Why it is called a "bastard sword"

[samthedagger]

Just in case you were wondering, here is an excellent explanation:

http://www.medieval-life-and-times.info/medieval-swords-and-armor/bastard-sword.htm

[Elaril]

Heh, tang.

[Synsuous]

'Cuz if you called it a '***** Sword', people would complain. :p

[Horkster]

It still saddens me that Bastard Swords and Long Swords are somewhat gimped in DDO - these weapons ruled on the battlefied for ages, but in DDO everyone runs around with Banana Blades (aka khopeshes) for the X3 Crit multiplier.

[sebastianosmith]

It still saddens me that Bastard Swords and Long Swords are somewhat gimped in DDO - these weapons ruled on the battlefied for ages, but in DDO everyone runs around with Banana Blades (aka khopeshes) for the X3 Crit multiplier.

I too have wondered about this. Khopeshes were in vogue several thousand years before the advent of either bastard or long swords, mostly because ancient metallurgical materials engineers had yet to develop techniques to make iron or steel weapons. Once economically viable ferrous smelting came on the scene, the khopesh was largely abandoned in favor of more efficient designs made possible with the new material. That these truly archaic weapons are given supremacy over what are obviously superior alternatives boggles my mind.

[phillymiket]

I thought it was called a bastard sword because it was half way between a long sword and broad sword and two-hander.

A big handle for two hands (not depicted in ddo bastard swords) but with a small enough blade to weild in one hand.

Forgot where I heard that so i may be wrong.
.

[AZgreentea]

I too have wondered about this. Khopeshes were in vogue several thousand years before the advent of either bastard or long swords, mostly because ancient metallurgical materials engineers had yet to develop techniques to make iron or steel weapons. Once economically viable ferrous smelting came on the scene, the khopesh was largely abandoned in favor of more efficient designs made possible with the new material. That these truly archaic weapons are given supremacy over what are obviously superior alternatives boggles my mind.
I thought that the Kopesh (or the sickle sword, sometimes a hooked sword) was negated by new armor technology, and not Iron/Steel. Slashing weapons work great when your opponent wears primarily no or hide armor. With the increase in metal armors (ring and plate), a thrusting weapon like long and short swords became preferred over a slashing weapon.

[sebastianosmith]

I thought that the Kopesh (or the sickle sword, sometimes a hooked sword) was negated by new armor technology, and not Iron/Steel. Slashing weapons work great when your opponent wears primarily no or hide armor. With the increase in metal armors (ring and plate), a thrusting weapon like long and short swords became preferred over a slashing weapon.

That had something to do with it as well. As always, the arms race began with a innovative defense and escalated quickly with a countering offense. It was, however, advances in materials technology that made construction of what we'd call a short sword possible. Bronze is too soft to be effective in a piercing weapon with sustained use. Iron will hold a point and an edge making it far superior in many more situations which gave rise to new tactics, strategies and eventually Roman legions marching across most of Europe.

[samthedagger]

To paraphrase the link I posted above, a bastard sword is a hand-and-a-half sword. In other words, it is a large sword designed with the flexibility to be used by one hand or two hands. The main difference is the HILT of the sword, which is longer to accommodate two-handed use. In other respects it is like a long sword. So you can use the sword one-handed when fighting with a shield or when you need a free hand and two-handed when you need more power. That is really all it boils down to.

The term "bastard" refers to the unusual nature of the sword. It is not a one-handed sword, nor a two-handed sword, but an unusual combination of both.

[captain1z]

I tried swinging a bastard sword once and nearly broke my wrist. Way to heavy and balanced oddly....for one hand anyway. Katanas, Kukris, small swords are more user friendly imo. Dont know how our ancestors did it, while wearing armor no less. Even lightwieght bullet proof vests are very uncomfortable. Glad we have a military because If we get invaded tomorrow, I cant see myself fighting in that stuff.

[Luthe111]

use a dumbbell heavier than the sword for full range exercises and train with swings of the sword regularly, then becomes alot simpler to swing. dont actually try this though unless u know what ur doing, can still hurt urself, and thats not fun

[Talon_Moonshadow]

It is the sword the killed Kenny. :D

[ArloOne]

The term Bastard sword originates from the the French 'epee batarde'. This term was used to refer to a 'hand and a half sword' or a 'long sword'. The blade could be the same length as a single hand sword but the tang and the grip were long enough to accommodate two hands providing better leverage and more power. The versatility of the design prevented the sword from being specifically categorized as either a one-handed or two-handed weapon. The word bastard was therefore to this sword meaning something irregular or inferior or of dubious origin, having a misleading appearance.

In later years, the sword would be used graphically for entertainment through the use of computers and gaming. Where it would be severely under-powered making it somewhat obsolete.

Just my 2 cents !!!

[donblas]

I tried swinging a bastard sword once and nearly broke my wrist. Way to heavy and balanced oddly....for one hand anyway. Katanas, Kukris, small swords are more user friendly imo. Dont know how our ancestors did it, while wearing armor no less. Even lightwieght bullet proof vests are very uncomfortable. Glad we have a military because If we get invaded tomorrow, I cant see myself fighting in that stuff.

Impact weapons like two-handed swords, long swords and bastard swords aren't meant to balanced - if they were, all the power for the attack would have to be driven by the user's muscles. They rely to a great extend on the weight and impetus of the weapon to penetrate armour or crush the target. The centre of mass of the weapon needs to be well ahead of the hilt.

The katana is designed to be used against unarmoured targets, using its sharpness to open terrible wounds. It can be better balanced and so allow greater speed and ease of use because it doesn't rely on the physical power of an attack to do its job.

Rapiers, etc can be even more finely balanced and faster because they rely even less on the weight of the attack to do their job. In the case of these weapons the centre of mass is best if it is close to the hilt so the the blade can be moved with as little effort as possible.

[Rognepatte]

hum as a member of a french medieval troop i can give you the true explanation. First you should understand that the bastard sword is a 2 handed weapon, in medieval time there s very few 2 handed swords and almost none big enough to be equivalent of ddo greatsword, so thez bastard sword is really nice for his versatility, 1 hand for hit more far away and 2 hand for speed. so nobody used the bastard sword as one handed, means those knight dont used shield, on shield knight have their family blason, so a knight without this is a bastard. this is why this sword have this name.