Crom won't laugh at this guy

Started by Avis habilis, February 19, 2013, 04:18:50 PM

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Avis habilis

He knows the answer to the riddle of steel! Or in other words, a modern blacksmith reproduces the best Viking sword ever made for the first time in just shy of 1000 years.

Secrets of the Viking Sword (2012) full

RockSalt

Oh man, that's awesome! It's always great to see old crafts still alive and being practiced, because the process of creating is as important as the end product of that creation >W<

TheGlyphstone

Suck on that, samurai katana apologists! :D

Sel Nar

Quote from: TheGlyphstone on February 19, 2013, 04:35:56 PM
Suck on that, samurai katana apologists! :D

Don't forget that Japanese Iron was historically (and Notoriously) Poor-quality; Nordic Iron was some of the best in the world, so in a straight fight a Nordic Blade could very easily snap the lighter curved blades of Katana.

Chris Brady

The only thing that the Katana ever had over European swords was it's reverse teardrop shape.  It holds an edge longer than most other swords.  It was more fragile and no sharper than a good broadsword.
My O&Os Peruse at your doom.

So I make a A&A thread but do I put it here?  No.  Of course not.

Also, I now come with Kung-Fu Blog action.  Here:  Where I talk about comics and all sorts of gaming


Tsenta

Katana are very sharp and deadly but so is any well made sword.   (My kingdom for a well forged bastard sword!)
There ain't no rest for the wicked.

[Sic Semper Tyrannis - "Thus always to tyrants"] - Marcus Junius Brutus The Younger.

Chris Brady

And to the opening post, Crom laughs at no man, he breaths life into him, gives him strength of body and of mind, and then no longer cares.  Praying to Him only gets Him to send dooms at you.  You are to live life without His help.
My O&Os Peruse at your doom.

So I make a A&A thread but do I put it here?  No.  Of course not.

Also, I now come with Kung-Fu Blog action.  Here:  Where I talk about comics and all sorts of gaming

Cyrano Johnson

Quote from: Beorning on February 20, 2013, 12:32:15 AM
Really? I've always thought that katana was very sharp and deadly...

It was, but enthusiasts of other sword traditions have been smarting, somewhat understandably, about the katana's semi-mythic reputation since at least the Eighties.

Ironically, claims about which swords would have been superior to the katana on the battlefield miss the point, as the katana was never the primary samurai battlefield weapon; it only became the signature samurai weapon after Japan was unified and the samurai largely ceased to appear on battlefields. But neither katana-olaters or their detractors seem to know this.
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TheGlyphstone

Quote from: Tsenta on February 20, 2013, 12:43:28 AM
Katana are very sharp and deadly but so is any well made sword.   (My kingdom for a well forged bastard sword!)

Nonsense. Everyone knows a samurai with a katana would bisect a knight wearing full plate with a simple vertical slash. During WW2, American soldiers targeted the Japanese who were wearing katanas first because their killing power was feared and respected. :D

Cyrano Johnson

Quote from: TheGlyphstone on February 22, 2013, 08:54:52 PMDuring WW2, American soldiers targeted the Japanese who were wearing katanas first because their killing power was feared and respected.

Imagine their surprise when those guys just used their swords to block the bullets.
Artichoke the gorilla halibut! Freedom! Remember Bubba the Love Sponge!

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Vekseid

Quote from: Beorning on February 20, 2013, 12:32:15 AM
Really? I've always thought that katana was very sharp and deadly...

It's sharper, in that it has a higher rockwell hardness (up to 80 versus about 65), but this only makes it deadlier to someone without armor, and scimitars and falchions have similar legends about their own sharpness - shearing weapons 'saw' through their targets, whereas straight- edge double-bladed weapons are much more tactically flexible. As mentioned, the primary weapon of the samurai was the spear and bow - telling when you consider how drastically inferior Japanese armor was compared to its Eurasian contemporaries. Katanas chip easily, and a common quote (I forget who originally said it) is that a sword lasts either four battles or four centuries - whatever comes first.

Katanas are worse off than homogenous blades in that regard - they chip easily, and as with any blade, repairing them means you are removing actual material - but with the Katana, eventually you're going to wear away the entirety of the hard edge at some point, and then it may as well be scrap.

Quote from: TheGlyphstone on February 22, 2013, 08:54:52 PM
Nonsense. Everyone knows a samurai with a katana would bisect a knight wearing full plate with a simple vertical slash. During WW2, American soldiers targeted the Japanese who were wearing katanas first because their killing power was feared and respected. :D

There was an island battle where guns were apparently useless. Still wish I knew which one : / Went much like most such battles, regardless.


Cold Heritage

Quote from: Cyrano Johnson on February 22, 2013, 09:02:47 PM
Imagine their surprise when those guys just used their swords to block the bullets.

It's a myth they had time to pull the trigger - the displaced air from a samurai sword cut the trigger fingers off of American soldiers at 1,000 km.
Thank you, fellow Elliquiyan, and have a wonderful day.

gaggedLouise

#13
This is the mythical paragon:


"Siegfried" - Act 1: Forging Song - The Metropolitan Opera

Saw that same production - perhaps even that very night - in a live transmission a little over a year ago, it was superb. Morris looks like a hard rocker as soon as he steps off stage, long golden mane, muscled arms and playful, darting eyes, and he's convincingly young, as Siegfried should be: this is a teenager. I bet he's a fan of Mastodon, Alice Cooper and Metallica!

My mum saw another production several years ago where Siegfried actually hung out in his boy's room with an electric guitar, on the top floor of Mime's mill. Perfect!  :D

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