Been a while since I've done a post on this series, eh?
Well, I'm waiting for more Zelda news so I have more weapons and armor to review.
....And Nintendo is dragging their feet in terms of news.
So, I guess we'll have to go back and review a sword that, for some reason, I overlooked.
Yes, the Hero's Sword, or the first sword you get in Wind Waker:
So, is this sword practical?
Well let's find out.
Also, for those brand new to this series, I have a background in HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts), so I'm reviewing this sword as a sword, and how feasible it would be if you were to use it for real combat.
With that out of the way, let's get on with the review.
WHAT KIND OF SWORD IS IT?:
To me, this sword looks like it took inspiration from a Roman gladius or spatha.
That is a gladius.
And here's a Roman spatha:
So the sword quite clearly takes inspiration from Roman swords.
But, there's interesting aspects about that blade that lead me to believe that the blade shape is more Celtic in origin.
To see what I mean, here's a Celtic sword:
So the blade shape is a bit anachronistic, as we seem to have a Celtic blade shape on a Roman handle.
In terms of function, yeah, absolutely, it will cut and thrust like any one-handed sword, but there's another curious aspect about this blade which leads me to believe it isn't entirely Western in origin.
EASTERN INFLUENCES:
The guard that the Hero's Sword has looks more like a Japanese tsuba that you'd see on a katana.
It even has a habaki, which is a covering just past the guard that wraps around the blade.
Further, the way the blade is ground shows me that the person who designed this weapon saw a Western sword and didn't know how they were ground.
We see near the tip, the blade takes on more of a Japanese grind that you'd see on the tip of a katana:
You can see that near the tip, the tip is flat ground, creating a line.
Put that on a double edged sword, and you'd see a strong central ridge with two grinding lines flaring out, with the tip ground to be flat.
This doesn't change the weapon's functionality, it's just something interesting.
Western blades don't have this type of grind, they're usually flat ground or hollow ground from base to tip, with either a fuller or ridge running down the center to the tip.
You can see that type of grind on the Celtic sword I showed above.
So quite clearly, an artist for the Zelda team saw a Roman or Celtic sword, got inspired, and drew one that had some Japanese flair to it. That's interesting to me. Maybe you just didn't notice this, but since I am a blade nerd, I saw it right away.
WEAPON REVIEW:
In terms of general shape, we have some typical problems.
The blade seems far too large, and the handle far too small and spindly to be comfortable to hold.
The handle also seems perfectly cylindrical, which, as you should know, is a poor choice for a sword because that means you can't intuitively feel where the edges are aligned, which unnecessarily gets in the way of getting proper edge alignment.
As I've said before, edge alignment is aligning the edge of the sword in the direction that you're cutting, which is one of the most fundamental of skills to master when cutting with a sword.
Further, if the blade is normal spatha or gladius size, then that handle is way too small, or if the handle is spatha or gladius size, then that blade is way too large.
Sure, Wind Waker has silly proportions, but if I'm reviewing the sword as a real weapon, I can't overlook this.
This is even more pronounced for Roman, Greek, and Celtic swords, as they were really light. They averaged at under 1 kg or 2.2 lbs.
The sword, with the proportions that it has, assuming it's made out of steel (which is a fair assumption for swords, let's be frank), would weigh well over that.
And that's a problem. It won't handle properly, and give you a false sense of how these things were used.
The pommel, again, seems fine for this type of sword.
HOW WOULD I FIX IT?:
Well, I'm operating under the assumption that the handle has normal proportions to a Roman spatha or gladius, which means that blade is too freaking large.
So definitely, I'd be shaving that blade down some, make it more in the range of the Celtic sword that I showed earlier.
I'd get rid of the habaki it has, as it's serving no functional purpose by being there.
I, interestingly enough, wouldn't change the Eastern influenced grind it has. I'd, in fact, strike that in nice and hard, really make that central ridge pronounced as well as the grinding on the tip.
I'd also fix that awful handle. I'd make it a rounded rectangle in this case, to make it more in line with the Roman inspiration that it has.
All of this would serve to make it a more efficient and practical weapon to use in combat.
And if I could have my way, instead of Link drawing the sword from his back, I'd have him do it like the Romans did. The Romans drew the gladius from the same side, instead of across their body.
So if they were right handed, they drew the sword with their right hand, from the right side.
All just to give a little historical homage.
CONCLUSION:
Please, let me know if there's any other Zelda weapon you'd like me to review.
As always, until next time guys!
Well, I'm waiting for more Zelda news so I have more weapons and armor to review.
....And Nintendo is dragging their feet in terms of news.
So, I guess we'll have to go back and review a sword that, for some reason, I overlooked.
Yes, the Hero's Sword, or the first sword you get in Wind Waker:
So, is this sword practical?
Well let's find out.
Also, for those brand new to this series, I have a background in HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts), so I'm reviewing this sword as a sword, and how feasible it would be if you were to use it for real combat.
With that out of the way, let's get on with the review.
WHAT KIND OF SWORD IS IT?:
To me, this sword looks like it took inspiration from a Roman gladius or spatha.
That is a gladius.
And here's a Roman spatha:
So the sword quite clearly takes inspiration from Roman swords.
But, there's interesting aspects about that blade that lead me to believe that the blade shape is more Celtic in origin.
To see what I mean, here's a Celtic sword:
So the blade shape is a bit anachronistic, as we seem to have a Celtic blade shape on a Roman handle.
In terms of function, yeah, absolutely, it will cut and thrust like any one-handed sword, but there's another curious aspect about this blade which leads me to believe it isn't entirely Western in origin.
EASTERN INFLUENCES:
The guard that the Hero's Sword has looks more like a Japanese tsuba that you'd see on a katana.
It even has a habaki, which is a covering just past the guard that wraps around the blade.
Further, the way the blade is ground shows me that the person who designed this weapon saw a Western sword and didn't know how they were ground.
We see near the tip, the blade takes on more of a Japanese grind that you'd see on the tip of a katana:
You can see that near the tip, the tip is flat ground, creating a line.
Put that on a double edged sword, and you'd see a strong central ridge with two grinding lines flaring out, with the tip ground to be flat.
This doesn't change the weapon's functionality, it's just something interesting.
Western blades don't have this type of grind, they're usually flat ground or hollow ground from base to tip, with either a fuller or ridge running down the center to the tip.
You can see that type of grind on the Celtic sword I showed above.
So quite clearly, an artist for the Zelda team saw a Roman or Celtic sword, got inspired, and drew one that had some Japanese flair to it. That's interesting to me. Maybe you just didn't notice this, but since I am a blade nerd, I saw it right away.
WEAPON REVIEW:
In terms of general shape, we have some typical problems.
The blade seems far too large, and the handle far too small and spindly to be comfortable to hold.
The handle also seems perfectly cylindrical, which, as you should know, is a poor choice for a sword because that means you can't intuitively feel where the edges are aligned, which unnecessarily gets in the way of getting proper edge alignment.
As I've said before, edge alignment is aligning the edge of the sword in the direction that you're cutting, which is one of the most fundamental of skills to master when cutting with a sword.
Further, if the blade is normal spatha or gladius size, then that handle is way too small, or if the handle is spatha or gladius size, then that blade is way too large.
Sure, Wind Waker has silly proportions, but if I'm reviewing the sword as a real weapon, I can't overlook this.
This is even more pronounced for Roman, Greek, and Celtic swords, as they were really light. They averaged at under 1 kg or 2.2 lbs.
The sword, with the proportions that it has, assuming it's made out of steel (which is a fair assumption for swords, let's be frank), would weigh well over that.
And that's a problem. It won't handle properly, and give you a false sense of how these things were used.
The pommel, again, seems fine for this type of sword.
HOW WOULD I FIX IT?:
Well, I'm operating under the assumption that the handle has normal proportions to a Roman spatha or gladius, which means that blade is too freaking large.
So definitely, I'd be shaving that blade down some, make it more in the range of the Celtic sword that I showed earlier.
I'd get rid of the habaki it has, as it's serving no functional purpose by being there.
I, interestingly enough, wouldn't change the Eastern influenced grind it has. I'd, in fact, strike that in nice and hard, really make that central ridge pronounced as well as the grinding on the tip.
I'd also fix that awful handle. I'd make it a rounded rectangle in this case, to make it more in line with the Roman inspiration that it has.
All of this would serve to make it a more efficient and practical weapon to use in combat.
And if I could have my way, instead of Link drawing the sword from his back, I'd have him do it like the Romans did. The Romans drew the gladius from the same side, instead of across their body.
So if they were right handed, they drew the sword with their right hand, from the right side.
All just to give a little historical homage.
CONCLUSION:
Please, let me know if there's any other Zelda weapon you'd like me to review.
As always, until next time guys!
