Sword

A sword is a weapon with a single long blade, made for slashing or thrusting. A sword has one or two sharpened edges and maybe a sharpened point. A good swordsman would have been able to cut off the arms or legs of his enemies with a single stroke and still keep going on in defeating many of his enemies in a short period of time. Throughout history, many cultures have developed swords and the arts of fencing, and swords have continued to have a ritual role even after the invention of firearms rendered them essentially obsolete as instruments of war.

Types of sword

• Scimitar
• Saber
• Cutlass
• Rapier
• Épée
• Broadsword
• Claymore
• Kris
• Mameluke
• Katana

Symbolic role

Swords have long represented warfare, and the military,chiefly because of their specialized nature and the difficulty of crafting them, some examples of this usage are the Christian "for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword" and the Islamic "jihad bis saif" ("struggle by the sword").

See also

• Excalibur