Description
Meet the The Long simple falchion.
Specifications:
- Dated 1340y.
- Lenght 84cm
- Blade length 66cm
- Weight 1450g
- Balance point 19cm
- WMFC score 35.
Please note: Each falchion is hand made item and specs could be slightly different.
The Falchion
The Long simple falchion is a European blade weapon with a short blade expanding towards the end with one-sided sharpening.
The genealogy of the European falchion can be led to the ancient Egyptian khopesh, which in turn goes back to the more ancient Sumero-Akkadian and Babylonian predecessors. The length of khopesh averaged 50-60 cm, although there were instances of both shorter and longer (for example, two-handed khopesh).
The blade could have both external and double sharpening. Sometimes the part of the blade closest to the handle had an external sharpening, and the distant part had an internal sharpening. The main cutting part was the external curved crescent part of the blade. In technical terms, khopesh was distinguished by high penetration. The weight of this weapon (up to 2 kg.) And its unique shape allowed the ancient Egyptian soldiers to vary the style of attack depending on combat situations. Simply put, they could not only chop, but also, with special skill, prick. Khopesh became a real symbol of the war symbol of the Ancient Egyptian Kingdom. It can be seen in the images of various pharaohs. In addition, khopesh was often used during various rituals and ceremonies. So, for example, khopesh was found in the tomb of KV62, among other burial values of the pharaoh Tutankhamun.
The Greeks who came to Egypt in 333 BC, together with Alexander the Great, appreciated khopesh. They named the modernized sword-ax ”kopis” (from the Greek ”kopo” – ”chop” or ”cut off”). The kopis blade expands toward the tip, due to which the center of gravity is shifted away from the hand. As a result, the kinetic energy of the impact increases, and thanks to the forward-curved blade, the chopping ability increases significantly compared to a straight sword. According to the evidence of the Romans, no helmet or lorica could withstand the blow of the kopis. The Roman author Quintus Curtius Rufus gives interesting information about kopis in his novel about Alexander the Great: the Greeks had slightly curved swords, similar to sickles, called kopides, they chopped elephant trunks.
European falchions
European falchions are a kind of symbiosis of the Greek kopis and the scramasax of the early Middle Ages.
The name of the weapon is supposedly derived from the Latin ”falx” – ”braid”. In French, it was called ”fauchon” or ”baudelair”, in Italian – ”storta”, in German – ”Malchus”. The last name is related to the episode of the arrest of Christ described in the Gospel of John, during which the apostle Peter, who tried to resist the arrest, cut off the ear of a high priest slave named Malchus.
Ease of manufacture and low cost
Due to its ease of manufacture and low cost, the falchion was widely used during the Crusades. He received the greatest fame as an auxiliary weapon of archers and infantrymen. In the XIIIth century, due to its chopping effect, the cavalry began to use the falchions as well.
Images of falchions in abundance are found in various miniatures of medieval manuscripts, for example, the Morgan Bible, the Bodleian Apocalypse, the Holkham Bible, the Froissart’s Chronicles, the Grandes Chroniques de France and others, which indicates its popularity. The widespread and availability of the falchion is also indicated by an episode from the Livre des saintes paroles et des bons faiz de nostre saint roy Looys of Jean de Joinville where a monk with the help of the falchion dealt with a gang of marauders who robbed citizens and broke into their homes.
Ongoing research by James Elmslie has produced a typology covering both falchion and messer blade designs. Under this system all known falchions can be described as types 1 – 5 (with subtypes a – e used for any given type) as well as 5 levels of curvature. For falsions of the third type, the blade is straight during the first two-thirds of the handle. The front edge of the blade is straight or slightly concave, sharply turning to a strongly concave edge at the tip. The posterior margin is straight or slightly convex. The tip may be flat or thickened with a rhombic section. A falchion of this type can be seen in the Military Museum in Paris and in the Museum of the Army of the Netherlands.