The Great Sword: Why People Collect Them

Despite the many misconceptions about the melee weapon known as the great sword there are a wide variety of collectors of these massive blades. They were generally designed in the manner of a long sword originally and then extended in length and heft to make them one of the pre-eminent anti pike and halberd weapons of the renaissance period.

Myth and Fact About the Great Sword

Myth : The great sword is a massive blade used in medieval warfare that weighed over twenty pounds as was eight feet long. It could cut a horse and rider in half and only the mightiest of human beings could lift them in battle.

Fact : The great sword, or Grete Swerd, was not used in the medieval period. There were other weapons such as the Scottish claymore that performed a role similar to these weapons but they were not great swords. These weapons were typically only around five to eight pounds in weight at most and generally did not extend beyond four to six feet in length.

Great swords were used as anti-pike and halberd weapons and required two hands to use because of their length and slightly heavy weight. They were oversize weapons but they were not in and of themselves a specialized infantry weapon. However the soldiers that used them were often paid twice the amount as others due to the specialized nature and skill in their usage. The best use of the weapon was at the forefront and for around two hundred years they were one of the best counters to pike strategy in land based warfare.

At first they were used by cavalry but to be of better utility against pikes and halberds they were continually increased in length until they became too unwieldy to be used easily on horseback and they became a frontline weapon primarily.