For a duel, how would that compare to the giant longsword or claymore or swords of that size? Given the similarity, it's easy to imagine the one with a slighter longer blade and a bit more leverage and more hand protection is going to be better. But I'm curious if, once the weapons are this big, there comes a point where it's overbuilt, at least for personal combat. (e.g. We knows pikes aren't very good individual weapons.)
did longer swords from back then have more leverage against themsleves, so id blocked or hit on flat side did they bend easier than shorter swords due to levergage?
This was his mistake. Some computer games like Diablo made the name well known, However, the Zweihander is always called that, base on medieval museums I visited in Germany & I visited a lot of them, & museums do not name their historical artifacts base on pop culture or video games.
It's interesting that is actually relatively easy to just reach a greatsword out with one hand. Really destroys the idea that they were impractically heavy or you needed to be super strong to even use them.
@@hieug.rection1920 While I have enormous respect for that dude and he does awesome work, I didn't really think to include him in what I meant by "Swordtube" because his content is notably free from history.
I live in Vienna and here and also to mention in Graz we have very nice collections of medieval and later weapons amongst them many "Schlachtschwerter" or "Bidenhaender" as you mentioned. I am 1,92m tall and many of these swords are as long as I am or longer and are said to have been used by frontline soldiers to "thin out" the enemies frontline for the main attack force. These men received double rations and double pay in many cases. Elite soldiers so to speak. I'd like to add they're surprisingly light swords...averaging around 2.5 kg.
Living in Germany for a full 25 years now and having traveled extensively I have seen many zweihänder with considerably shorter blades. Mostly in castles and not museums in large cities. ( Of course the big Museums want to show off the big blades!) By considerable I mean 10 to 20 cm. These are clearly Landknecht era swords, the grip, ricasso, style, materials are all there but the blade length is oddly short. At first I thought they may have been broken and ground to a new point for decorative purposes but I've seen so many and upon closer inspection I think they were just made that way. I just thought someone might find that as interesting as I do.
*Jacob klünder* How is as important as where, but the trick is in the withdrawal. Withdraw right ..you 'll b up for seconds. Not ... sorry, you 're S.O.L
There are so many German words for Two-Handed Sword: Zweihänder ("Two-Hander") = Schlachtschwert ("Battle-Sword") = Gassenhauer ("Alley-Hitter"/"Alley-Sweeper") = Doppelhänder ("Double-hander") = Beidenhänder/Bihänder ("Both-hander") = Flammenschwert ("Flamberge") but there is only one Katzbalger! Accept no substitutes! = @ )
Flamberge actually does not describe the length of the blade, but the fact that it has a wavy blade. It was mostly done for Bidenhaenders, but there are also examples of Flamberge rapiers and other blades.
Katzenbalger were carried by Landsknechte... they are just a copy of the Reisläufer (Swiss Mercenaries)... accept no substitutes and get a Swiss dagger 😄
I'm writing a fantasy novel with a lot of sword combat, so this video was incredibly useful. Thanks very much, man! Keep doing what you're doing - you bagged yourself a new subscriber!
I must admit, when you said "I like comparing this just for fun", I half expected you to show that the Bronge Age leaf sword blade, was the same length as just the hilt on that 2-hander!
@@StNickj I thought nagamakis are more like polearms but nodachis are the sword-like things. Then there are naginatas but those are definitely polearms
I was thinking about how in movies or tv series, I don't remember having seen properly in action such a beast.. my dream would be to see them in a movie that reconstruct how they were used for 'public order' in the Turbulent renaissance Florence..
Well, there's some thoughts that these were developed partially to defend against rapiers and other one handed thrusting swords, which were getting longer and longer as well. Late period thrusting swords could come all the way up to the sternum from the ground, meaning you had a frankly absurd reach in an extended hand. Not that duels between rapiers and zweihander happened particularly often that we can tell, but that's a theory at least.
@@Gunnar120 It doesn't seem all that crazy to me. Not for a duel, but if everyone is carrying a rapier to the point where that's just normal, a logical counter is to equip guards with greatswords, to counter an assassin hiding in plain sight.
I figure that a soft scabbard with a loop you can put over one shoulder would make a large two handed sword much easier to carry about, while also being easy enough to discard in a moment of need.
It would be interesting to see a "normal" longsword in relation to the others. Also I always had a hard time visualizing the size difference between a hand-and-a-half sword and an arming sword and longsword respectivly.
The difference between all of those is gonna be mostly hilt. A bastard sword is a long sword with a shorter hilt. Many of the blades would still be comparable in size
I always understood that bastard, hand and a half, and longsword were interchangeable names for the same type of sword, in that the weight, blade length and balance allowed the sword to be used singlehandedly while having an extended grip for two hands when required. An arming sword would be almost any single hand sword, like the katzbalger or the falchion.
YT's alert system means I didn't know about this video until it went on my side list. Thanks for this one Matt, it's going in the saved folder that I use for writing sword n shield-wielding societies!
This is the kind of sword I picture Whirrun of Bly using. "The Grandfather of Swords" he calls it, passed down to him from its last wielder. He's one of the minor characters in the First Law series, but one who tends to capture the imagination somewhat. In "The Heroes" he and the giant Sword-and-dagger duellist Bremer dan Gorst meet by chance on the field of battle, and they're so evenly matched that they fight each other almost to a standstill, until one of Gorst's countrymen gets Whirrun from behind with a spear. Gorst is so disgusted at this lack of honour that he kills the spearman on the spot. Whirrun, dying, asks for the sword to be buried with him. When he got it he thought it a blessing, but for a long time, it's been a burden, and he doesn't want this named sword to be passed on to anyone further.
Yes, we really need a new standard of measure with which to compare sword lengths. I propose 1 Standard Easton, about 6'1", as the new sword-length standard.
I've made a lot of wooden swords, trying to figure out what dimensions feel right. I came to the conclusion that they feel "right" when are based on certain dimensions of the user's anatomy. I'm 6'2". Holding the ricasso below the parry hooks, I found the ideal hilt length for me had the pommel at my elbow. Reason for measuring while holding the ricasso (versus below the cross guard) was because of the need to choke up sometimes. With that measurement, I found I could create a stable equilateral triangle between my hand on the ricasso, that elbow, and my other hand above the pommel - all while in stable and suitable guards. I base blade length on a tail guard creating a right triangle with the body centerline. Getting a dose of confirmation bias from this video, thanks!
It's worth remembering that the spadone would have been the person's main weapon. Whereas a katana, and most other swords, would have been a backup weapon.
I know it's most likely wrong, but I always thought the main use for katana is to chop up some rebel peasants for shit and giggles after they are captured. And also to show off social status.
@@rayzhang7591 nah,to be honest that's a myth spread by people who don't know what they're talking about, the katanas creation was formed from the battlefield( tho not exactly the katana people are familiar with), in fact Japanese swords were adopted by other Asian countries for combat used. On the topic on sword length,Katana length was limited in edo period giving birth to Katana people recognize today,If you look on a site like aoijapan that sells Nihonto it’s not that difficult to find blades that are over what people usually considered average nowadays, there are schools that survive do this day That teach you how to fight with nodachi. mobile.twitter.com/hokutoandy/status/1078526333301358593 gunbai-militaryhistory.blogspot.com/2019/12/japanese-sword-mythbusting-part-2.html?m=1 in sengoku era there was katana/uchigatana versions called katateuchi solely made for one hand Popular among foot soldiers. In Bakumatsu era you get a resurgence it was fairly common to again use very large and massive swords(know name Bakumatsu-to)as laws lifted,and even today there are schools that use long katanas(not tachi or nodachi) ruclips.net/video/4XywJrwNw1I/видео.html
@@dougsinthailand7176 they might have actually, Europeans and Southeast Asian kingdoms hire Japanese mercenaries as soldiers or bodyguards for and against each other.
Great one! We all saw some collection where swords are put one next to another so we can compare them, but never like this - compared to human body. And if you look at rapier blade and zweihander blade - but from those spikes/hornes, can't recall the name, not from the guard - you'll see they're much more similar in lenght. Cheers!
You would have been a very large warrior in some of those scenarios? The proportions are helpful, and I realize merely suggestive. Been watching different staff/stick fighting techniques, and you can see the same techniques at work!
Imagine how big was the sword used the Spanish sanzon, the giant soldier who participated in all the major battles from the late decade of the 15 century through the mid 16th century
In Scotland (I have no accent marks, sorry), they were called Claidheamh da Laimh, which means Two Handed Sword. While Claideamh Mor does mean great sword, Claidheamh Mor, or claymore, refers to the basket hilt broadsword
There's a record where a katana faced a montante. There was a Portuguese ship that was attacked by Japanese pirates in China. Someone took a Montante and vanished them from the ship.
@@ObsydianShade Katana is just not one type of sword actually what people usually think when imagining Katana it's more of a later design, ashigaru typically use katateuchi which was a one-handed variance, samurai or Ronin were never a major numbers in Pirate groups.
@@samarkand1585 I mean, I'd say it wouldn't be too unlikely that they used at least some kind of sword. Granted, on the field things like Yari and Naginata were more useful, but I can imagine that a pirate of the 16th century would likely have used a some sort of gun and a sword as a sidearm. I'm not 100% sure but there's two potential battles I could find on wikipedia where this might have happened, though the details don't quite line up. 1: The Battle of Cagayan in 1582. In this case it actually would have been a spanish ship and it arguably was the aggressor, interfering with a wako coastal raid by opening fire, driving the pirates back and eventually defeating them in a field battle in spite of being significantly outnumbered (mostly winning through superior firearm technology and having a terrain and artillery advantage). During the battle the spanish vessel was boarded at one point but the attack was quickly repelled. Several Katanas were in fact reportedly looted from the dead pirates. 2: The Battle of Fukuda Bay in 1565. Not actually an attack by wako (then again, the comment didn't claim wako specifically and it still was arguably an act of piracy) but rather the Matsura Clan who attacked a portuguese trade carrack (accompanied by a galleon) after it left the port of Yokoseura without actually conducting trade after local jesuits had convinced the captain to head for a different port instead. The Matsura were outraged over losing out on what would have been a pretty profit and attacked the ship in an attempt to seize the goods. The Matsura temporarily boarded the carrack but were repelled and the japanese flotilla then proceeded to get utterly devastated by canon fire from both the carrack and the galleon. So we have two instance of iberian ships getting attacked in an act of piracy. In one case by wako pirates (who were in this instance reported to have had some Katanas) and in the other by the Samurai and Ashigaru of an actual clan who would have been far more likely to actually carry a Katana. Wikipedia doesn't specifically mention any Montante on Katana duels but I reckon it's not entirely unlikely that something like that could have happened during these battles and a Montante would certainly have a definite advantage over a Katana in direct combat.
I learn/practice iberian fencing. They feel great to use. They are far lighter than most people think and are relatively easy to wield. But they sure are a crazy upper body workout, if you use them for extended time periods. My Spadone weigths roughly 2.5kg and is about 165cm in total length. You should definitely try one, if you ever got the chance. But make sure to keep the momentum going using these big swords, or your joints will hate you for the rest of your life. 😅
Matt shows the point of balance (the greatsword's one) being somewhere near the 10cm (4") mark from the guard, which is an amazingly, if not outright crazy, weight distribution for that blade. I got the English Two-Handed sword made by Windlass (You can see it on the back of a *LOT* of Matt's videos, it's the purple hilt & scabbard one), and again, PoB is crazy, weight is about 2kg (4.something pounds) and handles beautifully.
The name montante may come from the use of the sword, since montante means mounting, and they were used to lock down the spears with uts weight and other weapons. Interesting fact is that soldiers with montantes were called doble paga since they haf double wage than any other soldier for their dangerous job. Also its said that in no mortal duels with a referee usually this one a master in arms, wielded a montante so if things got too heated he can push down the weapons
It seems to me that one of the constraints on the length of ancient blades was the quality of metallurgy available. A 14-18-inch blade might have been the longest possible that would retain its shape.
Mandoble is more of a modern thing, in more traditional things they use "mandoble" to refer to a sword strike, theoretically a big two handed sword strike. So it's more using the sword in two hands more so than the sword itself.
I visited Wawel Castle in Krakow, Poland, and they had a bunch of them exhibited there, the shortest must have been around 170cms and the largest ones between 190-200cm. Not sure about their weights, I was not allowed to lift or touch them.
Lots of brave things done here... I'm debating between measuring potentially sharp blades against the crotch, or, putting potentially expensive blades on the grass. I believe my OCD would keep me away from.... putting my swords on the grass! haha! Cheers, thanks for the video!
@@junichiroyamashita Yes. "Gasse" literally means a back alley/minor street while "hauer" is an object with which you beat, can also mean "tusk". You use the "Gassenhauer" to "hau" a "Gasse" into the enemy ranks, hence the name, strike a path through the enemy´s ranks.
I think the point about parades is a good one: modern people tend to put too much of an emphasis on a division between symbolic and practical uses. Of course, this doesn't even work in modern security practice. The intimidation, patriotism, or other messaging of armed forces or police deployment (in virtually all countries around the world) is just as essential today. One potential difference between today and the past is that, without the free and open use of modern firearms (or volley fire), angry civilians with improvised weapons can be a match for even well armed and trained groups. So a very large, almost "Hollywood" spectacular weapon serves as a rather direct metaphor for state power (either of the nobility or city fathers), and looks really good in a parade. Same thing for guarding an important personage, or standard. At the same time, if the crowds turn on the rulers (and often with good reason, like raising the price of bread), then the great sweeping arcs of the Zweihanders will make them duck and scatter, or allow the rulers to be moved to safety.
Beautiful sword and great video as always. I have a question about the length of the sword you said it's around 5 feet 11 inches but on their website it says the sword is 1590 mm which is 5 foot 2 inches , did you ask for it to be made longer, If so did you get the blade longer or the handle ?
@@scholagladiatoria I have seen them in person and they are huge, not just in length (they're probably about the same as the Kvetun sword) but also in terms of width. At the base of the blade they are wide as your palm and there is not much profile taper until the point. The only thing I can figure that saves them from being absurdly heavy is that they don't have lugs on the blade and the cross-guard is noticeably shorter.
The crucial issue thiugh is the various uses. What was the primary use of the spadone? My reading leads me to believe it was primarily used to batter down pikes
In Germany, the Zweihander is indeed called "wait for it" Zweihander (Zweihänder in proper German), which literally means well, 2-hander. It may be a bit confusing due to the simplicity of the name, but the Zweihander is both a description, ( a sword use by 2 hand), & a sword type. I am not a sword expert, but I have visited many medieval museums (often in castles) across Germany, & Zweihander is (as far as I remember) always used to description one range of massive 2 hander swords (not any 2 hander swords, in which they will be given some other names) & they are indeed always outlandish massive.
I like to think of the greatsword/zweihander/spadone (my favorite term for it is the french "espadon") as a hybrid between the spear and the longsword. It really isn't a sword anymore, but a polearm. In fact, I've once seen and Indian equivalent where the length of the blade and the length of the handle are about the same for a total height of one person. There is in fact a type of longsword from the Netherlands I think that has similar proportions (a blade the typical length of an arming sword's with a handle long enough to fit 4 to 6 hands).
I remember reading about a sword like that called a hand-guisarme or a glavelot. I haven't found any photographs of it, but the closest I've seen resembling it is the main sword you see the elves using at the opening battle of LOTR.
I kind of want to see a real duel between a katana in the hands of an expert at using it 2-handed, and one of the massive European 2-handed swords in the hands of an expert with that weapon. I'm always interested in how a fighter with a smaller weapon is going to compensate for an advantage in reach when the opponent isn't just letting them walk into range.
I was gonna say "ok but that's not a fair fight. Nodachi or something might be a better comparison." but if it's supposed to be unfair then that's more reasonable.
@@petersmythe6462 Yeah, the point is specifically the extreme imbalance between the weapons and how you'd try and work around those disadvantages. If you can get the fight into an enclosed space the shorter blade is a potential advantage, but getting there is going to be hard. And similarly, if you can get into close quarters, there's potential room for the shorter weapon to give you an advantage, but... yeah, it's definitely an intentionally unfair fight.
@@a-blivvy-yus don't forget that you can half sword a Zweihänder so you can just use it like a spear in close quarters or a enclosed space negating a lot of the downsides that you try to bring up. Let's not forget that Katanas are brittle the sharp part so they just can't hit the heavy Zweihänder blade out of the way without breaking and even then if they use the soft part which can absorb more impact to parry well they still have to get around the tongs which could catch the blade and the actual handguard which the rings can serve to catch blades and grapple them out of the hand. And then the Zweihänder wielder can turn the blade upside down and hammer strike as most of the weight of the sword is near the hilt though more so at the second handle in between the lugs and hand guard and before you say it there is actually about an inch or two at the lugs that is not sharp so you can grab that to proceed to hammer strike or if you are good at half swording grab the sharp part firmly so it does not slide in your hand so you won't get cut and sure it feels uncomfortable. You can also bash them in the head or somewhere with the long ass guard as they are pointy and will get them to back up. Also the lugs on a Zweihänder these days are pretty much less pronounced parrying hooks and are colloquially called Schilden sometimes. Anyways it would actually be down to luck and who is better at their sword so pit two masters together with training swords. Oh and also those who half sword usually wears gloves with their half swording hand to avoid getting cut
I've always been curious... if one warrior armed with a katana or somthing comparable came up against one with a zweihander sized sword. How much would it differ from fighting somone with a polarm?
It depend on the Zweihander style, Easton already said that most likely it would be used as a poking implement in a duel but indeed as shown by the records of landscknetch in action it would be used as giant swinging blade against entire rank of soldiers. Zweihander doesn't quite have as much range and punch as a pole weapon due to the difference in center of mass, but that also what makes it versatile. In addition, the much longer sharp edge on Zweihander makes it very difficult for katana user to sneak past into close quarter (basically brawl and grappling) range compared to that of a spear.
Great video as always. I've got one question on my mind about this type of sword. How was they carried on? Did they have any scabbard? I mean it seems to me quite difficult to pull them out of its scabbard due to its length.
You're assumption is correct: They really were/are too big for any scabbard. And in fact, scabbards are not even traditionally made for these swords. As far as carrying is concerned, they were carried the same way as a spear, pike, halberd, or other such polearm: they were simply carried in the hands. While on the march or at rest, they would often be placed(flatly of course) on the shoulder just as people do with spears or even rifles in our modern day.
That was fun. 1.84 m= 72.4 in. or 6.04 ft. or 6 ft. 0.4 in. or 6 ft. 1/2 in. Sorry, Matt. 30.0 in.= 76.2 cm, 27 in.= 69 cm. 28 in.= 71 cm and 23 sun. 43 in.= 110 cm. 5 ft. 11 in.= 71 in. and 180 cm. 6.0 ft. = 72 in. and 180 cm. (two significant figures, you know?)
I would really appreciate if you were to do a deep dive into European great swords at some point. You keep touching on the subject, but it's pretty inconvenient to have to find 2 minute snippets throughout 20 different videos. RUclips desperately needs one concise concise video about it. Thanks, and love the channel.
About the fighting style suggested against multiple opponents, I was wondering how well a greatsword like that can actually cut. Can it be considered a versatile design? I knew that was often credited to be their function. Also, whilst, I guess given its size it can gather quite a lot of momentum and thus manage to cut rather decently at the very least, I've still always thought of it as more of a thrust-centric weapon.
I would imagine depends on the blade type. Many of them seem to be basicly longsword width so i imagine quite vicious cut, and the narrower type too might cut quite well since it has lots of mass.
@@lalli8152 I agree, but I also think that due to its blade length the cutting ability of a weapon like that might be somewhat hindered by vibrations, getting slightly wobbly perhaps.
@@Leery_Bard I think it would cut fine since a machete is wobbly too and cuts very well. There is of course the leverage of the long handle to add to the mass that would make this a wicked cutting sword. I expect that thrusting would be where it suffers with too much flexibility. I was watching the blade carefully for flex and didn't really see any though. But blade alignment must figure very heavily into the cut with this sword wobbly or not.
@@whirving Yes, I think it would thrust perfectly fine. The blade surely looks stiff. I meant whether it could suffer from vibrations when cutting being relatively slim for its length. Still, I kept thinking about it and reached a similar conclusion. Also, I hadn't taken into account the potent leverage; thanks for pointing that out.
@@Leery_Bard For what it's worth, I have a 24" machete that is thin but has a deep cross section and that thing cuts in a very fearsome way. I can sink the head 3" into a tree. Hard to get it back out.
Hi how are you? There is this online sword armoury called kult of athena it sells a del tin 165.1cm (65") sword also there is yet another giant sword you could buy with 170cm length (67") so it would be really nice to see them in comparison to you.
Love your vids...however...Zweihander compared to the Scottish lowlander two-hander or Highlander Claidheamh-mòr? So no it didnt have a reach advantage against 'all swords' at the time.
Love seeing those bronze age and viking era blades and indeed the whole comparison of sizes in relation to your body. By the way, did you ever hilt your Anglo-Saxon one made by (I believe) Paul Bins? Years ago, you showed it off along with some wooden grips that you'd made. I'm very much interested in hearing more about it and your bronze age sword by Neil Burridge (incidentally, he's been revamping his whole business after moving to a new location recently).
Zweihander newly acquired from Kvetun Armoury - kvetun-armoury.com/ - facebook.com/kvetun
For a duel, how would that compare to the giant longsword or claymore or swords of that size? Given the similarity, it's easy to imagine the one with a slighter longer blade and a bit more leverage and more hand protection is going to be better. But I'm curious if, once the weapons are this big, there comes a point where it's overbuilt, at least for personal combat. (e.g. We knows pikes aren't very good individual weapons.)
did longer swords from back then have more leverage against themsleves, so id blocked or hit on flat side did they bend easier than shorter swords due to levergage?
Is it for sparring or is it sharp and you will do cutting tests with your new Zweihänder?
How do you like this one compared to your Del Tin? I hope del tin returns to production soon
@@jakefromtx Same here, I had a custom being produced by Del Tin in before this COVID-19 crap.
"You may have heard the rumours that I've got a massive one."
Not even ten seconds into the video and my man is dishing out some fire.
then he talked about putting the tip on the ground.... ;-)
@@SiriusMined "As I gently touch my tip to the ground." He's killing me with this stuff. 😂
he kindda look like that bald mechanics, pizza delivery guy, doctor, and etc guy.
If it burns when it comes out, please seek medical attention.
quickly followed by what kind of sounded like "I have huge sword up my arsehole"
"Commonly, in modern pop culture they're known as zweihander-due to a few computer games, primarily"
\[T]/
Praise the sun
Grossly Incandescent.
Don't give up, skeleton!
What rings you got?
This was his mistake. Some computer games like Diablo made the name well known, However, the Zweihander is always called that, base on medieval museums I visited in Germany & I visited a lot of them, & museums do not name their historical artifacts base on pop culture or video games.
It's interesting that is actually relatively easy to just reach a greatsword out with one hand. Really destroys the idea that they were impractically heavy or you needed to be super strong to even use them.
No diss to any of the other big players on Swordtube, but Matt radiates the most big sword energy by far.
@@hieug.rection1920 While I have enormous respect for that dude and he does awesome work, I didn't really think to include him in what I meant by "Swordtube" because his content is notably free from history.
Montante Nino is literally a channel about the Montante. He has a really nice flow and footwork also. Worth giving a look.
@@PalleRasmussen Thanks for the tip.
@@cyrilgigee4630 my pleasure.
actively working out with with your weapon of choice for most of your adult life will do that to you.
"Come.. Let us gingerly touch our tips" hahahahha someone was watching Role Models.
I love that movie.
"Johnny Sins lookalike grabing his huge thing by the shaft."
baaam
Yeah, my tip never reached the ground
Cue 70's money shot groove music
Every man wants the biggest one he can get 😏🗡️
I live in Vienna and here and also to mention in Graz we have very nice collections of medieval and later weapons amongst them many "Schlachtschwerter" or "Bidenhaender" as you mentioned. I am 1,92m tall and many of these swords are as long as I am or longer and are said to have been used by frontline soldiers to "thin out" the enemies frontline for the main attack force. These men received double rations and double pay in many cases. Elite soldiers so to speak.
I'd like to add they're surprisingly light swords...averaging around 2.5 kg.
I visited the museum in Graz with my middle school (so I was around 12 yo) and I managed to hold one of them!
Matt's ability to slide in innuendo into all his videos surpasses Linus' (LTT/LMG) ability to smoothly plug his sponsors.
Living in Germany for a full 25 years now and having traveled extensively I have seen many zweihänder with considerably shorter blades. Mostly in castles and not museums in large cities. ( Of course the big Museums want to show off the big blades!) By considerable I mean 10 to 20 cm. These are clearly Landknecht era swords, the grip, ricasso, style, materials are all there but the blade length is oddly short. At first I thought they may have been broken and ground to a new point for decorative purposes but I've seen so many and upon closer inspection I think they were just made that way. I just thought someone might find that as interesting as I do.
It’s not the size that matters, it’s where you stick it
Up the arsenal.
*Jacob klünder*
How is as important as where, but the trick is in the withdrawal. Withdraw right ..you 'll b up for seconds. Not ... sorry, you 're S.O.L
that some small blade energy shit
As an artist, this is a very useful video. Many thanks.
There are so many German words for Two-Handed Sword:
Zweihänder ("Two-Hander") = Schlachtschwert ("Battle-Sword") = Gassenhauer ("Alley-Hitter"/"Alley-Sweeper") = Doppelhänder ("Double-hander") = Beidenhänder/Bihänder ("Both-hander") = Flammenschwert ("Flamberge") but there is only one Katzbalger! Accept no substitutes! = @ )
It's actually also called "Landsknechtsschwert", and it can be called a "short sword".
Flamberge actually does not describe the length of the blade, but the fact that it has a wavy blade. It was mostly done for Bidenhaenders, but there are also examples of Flamberge rapiers and other blades.
Katzenbalger were carried by Landsknechte... they are just a copy of the Reisläufer (Swiss Mercenaries)... accept no substitutes and get a Swiss dagger 😄
@@etherealicer I like this take. Also, thank you for saying accept instead of except. (That's what drew me in here in the first place)
*Accept
I'm writing a fantasy novel with a lot of sword combat, so this video was incredibly useful. Thanks very much, man! Keep doing what you're doing - you bagged yourself a new subscriber!
Matt Easton without context: "You may have heard the rumors: I have a MASSIVE one."
I must admit, when you said "I like comparing this just for fun", I half expected you to show that the Bronge Age leaf sword blade, was the same length as just the hilt on that 2-hander!
"That's not a sword! THIS is a sword...!!" Surprisingly nimble-looking as well Matt .. noice!
Any chance you might get a Japanese nodachi? A comparison of one and a greatsword could be pretty awesome
Isn't that more like a polearm?
@@mildlydazed9608 More or less. I would rather call it sword like spear
@@StNickj I thought nagamakis are more like polearms but nodachis are the sword-like things. Then there are naginatas but those are definitely polearms
@@mildlydazed9608 That would be the naginata.
@@foroparapente thanks for the clarification.
I swear I'm not making this up : the video stopped loading at "I've got a new sword in my ars...", for a second I wondered what that last word was xD
Your internet is gay.
@@Sophocles13 your gay
@@studentdrake everyone is gay
@@riheg gay is most definitely gay
Matt, this is very important! We need a video of you dual wielding your zweihanders, one in each hand!
Please upvote this comment!
He already has, though another video won't hurt... aside from his arms.
Smile on matt's face with that huge sword in his hands, thats gold!
I was thinking about how in movies or tv series, I don't remember having seen properly in action such a beast.. my dream would be to see them in a movie that reconstruct how they were used for 'public order' in the Turbulent renaissance Florence..
0:57 Good thing Matt mentioned he is a human, until now i used to think he was some sort of Anunaki extraterrestrial being.
This comparison was exactly what i needed to see.
Clicked for the zweihander, stayed for the memes. 😄
Gotta say, it was fairly kind of Matt to be almost exactly my height, so I could get a perfect idea of the sword proportions.
Always a good time when your fencing partner puts both hands on your greatsword.
Matt, that was a really nice video, easy listening and pragmatic demonstrations. Thanks very much, Gus
Germans really looked at swords and went "Not beeg enough"
Spanish and Portuguese as well
Well, there's some thoughts that these were developed partially to defend against rapiers and other one handed thrusting swords, which were getting longer and longer as well. Late period thrusting swords could come all the way up to the sternum from the ground, meaning you had a frankly absurd reach in an extended hand. Not that duels between rapiers and zweihander happened particularly often that we can tell, but that's a theory at least.
@@Gunnar120 It doesn't seem all that crazy to me. Not for a duel, but if everyone is carrying a rapier to the point where that's just normal, a logical counter is to equip guards with greatswords, to counter an assassin hiding in plain sight.
beeg beeg sword
@@nutyyyy and Italians
If you say a weapon can’t be worn, you know Shad is gonna make a scabbard where you can
Damn right he is.
atleast he'll come up with a contraption after a decade he can safely carry around in his backyard and make 15 videos about ;)
you mean a shabbard?
@calvin mcdonald why hate?
I figure that a soft scabbard with a loop you can put over one shoulder would make a large two handed sword much easier to carry about, while also being easy enough to discard in a moment of need.
It would be interesting to see a "normal" longsword in relation to the others. Also I always had a hard time visualizing the size difference between a hand-and-a-half sword and an arming sword and longsword respectivly.
Usually there's only a three to six inches difference
The difference between all of those is gonna be mostly hilt. A bastard sword is a long sword with a shorter hilt. Many of the blades would still be comparable in size
@@Specter_1125 I always thought a bastard sword had the blade length of an arming sword, but with a longer hilt.
A "normal longsword" is about the same length as a rapier. An arming sword would be about similar in size to the Viking sword he showed.
I always understood that bastard, hand and a half, and longsword were interchangeable names for the same type of sword, in that the weight, blade length and balance allowed the sword to be used singlehandedly while having an extended grip for two hands when required. An arming sword would be almost any single hand sword, like the katzbalger or the falchion.
thank you for giving the imperial measurements along with the metric
YT's alert system means I didn't know about this video until it went on my side list. Thanks for this one Matt, it's going in the saved folder that I use for writing sword n shield-wielding societies!
Oh boy. I had a longbow shorter than that thing. What a beast of a sword!
gentleman gingerly puts his tip on the ground, and prepares to be measured. :)
This is the kind of sword I picture Whirrun of Bly using. "The Grandfather of Swords" he calls it, passed down to him from its last wielder. He's one of the minor characters in the First Law series, but one who tends to capture the imagination somewhat. In "The Heroes" he and the giant Sword-and-dagger duellist Bremer dan Gorst meet by chance on the field of battle, and they're so evenly matched that they fight each other almost to a standstill, until one of Gorst's countrymen gets Whirrun from behind with a spear. Gorst is so disgusted at this lack of honour that he kills the spearman on the spot. Whirrun, dying, asks for the sword to be buried with him. When he got it he thought it a blessing, but for a long time, it's been a burden, and he doesn't want this named sword to be passed on to anyone further.
He also invented the sandwich 🥪
Yes, we really need a new standard of measure with which to compare sword lengths. I propose 1 Standard Easton, about 6'1", as the new sword-length standard.
I've made a lot of wooden swords, trying to figure out what dimensions feel right. I came to the conclusion that they feel "right" when are based on certain dimensions of the user's anatomy.
I'm 6'2". Holding the ricasso below the parry hooks, I found the ideal hilt length for me had the pommel at my elbow. Reason for measuring while holding the ricasso (versus below the cross guard) was because of the need to choke up sometimes. With that measurement, I found I could create a stable equilateral triangle between my hand on the ricasso, that elbow, and my other hand above the pommel - all while in stable and suitable guards. I base blade length on a tail guard creating a right triangle with the body centerline.
Getting a dose of confirmation bias from this video, thanks!
It's worth remembering that the spadone would have been the person's main weapon. Whereas a katana, and most other swords, would have been a backup weapon.
I know it's most likely wrong, but I always thought the main use for katana is to chop up some rebel peasants for shit and giggles after they are captured. And also to show off social status.
And of course, neither weapon met the other on any historical battlefield.
@@dougsinthailand7176 Weapons arms races are super important to how they developed.
@@rayzhang7591 nah,to be honest that's a myth spread by people who don't know what they're talking about, the katanas creation was formed from the battlefield( tho not exactly the katana people are familiar with), in fact Japanese swords were adopted by other Asian countries for combat used.
On the topic on sword length,Katana length was limited in edo period giving birth to Katana people recognize today,If you look on a site like aoijapan that sells Nihonto it’s not that difficult to find blades that are over what people usually considered average nowadays, there are schools that survive do this day That teach you how to fight with nodachi. mobile.twitter.com/hokutoandy/status/1078526333301358593
gunbai-militaryhistory.blogspot.com/2019/12/japanese-sword-mythbusting-part-2.html?m=1 in sengoku era there was katana/uchigatana versions called katateuchi solely made for one hand
Popular among foot soldiers.
In Bakumatsu era you get a resurgence it was fairly common to again use very large and massive swords(know name Bakumatsu-to)as laws lifted,and even today there are schools that use long katanas(not tachi or nodachi)
ruclips.net/video/4XywJrwNw1I/видео.html
@@dougsinthailand7176 they might have actually, Europeans and Southeast Asian kingdoms hire Japanese mercenaries as soldiers or bodyguards for and against each other.
Great one! We all saw some collection where swords are put one next to another so we can compare them, but never like this - compared to human body.
And if you look at rapier blade and zweihander blade - but from those spikes/hornes, can't recall the name, not from the guard - you'll see they're much more similar in lenght.
Cheers!
Normally I get angry when RUclips videos drone on for 18 minutes or more, but I don't feel like any of my time here was wasted and that's rare.
thanks for confirming size characteristics from the artist's perspective, helps me judge the length of rattan weapon mimics. Katzbalger?
Looking forward to use/context on the zweihander
You would have been a very large warrior in some of those scenarios? The proportions are helpful, and I realize merely suggestive. Been watching different staff/stick fighting techniques, and you can see the same techniques at work!
Imagine how big was the sword used the Spanish sanzon, the giant soldier who participated in all the major battles from the late decade of the 15 century through the mid 16th century
worth a like. I couldn't see how you could do it better. Thx
IDK if this is beyond the scope of this channel, but I think it would be neat to see some discussion about weapons from the early modern period.
In Scotland (I have no accent marks, sorry), they were called Claidheamh da Laimh, which means Two Handed Sword.
While Claideamh Mor does mean great sword, Claidheamh Mor, or claymore, refers to the basket hilt broadsword
17:80... That't when ya break out Ya Ninja "Throwin Star"!!!
Missed opportunity to put the two hander next to the bronze age sword. Now THAT would have been hilarious.
There's a record where a katana faced a montante. There was a Portuguese ship that was attacked by Japanese pirates in China. Someone took a Montante and vanished them from the ship.
doubt wako pirates had much katanas but okay
@@ObsydianShade not in the time of the wako pirates no, they weren't so common
@@ObsydianShade Katana is just not one type of sword actually what people usually think when imagining Katana it's more of a later design, ashigaru typically use katateuchi which was a one-handed variance, samurai or Ronin were never a major numbers in Pirate groups.
What is the name of this event by the way.
@@samarkand1585 I mean, I'd say it wouldn't be too unlikely that they used at least some kind of sword. Granted, on the field things like Yari and Naginata were more useful, but I can imagine that a pirate of the 16th century would likely have used a some sort of gun and a sword as a sidearm.
I'm not 100% sure but there's two potential battles I could find on wikipedia where this might have happened, though the details don't quite line up.
1: The Battle of Cagayan in 1582. In this case it actually would have been a spanish ship and it arguably was the aggressor, interfering with a wako coastal raid by opening fire, driving the pirates back and eventually defeating them in a field battle in spite of being significantly outnumbered (mostly winning through superior firearm technology and having a terrain and artillery advantage). During the battle the spanish vessel was boarded at one point but the attack was quickly repelled. Several Katanas were in fact reportedly looted from the dead pirates.
2: The Battle of Fukuda Bay in 1565. Not actually an attack by wako (then again, the comment didn't claim wako specifically and it still was arguably an act of piracy) but rather the Matsura Clan who attacked a portuguese trade carrack (accompanied by a galleon) after it left the port of Yokoseura without actually conducting trade after local jesuits had convinced the captain to head for a different port instead. The Matsura were outraged over losing out on what would have been a pretty profit and attacked the ship in an attempt to seize the goods. The Matsura temporarily boarded the carrack but were repelled and the japanese flotilla then proceeded to get utterly devastated by canon fire from both the carrack and the galleon.
So we have two instance of iberian ships getting attacked in an act of piracy. In one case by wako pirates (who were in this instance reported to have had some Katanas) and in the other by the Samurai and Ashigaru of an actual clan who would have been far more likely to actually carry a Katana.
Wikipedia doesn't specifically mention any Montante on Katana duels but I reckon it's not entirely unlikely that something like that could have happened during these battles and a Montante would certainly have a definite advantage over a Katana in direct combat.
I’d love to see this compared to a nodachi or nagamaki.
Was always curious how the weight of these was distributed and how they felt to wield
I learn/practice iberian fencing. They feel great to use. They are far lighter than most people think and are relatively easy to wield. But they sure are a crazy upper body workout, if you use them for extended time periods. My Spadone weigths roughly 2.5kg and is about 165cm in total length. You should definitely try one, if you ever got the chance. But make sure to keep the momentum going using these big swords, or your joints will hate you for the rest of your life. 😅
Matt shows the point of balance (the greatsword's one) being somewhere near the 10cm (4") mark from the guard, which is an amazingly, if not outright crazy, weight distribution for that blade. I got the English Two-Handed sword made by Windlass (You can see it on the back of a *LOT* of Matt's videos, it's the purple hilt & scabbard one), and again, PoB is crazy, weight is about 2kg (4.something pounds) and handles beautifully.
I love that little leaf blade
The name montante may come from the use of the sword, since montante means mounting, and they were used to lock down the spears with uts weight and other weapons. Interesting fact is that soldiers with montantes were called doble paga since they haf double wage than any other soldier for their dangerous job. Also its said that in no mortal duels with a referee usually this one a master in arms, wielded a montante so if things got too heated he can push down the weapons
It seems to me that one of the constraints on the length of ancient blades was the quality of metallurgy available. A 14-18-inch blade might have been the longest possible that would retain its shape.
Nice kicks dude
16:31 That's my line Matt
In reference to the Katana vs Spaldone comparison, you need to do a video on the swords from The Highlander film.
I've heard the zweihander called "mandoble" in Spanish, which translate to "two hand". "Spadone" also means "eunuch" in Italian.
Mandoble is more of a modern thing, in more traditional things they use "mandoble" to refer to a sword strike, theoretically a big two handed sword strike. So it's more using the sword in two hands more so than the sword itself.
@@Altrantis Not so modern as I learned that word 70 years ago. It has always meant both the weapon and the strike.
I visited Wawel Castle in Krakow, Poland, and they had a bunch of them exhibited there, the shortest must have been around 170cms and the largest ones between 190-200cm. Not sure about their weights, I was not allowed to lift or touch them.
Lots of brave things done here... I'm debating between measuring potentially sharp blades against the crotch, or, putting potentially expensive blades on the grass. I believe my OCD would keep me away from.... putting my swords on the grass! haha! Cheers, thanks for the video!
"Gassenhauer" is to my knowledge a term actually used for german bihander, though that term later got a new meaning.
Is in it the term for folk song?
@@junichiroyamashita Yes. "Gasse" literally means a back alley/minor street while "hauer" is an object with which you beat, can also mean "tusk".
You use the "Gassenhauer" to "hau" a "Gasse" into the enemy ranks, hence the name, strike a path through the enemy´s ranks.
@@junichiroyamashita Its the same as "block-buster" in English. The term was used for large WW2 bombs originally, then to describe big movies.
Always knew Matt had a huge one.
I think the point about parades is a good one: modern people tend to put too much of an emphasis on a division between symbolic and practical uses. Of course, this doesn't even work in modern security practice. The intimidation, patriotism, or other messaging of armed forces or police deployment (in virtually all countries around the world) is just as essential today.
One potential difference between today and the past is that, without the free and open use of modern firearms (or volley fire), angry civilians with improvised weapons can be a match for even well armed and trained groups.
So a very large, almost "Hollywood" spectacular weapon serves as a rather direct metaphor for state power (either of the nobility or city fathers), and looks really good in a parade. Same thing for guarding an important personage, or standard.
At the same time, if the crowds turn on the rulers (and often with good reason, like raising the price of bread), then the great sweeping arcs of the Zweihanders will make them duck and scatter, or allow the rulers to be moved to safety.
"This sword is 0.63 Matt Eastons. That one is 0.84"
"Uhu."
I'll watch this video later. I saw the title and went straight to the comment section... You all never disappoint
O7
Beautiful sword and great video as always.
I have a question about the length of the sword you said it's around 5 feet 11 inches but on their website it says the sword is 1590 mm which is 5 foot 2 inches , did you ask for it to be made longer, If so did you get the blade longer or the handle ?
Matt, is that the ssme unfinished bronze sword from like 7 years ago?
it's super necessary, I need one for going shopping and clearing cretins out of my way
Wow That looks really cool and fun to swing * Realizes it’s bigger than me*
12:28 I came for the Chaos zweihander, a bit sad due to no fishing, jk.
Favorite part of the video was the swish swoosh
Now i wanna see an Adorea video of a Samurai going against a city guard with a Gassenhauer/Montante, only to rethink recent life decisions.
You could just have the samurai equipped with a long Katana or nodachi.
@@eagle162 Sure, but that would be fair.
@@eagle162 Or a samurai equipped with a Tanegashima matchlock arquebus.
wait, zweihander-sized messers??
Yeah, they survive in Vienna.
@@scholagladiatoria I have seen them in person and they are huge, not just in length (they're probably about the same as the Kvetun sword) but also in terms of width. At the base of the blade they are wide as your palm and there is not much profile taper until the point. The only thing I can figure that saves them from being absurdly heavy is that they don't have lugs on the blade and the cross-guard is noticeably shorter.
The crucial issue thiugh is the various uses. What was the primary use of the spadone? My reading leads me to believe it was primarily used to batter down pikes
In Germany, the Zweihander is indeed called "wait for it" Zweihander (Zweihänder in proper German), which literally means well, 2-hander. It may be a bit confusing due to the simplicity of the name, but the Zweihander is both a description, ( a sword use by 2 hand), & a sword type. I am not a sword expert, but I have visited many medieval museums (often in castles) across Germany, & Zweihander is (as far as I remember) always used to description one range of massive 2 hander swords (not any 2 hander swords, in which they will be given some other names) & they are indeed always outlandish massive.
I like to think of the greatsword/zweihander/spadone (my favorite term for it is the french "espadon") as a hybrid between the spear and the longsword. It really isn't a sword anymore, but a polearm. In fact, I've once seen and Indian equivalent where the length of the blade and the length of the handle are about the same for a total height of one person. There is in fact a type of longsword from the Netherlands I think that has similar proportions (a blade the typical length of an arming sword's with a handle long enough to fit 4 to 6 hands).
I remember reading about a sword like that called a hand-guisarme or a glavelot. I haven't found any photographs of it, but the closest I've seen resembling it is the main sword you see the elves using at the opening battle of LOTR.
Always a pleasure
"INITIATE PHASE ONE, POWERING UP THE BASS CANON"
I kind of want to see a real duel between a katana in the hands of an expert at using it 2-handed, and one of the massive European 2-handed swords in the hands of an expert with that weapon.
I'm always interested in how a fighter with a smaller weapon is going to compensate for an advantage in reach when the opponent isn't just letting them walk into range.
I was gonna say "ok but that's not a fair fight. Nodachi or something might be a better comparison." but if it's supposed to be unfair then that's more reasonable.
@@petersmythe6462 Yeah, the point is specifically the extreme imbalance between the weapons and how you'd try and work around those disadvantages. If you can get the fight into an enclosed space the shorter blade is a potential advantage, but getting there is going to be hard. And similarly, if you can get into close quarters, there's potential room for the shorter weapon to give you an advantage, but... yeah, it's definitely an intentionally unfair fight.
@@a-blivvy-yus don't forget that you can half sword a Zweihänder so you can just use it like a spear in close quarters or a enclosed space negating a lot of the downsides that you try to bring up. Let's not forget that Katanas are brittle the sharp part so they just can't hit the heavy Zweihänder blade out of the way without breaking and even then if they use the soft part which can absorb more impact to parry well they still have to get around the tongs which could catch the blade and the actual handguard which the rings can serve to catch blades and grapple them out of the hand. And then the Zweihänder wielder can turn the blade upside down and hammer strike as most of the weight of the sword is near the hilt though more so at the second handle in between the lugs and hand guard and before you say it there is actually about an inch or two at the lugs that is not sharp so you can grab that to proceed to hammer strike or if you are good at half swording grab the sharp part firmly so it does not slide in your hand so you won't get cut and sure it feels uncomfortable. You can also bash them in the head or somewhere with the long ass guard as they are pointy and will get them to back up. Also the lugs on a Zweihänder these days are pretty much less pronounced parrying hooks and are colloquially called Schilden sometimes.
Anyways it would actually be down to luck and who is better at their sword so pit two masters together with training swords. Oh and also those who half sword usually wears gloves with their half swording hand to avoid getting cut
@@JohnnyYeTaecanUktena Exactly! Great points.
I've always been curious... if one warrior armed with a katana or somthing comparable came up against one with a zweihander sized sword. How much would it differ from fighting somone with a polarm?
It depend on the Zweihander style, Easton already said that most likely it would be used as a poking implement in a duel but indeed as shown by the records of landscknetch in action it would be used as giant swinging blade against entire rank of soldiers. Zweihander doesn't quite have as much range and punch as a pole weapon due to the difference in center of mass, but that also what makes it versatile. In addition, the much longer sharp edge on Zweihander makes it very difficult for katana user to sneak past into close quarter (basically brawl and grappling) range compared to that of a spear.
Great video as always. I've got one question on my mind about this type of sword. How was they carried on? Did they have any scabbard? I mean it seems to me quite difficult to pull them out of its scabbard due to its length.
You're assumption is correct: They really were/are too big for any scabbard. And in fact, scabbards are not even traditionally made for these swords. As far as carrying is concerned, they were carried the same way as a spear, pike, halberd, or other such polearm: they were simply carried in the hands. While on the march or at rest, they would often be placed(flatly of course) on the shoulder just as people do with spears or even rifles in our modern day.
In Museums between guard and some inches after the parry hooks is wrapped leather as second handle to use a Bidenhänder as polearm.
Matt showing off his big ones.
This guy right here is a certified Giant Dad
That was fun.
1.84 m= 72.4 in. or 6.04 ft. or 6 ft. 0.4 in. or 6 ft. 1/2 in. Sorry, Matt.
30.0 in.= 76.2 cm,
27 in.= 69 cm.
28 in.= 71 cm and 23 sun.
43 in.= 110 cm.
5 ft. 11 in.= 71 in. and 180 cm.
6.0 ft. = 72 in. and 180 cm. (two significant figures, you know?)
The tip must always be touched gingerly as it's very sensitive.
It's not the size that matters, except when it does!
To cleaves those weebs down! Amen on that, bro.
I would really appreciate if you were to do a deep dive into European great swords at some point. You keep touching on the subject, but it's pretty inconvenient to have to find 2 minute snippets throughout 20 different videos. RUclips desperately needs one concise concise video about it. Thanks, and love the channel.
Hello Matt , could you give us a quick feedback on the Zweihander ? I am interested to get one.
About the fighting style suggested against multiple opponents, I was wondering how well a greatsword like that can actually cut. Can it be considered a versatile design? I knew that was often credited to be their function. Also, whilst, I guess given its size it can gather quite a lot of momentum and thus manage to cut rather decently at the very least, I've still always thought of it as more of a thrust-centric weapon.
I would imagine depends on the blade type. Many of them seem to be basicly longsword width so i imagine quite vicious cut, and the narrower type too might cut quite well since it has lots of mass.
@@lalli8152 I agree, but I also think that due to its blade length the cutting ability of a weapon like that might be somewhat hindered by vibrations, getting slightly wobbly perhaps.
@@Leery_Bard I think it would cut fine since a machete is wobbly too and cuts very well. There is of course the leverage of the long handle to add to the mass that would make this a wicked cutting sword. I expect that thrusting would be where it suffers with too much flexibility. I was watching the blade carefully for flex and didn't really see any though. But blade alignment must figure very heavily into the cut with this sword wobbly or not.
@@whirving Yes, I think it would thrust perfectly fine. The blade surely looks stiff. I meant whether it could suffer from vibrations when cutting being relatively slim for its length. Still, I kept thinking about it and reached a similar conclusion. Also, I hadn't taken into account the potent leverage; thanks for pointing that out.
@@Leery_Bard For what it's worth, I have a 24" machete that is thin but has a deep cross section and that thing cuts in a very fearsome way. I can sink the head 3" into a tree. Hard to get it back out.
I did not expect a Role Models reference in this video :D
To be fair, the katana could just slice the zweihander's blade in half, thereby nullifying it's reach advantage.
What?
This argument was debunked at least 30 times.
Hi how are you? There is this online sword armoury called kult of athena it sells a del tin 165.1cm (65") sword also there is yet another giant sword you could buy with 170cm length (67") so it would be really nice to see them in comparison to you.
Thoughts on Grutte Pier's sword and if/how it was used?
Love your vids...however...Zweihander compared to the Scottish lowlander two-hander or Highlander Claidheamh-mòr? So no it didnt have a reach advantage against 'all swords' at the time.
When i touch my tip to the ground, i also do it gingerly...
Could you please mention sizes in metric system too ✌️
Love seeing those bronze age and viking era blades and indeed the whole comparison of sizes in relation to your body. By the way, did you ever hilt your Anglo-Saxon one made by (I believe) Paul Bins? Years ago, you showed it off along with some wooden grips that you'd made. I'm very much interested in hearing more about it and your bronze age sword by Neil Burridge (incidentally, he's been revamping his whole business after moving to a new location recently).
Huge, gargantuan, colossal, titanic, monumental, towering, immense.
Matt defiantly got invaded in Dark souls three by a katana dex build and he got killed using the zweihander.