I always thought so too because of movies and games. One-handed swords were only about 3 lbs, and two-handed swords, like the one she found, were only around 6 lbs. Even zweihander was under 10 lbs. Crazy.
Tin of Heinz Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce (420g / 0.42kg /0.93lbs)
1 handed = 3.1 tins of beans
2 handed = 6.4 tins of beans
Zweihander = 10.7 tins of beans
No one said it doesn’t take skill, practice, and strength to wield it through a battle, or that you wouldn’t get tired doing so for long enough. But it isn’t too heavy for a child to pick up.
The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that this little girl was to carry Excalibur. That is why she is now our Queen
Listen. Strange children wading in ponds discovering swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.
I visited a museum where there you could handle exact replicas of the swords and maces they had on display. The edges were blunt and the short chains they were attached to were bolted to the stone floor, so no one could steal them or do any damage with them.
But if you knelt down, you could get the feel of wielding them in action. One handed sword was really light and even my then 13-year old son could handle the two handed one.
I had read that they weren’t heavy, but I was still very surprised how light they actually were.
Nah not really. Video games try to make big weapons seem super heavy because it needs to be done for balance usually. But you don’t want your weapons heavy. Heavy weapons are slow. Slow people are dead.
This is a common misconception from their depictions in the movies showing the characters treating them like hammers, both in terms of how they swing them and sometimes in terms of how they hit enemies with the blade never cutting anything.
She lifted it from the lake? I thought those things are heavy as fuck
I always thought so too because of movies and games. One-handed swords were only about 3 lbs, and two-handed swords, like the one she found, were only around 6 lbs. Even zweihander was under 10 lbs. Crazy.
https://workingtheflame.com/heaviest-swords-in-history/
For international readers, that’s:
1 handed = ~1.3kg
2 handed = ~2.7kg
Zweihander = ~4.5kg
Other measurements:
Thinkpad P14 laptop (approx 1.6kg / 3.5lbs)
1 handed = 0.8 Thinkpads
2 handed = 1.7 Thinkpads
Zweihander = 2.8 Thinkpads
Average cat (~4kg / 8.8lbs)
1 handed = 0.3 cats
2 handed = 0.7 cats
Zweihander = 1.1 cats
Tin of Heinz Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce (420g / 0.42kg /0.93lbs)
1 handed = 3.1 tins of beans
2 handed = 6.4 tins of beans
Zweihander = 10.7 tins of beans
Thank you for putting it into American units.
For reasons I can’t remember, tins of beans is also a Lemmy unit :)
Yeah, go grab a 5lb weight and go swing it around. It’s not easy to do for long.
Its also how the weight is distributed that plays a huge role in how it feels
No one said it doesn’t take skill, practice, and strength to wield it through a battle, or that you wouldn’t get tired doing so for long enough. But it isn’t too heavy for a child to pick up.
Might have lost some percentage of weight to corrosion too, though it looks amazingly preserved.
I like how it’s just called two hander lol.
The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that this little girl was to carry Excalibur. That is why she is now our Queen
Listen. Strange children wading in ponds discovering swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.
You can tell her that if you like but she is carrying a massive sword.
I visited a museum where there you could handle exact replicas of the swords and maces they had on display. The edges were blunt and the short chains they were attached to were bolted to the stone floor, so no one could steal them or do any damage with them.
But if you knelt down, you could get the feel of wielding them in action. One handed sword was really light and even my then 13-year old son could handle the two handed one.
I had read that they weren’t heavy, but I was still very surprised how light they actually were.
Nah not really. Video games try to make big weapons seem super heavy because it needs to be done for balance usually. But you don’t want your weapons heavy. Heavy weapons are slow. Slow people are dead.
This is a common misconception from their depictions in the movies showing the characters treating them like hammers, both in terms of how they swing them and sometimes in terms of how they hit enemies with the blade never cutting anything.