#shortsword

[lunarlightforge]

Here’s some pics of this one done! Well not including the sheath…that’ll be done soonish. If you’d like more info on this blade send me a dm or keep an eye out for when it’s done and listed. Thanks everyone!!

[aylameridiandrawsstuff]

Swordtember 2025

9. Feline

Sword of a Minor Prince of House Llameryn-Leolinius

By the time of his ascension to the Throne of Midnight, the House of the Archking, Lothair II, encompassed a staggering number of members. The vast majority of them, by this time, were only distantly related to the Archking’s immediate family.

These minor members of the Archroyal House, despite their nominal status as Princes and Princesses of Midnight, were forced to compete with not only the other Royal and Noble Houses of the River Realms for important positions at Court, but, especially during the reign of Lothair II, with skilled commonfolk.

This sword, featuring the Eye of Lir and Lion - the sigil of House Leolinius - belonged to a distant cousin of the Archking. It is crafted not from Brightbrass, but from common steel as the minor Prince it belonged to had no hope of accessing the dwindling stocks of Brightbrass belonging to the Archcrown.

[mactiir]

sword misconceptions part 2: shortsword

Post series: longsword | rapier | buckler | dagger | spear

so as I'm getting back into fantasy lit as a historical fencer, there are a lot of things I am noticing cropping up in swordfights that are inaccurate or flat out wrong. So i wanted to write a post for my fellow writers putting down a few things I've learned in 2.5 years of swinging the actual weapons around!

Disclaimer: i REALLY wanna emphasize this because in my last post someone decided to get cute (and wrong) about this. Historical terms for weapons were NOT STANDARDIZED. There as no "one" longsword/rapier/shortsword etc when we're talking about a weapon that existed for hundreds of years across an entire continent. And "shortsword" especially is not a specific term. As how you use weapons are governed more by their properties than their names, you can generalize many things that may not have historically been called "shortswords" under this term. There are like five or six different weapons which have distinct traditions in HEMA which match the fantasy game description of "shortsword". So I'm talking here about any one-handed, straight-bladed, double-edged sword with a (mostly) simple hilt/crossguard and a blade length typically between 2 and 3 feet. As "shortsword" is a generic and not a specific weapon descriptor, this covers what we in HEMA call arming swords, gladiuses, some messers, and probably a bunch of other types of swords I can't think of right now (the "simple hilt" rule is because I'm putting italian side swords and scotch broadswords in a different category. They feel really really different to wield than an arming sword/messer, and classing them as shortswords feels wrong).

Misconception 1: dual wielding shortswords is safe and effective.

When you dual wield, you really REALLY want different length weapons in each hand -- like a dagger in the offhand. Otherwise they cross over each other, get in each other's way, and generally slow you down and mess you up. We'll dual wield matching weapons for fun sometimes, but it strangely feels very unsafe and most of the time you have to resort to windmilling (getting stabbed in the chest as a result). Is this a skill issue? Maybe partially, but there's another reason to have a shorter weapon in your weaker hand, and it's physics. Maintaining parry structure and speed in a full size blade is really hard to do in your weaker, non dominant hand, so if you're going to hold an offhand weapon, you want it to be something that can't be easily wrenched or beaten aside, and instead something that has more leverage (like a short lil dagger!) so that you can turn aside incoming hits without the sword getting blasted aside. If you have a character that's really, truly ambidextrous they might be able to legitimately dual wield full length weapons, but most of the time this one just looks silly.

Misconception 2: since it's a one handed weapon, you shouldn't use your nondominant hand at all.

One of my favorite things about slashy one handed weapons like messer and arming sword is that your offhand still gets a job, but it has to diversify its job prospects! Most "shortsword" traditions aren't like modern fencing the way saber or rapier are, where you only use your sword arm. In messer, which is a very grappling-focused system, your offhand's job is to grab your opponent's arm, put them in joint locks, seize the opponent's blade after you've locked it in a bind, and otherwise be a nuisance. In arming sword and buckler, the offhand holds a lil shield, whose job then becomes to suppress the opponent's sword by shoving the buckler into a bind, protect your sword hand, parry afterblows, or deny entire target areas to your opponent. Most shortswords are NOT weapons designed to be used without backup from your other hand in some way. Don't just have your character hacking an arming sword around. Have them close distance, grapple hard, yank, push, armlock, trip. Shortswords don't grant the luxury of distance longswords can. You have to be up close and very personal.

Misconception 3: shortswords are faster than bigger weapons.

And in close quarters, they sure as hell ARE faster, because that's where longswordsget jammed up by proximity. But "close quarters", in this case, is "less than five feet apart". I'm talking CLOSE. Correct to: measured by speed of the hand, you can swing a shortsword more times per minute than a longer weapon. But a few things equalize that: their length, so you have to step in to score a hit, making them slower; and their relative lack of mass. This seems counterintuitive, but think of it this way: cutting a longsword around often just involves redirecting its velocity, which is already trying to continue forward due to its mass, in a different direction. Cutting a shorty around often involves restarting the whole cut: it's probably stopped against your opponent's weapon or bounced off, so you have to re-engage your swinging muscles to get it moving again. This is why when you watch sword and buckler or messer fighting, fencers will often avoid binding their blades at all costs and instead repeatedly disengage under or around each other's blades instead -- because in this situation, with good footwork, the sword actually FEELS its proper speed. A two-handed sword is going to be faster and more nimble than a one-handed sword in almost all cases UNTIL you get close enough that the longsword wielder can no longer move their sword properly -- which is well within the longsword's cutting range.

Misconception 4: shortswords are for weaker characters than longswords.

My beef with d&d 5e is that every sword SHOULD be a finesse weapon with a strength prereq to wield. Yes, shortswords ARE lighter than longswords, but only by about a pound. Add that to the fact that you can only use one hand to hold it and the fact that you're probably trying to swing it faster due to being practically in the other guy's teeth, I find short swords actually more physically taxing to wield than longswords. They burn out your dominant shoulder BAD and there's no way to relieve the weight on your arm without dropping your sword and probably taking a point to the chest. Yes, they are easier to pick up. They are harder to fence/fight with for extended lengths than longswords, at least to me.

That's all I can think for now! Hmu with any questions or confusions.

[s-4phyr]

Final Token of Démence Bloom, Artist of Calamity !

[nano-core-armory]

Ancient Tech Sword

Commission work Do not use this design without permission.

[supivuokko]

Ylhäisyys

[longsword-enjoyer]

I flirted with death

And then ghosted her for I am married

[gentlemancatfish-blog]

Testing Sword Fight Writing Like a Conversation

Setting: just the fight, open field, training hall, something non-lethal

Characters:

A, fights with shorter blade, something with some body to deflect (saber, short sword, dussak, etc.).

B, longer blade two-handed (longsword and minium, probably something closer to a montante or "greatsword").

B's sword makes large, looping passes as it sweeps through the air. It's for show more than anything, even so, better to be outside it's reach than in. A paces left, then right, B has a circle the length of a man around him secured more tightly than a fortress.

"Even if he stops swinging that thing around like a ribbon dancer, it's still out ranges my blade by a forearm," A thinks to themself.

A tries a testing lunge. Poorly timed, their sword, hand, and arm are turned 90 degrees by a ringing blow from B's weapon.

*clank*

A deflects a follow-up chop from B at the last second, bracing their blade with two hands and staggering from the force

A steps back a full pace out of range of the greatsword

B takes a half step forward, a waltz between the two

One two, a sword tip denied

Three four, a probing thrust shut down

One two, a whining swing from the larger blade

Three.... there

An opening at the top of one of B's ranging swings, not enough to get a swing in, but just enough to get uncomfortably close.

B watches and waits. He knows A's going to try something stupid. "It's their nature," he assures himself.

Could he have just stood his ground and used his weapon like spear, yes, but there's so little flair to that, and it's always about the flair. So he again he loops his sword around and....

A moves, fast as they can

B sees the charge and accelerates his swing

A sees the greatsword begin to move, they brace, sword against bicep, arm curled into a triangle, knees ready

"This is it," they both think

BANG

The larger blade impacts, the shock is stunning. Like a stone down a cliffside, a tree felled by axe, or a thunderclap.

B feels his arms jutter from the sudden stop, then something else. A pressure, a throb in his face that keeps getting worse

A's fist finds its mark square in his jaw. It wasn't a great punch, but it would do. As B staggers A presents their sword to the side of his neck

"Yield?"