What follows is a small portion of a paper I have written on the subject. There is a link after this portion if you are interested in reading the rest of the paper. I investigated it to find out more about this particular weapon, which I initially did not know very much about. This way I could better approach the subject of this weapon with a more open mind.
Cheers,
Henry.
The Short Answer
While a
long answer will be forth-coming about the federschwert detailing various
arguments about the weapon and discussing what was used for and its history
there is also the short answer to consider as well. The short answers cover
such things as literal translations of the name of the sword from German to
English. The slightly more in-depth discussions of the weapon lead to further
investigations which will be presented further along.
The “Feather-sword”
The first
place people go for an interpretation of what a foreign thing is will be to
translate the name of the object from the native language into English and
interpret this into some idea of what this means thus, "federschwert - a
lightweight sword. "Feder" is German for "feather," and
"schwert" is German for "sword."" (Shackleford, 2010).
This would seem to be a logical progression and explanation of the weapon, but
leaves the reader with no real explanation of what the weapon is for.
This is where an explanation from a more use-approach comes
in handy, “A Federschwert ("Feather
swords") is a foiled practice blade with a large flanged ricasso and a
thick but narrow blade used for longsword training.” (Wassom, 2016).
A School Longsword
Wassom’s
(2016) explanation of what a feder is begins to explain not only what a
federschwert is but also what it is used for. There is also a physical
description which is most useful. Further explanation of the form of the weapon
is possible and even a hint as to its use,
“special
fencing school longswords called federschwert, with a narrow rapier-like blade and more mass close to the cross, in
the area called the schilt or the ricasso.”
(Norling, 2011)
With all this in mind there is the image of a weapon
which is relatively light, blunt because it is ...
The rest of this article can be found in Un-Blogged: A Fencer's Ramblings by Henry Walker, which is available in paperback from:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Blogged-Ramblings-Henry-Leigh-Walker/dp/098764470X
Booktopia: https://www.booktopia.com.au/un-blogged-henry-leigh-walker/book/9780987644701.html
Among other places...
It is also available in electronic format (pdf) from: https://buy.stripe.com/fZecP419c7CB9VKeUV
... or direct from the author.
Bibliography
Norling, R. (2011) “Sparring Swords – Introduction”, HROARR,
http://hroarr.com/sparring-swords-introduction/
Norling, R. (2013) “The Whatchamacallit-schwert”, HROARR, http://hroarr.com/the-feder-whatchamacallit/
Shackleford, S. (2010) Spirit
of the Sword: A Celebration of Artistry and Craftsmanship, Krause
Publications, Iola, USA
Wassom, D. (2016) “Some Historical Swiss Swords Examined”,
The Association for Renaissance Martial Arts, http://www.thearma.org/spotlight/swiss-swords.html#.WPge4PmGPIU
