rather gruesome pictures. Ye have been warned:
Here, the opponent's weapon has been occupied by Talhoffer's messer and buckler, and the next picture shows one way how this typically ends:
A couple of others, showing how common, even with a buckler and good hand protection, the hands still get sniped:
We discussed MS I.33 in Part I for a bit, but we didn't discuss the context of one of the plays:
From this position, you then use your buckler to bash his buckler then follow up with a counter attack with your sword:
So why the Razor Sword has such little hand protection is rather foolhardy. Even with a defensive weapon like a shield or buckler in your off-hand, you still want to protect the hand that holds your weapon.
So how do we fix these issues with the sword?
First of all, we just make it a single edged, solid blade, and sharpen it so it comes to a nice, smooth, and acutely tapered edge, allowing it to slice and dice like Talhoffer demonstrated for us. The Razor Sword is gaining nothing by essentially being two blades riveted weakly together.
Next, we give it some better hand protection and put a cross-guard on it. That way, even with his shield, Link has better hand protection.
On top of this, we fix the handle to be ovate-to-round, or a rounded rectangle, and smooth. That way, it's more comfortable to grip, and improves his grip on the weapon overall so he isn't easily disarmed.
Finally, we fix the pommel to be more like the falchion or the messer, that is, solid, providing counterweight to improve the nimbleness of the weapon, and to give him a better way to use the pommel offensively.
Thus, my improved version of the Razor Sword, would be more akin to the messer I showed earlier. That's a quite efficient, elegant, and brutally effective design that I think will suit our hero far better. And, to me, it looks better overall.
If I were to give a score to the Razor Sword based on a historical and practical analysis, it doesn't look too good. It gets a 3/10. While it can be an effective cutting and slicing weapon, there are too many problems with the hilt assembly and the blade design impairs its ability to slice and thrust effectively to be a formidable weapon.
Again, let me know what you guys think, leave a comment! If there's a weapon you want me to cover, let me know!
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I've been waiting for this perspective on LoZ weapons from someone knowledgeable with medieval sword tactics for some time! Much APPRECIATED! 
