What did Excalibur look like?
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- Опубликовано: 10 июл 2023
- King Arthur supposedly was doing his king-like activity around A.D. 500, and if this is true, then he would probablyhave had this style of sword, based on the Roman 'spatha'.
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Poor Lloyd. Trapped in the black void with all these swords.
That's his wish
@@AverageAlienmonkey paw
Lucky Lloyd*
"You say poor Toby? I say poor us." - The Sphinx, Gone in 60 Seconds
He's got a curtain, he'll be fine...
If the Gladius is the "Choppa" then this is the "Long Choppa"
I think a Spatha would be a Choppa. while a Gladius would be a Stabba.
@@human3745and the ballista would be the BIG STUBBA DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA WAAAAAGGHHHHHH
GET TO THE LONG CHOPPA!
So it's the Loppa?
@@HolyFurryFish1998 I like it 🤣
But have we discovered if strange women lying in ponds distributing swords a basis for a system of government?
"water whore"
We´re still looking.
See if you can get away with calling yourself Emperor after one of them lobs a scimitar at you.
Better than what we've got
@@seanheath4492I didn’t vote for ‘em
Considering the story of King Arthur is set in 5-6th century post-Roman Britain, it'd be really cool to see him depicted with armor accurate of the time
They tried to do something like that in 2004 and it wasn't great
@@HJ-bd6mb I somehow suspect the attempt at historical authenticity wasn't actually the issue though.
@@laurencefraser Didn't say it was, and it was also a poor attempt at historical accuracy
Funny you should say that, because the most iconic and most culturally relevant depiction of that story is Jon Boorman's Excalibur, which is as anachronistic as its possible to get, without making a science fiction medieval movie...
@@Raz.CBoorman's adaptation is faithful to Mallory's version of the story. And Morte d'Arthur is kind of parallel to The Iliad, in that it purports to depict events from centuries ago, but modernizes some elements for its audience.
I don't know about you lads but I'm very convinced by this smartly dressed sword salesman, I'll take 2.
Yes, two for stereo.
Did I say 2? Better make it 3...
"Do your chopping and thrusting with this late Roman sword."
Yes Please
This sword's pommel doesn't even come off. How can you throw it at anyone?
Did a moistened bint lob it at you by chance?
Some watery tart
I've heard rumors that was a scimitar.
Shrubberies...
The Spatha was most often used by Roman Soldiers on Horse Back as the longer blade allowed them to slash without leaning as far off their horses. So much to that it was almost the standard blade for Roman Cavalry units.
The later infantry developed a version of it once later reforms were made
Lisping Greeks also enjoyed informing people when they wandered into the wrong region by kicking them down a well whilst shouting "THIS IS SPATHA!"
grandfather of most medieval swords
A beautiful sword. I mean longswords are fine and all, but I really like the beautiful simplicity and yet perfectly designed combination of a one handed sword and a shield.
Short sword + shield > longsword any day
@@Victorcr1000some long swords had points well suited to thrusting in gaps, but there really wasnt a greater “impact force” that allowed long swords to deal with harness in a meaningful way.
The reality is that long swords were just better side arms for guys who weren’t using shields, and guys in heavy armor were less likely to have shields because they were better at defense. If you have a shield a broad bladed chopper is more useful overall.
I seem to recall that some legends have Excalibur as being one of the Celtic British treasures, suggesting it would have been a pre-Roman sword.
However, if there was a real Arthur, he was likely late Romano-British, so a spatha is the most likely sword for him to have used.
Can you recall a source for the legend?
@@thegreenmage6956 not offhand. It was a long time ago that I read anything about Arthur. Definitely not Mallory's "La Morte D'Artur" though.
@@christines.5241 Bunch of BBC-pushed theoretical talking points. There’s much more to myth than that.
@@thegreenmage6956 I know, but it's too detailed for here, btw never saw bbc, but not to confuse you, I'll delete it
Good good
Spatha sounds a lot like Espada, which is the spanish word for sword.
Yes the languages of Europe are all mostly interconnected through the Proto-Indo-European Language Family
@@johnevergreen8019 yeah, but not with the word espada wich actually comes directly from the word spatha because guess what: Spanish is a direct descendant from latin and was also part of the roman empire where this weapon was used.
this is why mostly romanic languages have a word similar to spatha like italian -> spada, french -> épée, spanish -> espada. only romanian has a different word for sword borrowed from bulgarian -> sabie, which is cognate with the word saber which came to us from the slavic speaking peoples.
When the Romans ruled Europe, everybody learned Latin, which is why Spanish French Italian and Portuguese all sound similar. The reason English is weird is because it kept it Germanic roots as well
The spaniards got the term from Italian, le spada, who got it from the Romans. It's also what King Leonidas would have shouted if he had a lisp whilst kicking some swarthy Rotherham rape gang chap down a well.
@@lyvras the word spatula in english also derives from a diminutive of spatha. essentially "little sword"
'Why did you say that name!?'
- lisping Batman
Underrated comment
'Why did you thay that name!?'
- fix'd
I always conceived of Excalibur looking like a Halstatt or La-Tene style sword because it was meant to be ancient even to king Arthur
I just want to say, your videos are awesome and actually interesting. Keep up the great work!
Remarkably strait forward description Lyod, are you feeling well?😊
I guess Clive Owens King Arthur movie was a bit more accurate than i thought
Seems to be the closest and least magical
Love these sword shorts
I love short swords. Gladius is my favorite 😅
Always loved how Lloyd did longer form content, and now I'm really enjoying his short content >_>
Behold Excalibur! The sword of power. Forged when the world was young and bird and beast and flower were one with man and dEatH waS BuT a dReaM.
Awesome quote! What’s it from?
@@MerkhVision the movie "Excalibur" from the 80s. Best Merlin ever.
Also, notice the Italian term for sword - la spada, which suggests this ancient sword was with us for a really long time.
Ya, it predates italian or spanish as languages
I find it incredibly interesting that despite every candidate for the inspiration of the historical King Arthur being 5th to 7th century, and Geoffrey of Lonmouth’s history placing him in that period, most depictions of Arthur and Caliburn/Excalibur tend to show a very Middle Ages style Camelot and a straight up two handed long sword
You forgot to mention Heath Ledger.
@@noelsalisbury7448 What?
Most people don't really know the difference and most depictions show very much fantasy style castles and fantasy armor and two handed long swords, anyway. Not Medieval ones.
And in the end, in medieval period art, Arturian legends were always imagined with contemporary clothing and arms, just with some fantasy/anachronistic twist.
So glad to see you coming out with more weaponry videos.
Loving these shorts, keep up the excellent work!
It’s really nice to see you on shorts. I used to watch your channel all the time and the algorithm just moved me on after a while. Now I’m suddenly binging these after they popped up and it’s great to be back.
A lindybeige short is a fresh cup of tea being handed to you. Lovely.
Love these!
Supercalifragiisticexcaliburocious!
Two Disney Films for the price of one !
It looked like a pointy thing.
Always liked how Hellboy showed Excalibur as a spatha
Brilliant choice of subject Lindy.
Lindybeige IS the Once and Future King!
If excalibur was given to Arthur by the lady of the lake, then it is more likely it would be a La Tené (pre roman) antique that could have been literally found in a lake. Caliburn however is a sword of the previous king, so that one is more likely to be a spatha.
Excaliber was probably an early falcata or possibly what ive been calling a horseshoe hilt, i only saw a picture of one though the caption said is an early briton sword, it looked as if a combonation of a spatha and some viking swords ive seen that have a blade that flares out towards the hilt and the horseshoe doesnt stick out in a manner as cross guards instead it its narrower than curved cross guards fitting with the blade while only flareing curves slightly
I like the idea that Excalibur wasn’t a spatha or a gladius, but the first of the more Merovingian or Vendel swords of the early 5th century. Everyone else using iron gladius or spatha vs Arthur using a well made steel sword just seems appealing to me. 😅
One of the possible inspirations for king arthur was a roman general who's family resided in Britain near wales, evidence shows that battles attributed to arthur were fought by him, source cambrian chronicles
I see you watched the Clive Owens version of King Arthur with the director's commentary turned on...
Lovely stuff, keep it up.
I love lindy's use of this format.
For those wondering, the word "spatha" is still in use in modern italian. The only difference is the "th" simply trasformed in "d", hence the modern word "spada".
It just means "sword", of any tipe. Longsword, rapier, cutlass, katana, one-and-a-half sword, 3 hand sword, spada is just the generic definition of a giant knife
Edit: also the word "spada" is female. In italian we don't have neutral genders for things, it's either male or female objects (la macchina, the car, (female. Il castello, the castle, male).
To know whether a word is male or female you have to look for its end letters. If it ends in A for the singular or E for plural then it's female, if it ends in O/E for the singular or I for plural then it's male (la pistola/le pistole, the pistol/the pistols. Il cannone/I cannoni, the cannon/the cannons. Il cappello/i cappelli, the hat/the hats)
The 90s made for TV movie "Merlin" featured an Excalibur sword that looked similar to this.
Lindi is such a legend!
Famously, the Roman-British spatha was worn in a back scabbard and dual wielded in a style that involved a lot of spinning. Very often, the Romano-British warrior would lock swords with his opponent and deliver quite a long monologue before pushing them away and continuing the fight. The Romano-British spatha was capable of delivering large numbers of wounds that were just enough to make the wounded party wince but carry on fighting. However, the final killing blow against a low-status opponent was a reverse grip slash across the belly that killed instantaneously, and the final killing blow against a high status opponent was always a thrust tat impaled them and gave them just long enough to realise they had been defeated before they died with a gurgle, but never a scream.
Im glad Lloyd is doig shorts
Also, longer to be used from horse back! A lot of Auxiliaries were mounted and had a tradition of using longer swords than the Roman Legionaries
Probably not far off, given that much of Arthurian Myth is a reworking of Charlemagne (even down to the paladins and being the 'roman' emperor), and the Carolingian swords were remarkably similar to this.
I wonder if what made Excalibur special was having a weighted pommel, making it feel more nimble in the hand than other spartha, being useful for both attack and defence?
It looks just like any other sword of that type, but has "magical abilities".
The deadly yet versatile budda knife
I was under the impression that the longer swords were mainly used on horseback.
I have one of these, in Toledo steel. It's heavy. I was under the impression that it was mostly a cavalry sword, long enough and heavy enough to cleave through footmen.
"Spanish steel. Much stronger than our native blades!"
That kind of looks like those 3 well-preserved Roman swords that were recently discovered.
It can fire lasers. Saw it in a Japanese documentary
I love these
As Excalibur was, at the time of king Arthur an antic Sword I imagine it as an anthropomorphic Sword frow century before his era
It'd be a bit rusty if it were made of steel like that, all the time it spent under the water and all.
I prefer the 16th century gem-encrusted cross-hilted sword for King Arthur with 15th century Gothic plate. Of course if they matched his whole kit to his sword he'd have a jaunty plumed hat and a matchlock
You can use it without a shield and grip the pommel with your other hand. It gives you a lot more freedom of movement, but I'd recommend forgoing a shield in skirmishing, not in a large scale battle.
According to my Ancient Arms and Armory book 📚 ($100 with full color pictures) that the Roman Spatha was used as a cavalry ⚔️ sword.... While the Gladius was used in CQB...
I don't think it would have been an ordinary sword. Perhaps a bit like a fancy ring sword.
I've long thought that Excalibur was the first 'longer' sword forged as one piece as other 'longer' swords of the time had trouble between the pommel and the blade.
Beautiful sword
Smithsonian magazaine did an article that where the real Arthur would have lived (despite wanting to avoid calling him Arthur) was a trading hub with artifacts from as far as Constantinople. He could have had a nice sword from anywhere, quite likely preferring a longer one since he was likely a cavalry officer. In a British museum, there's a carving of a Hun horseman from before Arthur's time with a cruciform sword, and given how small a distance Britain is from the edge of the Hun empire, and Huns were a Roman auxiliary cavalry unit like Arthur's people had been, it's not much of a stretch that Arthur could have had a cruciform cavalry sword like many depict him with.
That looks like a nice sword.
PATTERN WELDING!!!! you said it right!!! omg, the rage i get when one youtuber after another says "damascus" when it's a pattern weld is obscene.
thank you so so much for saying it right!
I thought the spatha was more for cavalry use, was it not?
Can you please do a video on the spatha? it looks very cool
Excalibur was "given by the Lady of the Lake" (old deposit?). So it presumably could be regarded as the old-fashioned sword in times of alleged 'King Arthur'.
What a beauty.
My belief is the legend fits better with late bronze age swords; throwing them in lakes and casting in stone moulds makes a lot of sense then.
Thank you. The link of the sword in stone to the breaking of the casting molds. A telling of ancient memory of ancient bronze swords into the age of iron and forged steel.
The offerings to the Lady of the Lake, a muted reference to ancient practices
Thank you!
Why don’t Roman swords have crossguards?
Does it just not suit their fighting style, especially since very few of their enemies would’ve had swords of their own?
He who pulls the sword from the stone - Excalibur was a bronze sword by that reckoning.
Closer to the Excalibur in 2004’s King Arthur
I have a theory that the Lady of the Lake was actually a highly territorial, aquatic git, who tried to shift along some encroaching men by throwing a sword at them.
Awww. Silly Englishman. Clinging to myth and legend so you have a hero. You’re on your third Charlie and it always went well for the other two. Legendary
Not for the first.
And the second one came down from the Oak and enjoyed jolly good times with the most famous actress of the period, Nell Gwynne. Truly a restoration of merriment.
That sword is awesome!
Fun fact: the Spanish word for sword is espada. We pronounce the D like the TH in this, that and those because it is between two vowels. Very close to the late Latin word spatha. Honestly, looking at it, I think it comes from Greek. That’s just a guess though.
Im in dire need of a sword and scabbard
It’s quite beautiful
Everyone seems to like the sword yet it was the scabbard that was known to have healing properties but is rarely mentioned
In an army, what was the spear to sword ratio? Would every soldier have a sword, or would you just get a long spear and shield and dagger?
New video, nice
Nice Grip
It very much looks like a longer, thinner gladius.
Essentially what it is. Designed for use by mounted troops so they needed a longer sword for the proper reach without the soldier leaning to far.
So "the Singing Sword" of Prince Valiant also looked like this? I believe it was identical to the Excalibur.
Love that
The Spartha looks similar to the viking style swords. Makes sense.
thanks for saying so,
thats damascus patern right,they do it by twisting multiple layers then making sword shape
May I hold it? I’ll give it back - I promise
I really enjoy his videos. Wasn't that their calvary sword? I know it was modeled after a Spanish or swords that were in what would be Spain. The Gladius was too short for use from horse back. Their shields were smaller than the Skutum and oval. But still used a center boss.
"Romano-british" you know I've always wondered if the gladius ever caught on with other cultures, seeing as the Roman's conquered so much and used the same sword throughout
It did. That design was popular in the late ancient iron age. But as metal working got better and reliable longer swords could be consistently produced people moved on. Reach is king in combat.
For a second at the start I thought he had an elder scroll 📜 I was shouting don’t open it 😂 you will fry your brain
I suppose you could call it a Napoleon sword. Not short, for it's era, but definitely not long.
I maybe wrong but wasn’t the spatha a calvary sword hence the longer blade but single handed grip, though I suppose being able to afford a horse and a longer sword probably go hand in hand
In Italian the word for sword is "spada", really cool how little the writing and pronunciation changed over the last two millennia
Words build around syllables with "a"(or other back, open vowels in generla) and some front consonant can be very stable.
Now, latin cervix, (ker u i ks) turned into cervice (
Love your work Lloyd. Note that the spatha was not always wielded with the shield as it was issued to Roman cavalry.
Between throwing a few javelins from horseback and them closing in to chop up some fleeing infantry or engaging enemy cavalry they'd need the offhand for the reins and the other for the sword.
You can still have your hand free operating a shield. Not all shields are bossed central gripped.
The sword in the stone points to casting not forging.
Do you think the sword in a stone part of the story comes from an earlier one set in the early bronze age where bronze swords were cast in stone molds?
You forgot to mention if this pommel is usable to unscrew and throw at your enemy. End him rightly!
The Spatha followed the gladius morphing from the sword used by cavalry
Arthur wasn't Romano British, he was British. Romano Briton refers to the Britons who collaborated with and allied with the Romans during the occupation, almost all of them were wiped out by the Britons that didn't. Arthur was cherished as a legend very early on in British history so it's fair to say he almost certainly was not Romano British. Therefore, he likely did not use a Roman styled sword, but a native Brythonic styled sword.
Although, the native sword would still be similar to a Spatha. As you say that the Romans brought the Spatha to Britain, whereas this is untrue. The Spatha was adopted by the Romans when they encountered it in Gaul, as it's a Celtic design and style. It was already in Britain long before the Romans were.
Either way, he likely used a native British sword design, possibly like some we've found which are longer than the Roman variation of the Spatha and often feature anthropomorphic symbols and hilts.
Is there a specific reason not to give it more of a handguard? I know you say the shield would be used for that but it still seems worth having surely?