"Fantasy combat - general myths and errors about ..." Topic

…ancient/medieval fighting.

"Violence – what fantasy novel would be complete without it? It's sword and sorcery, not spoon and sorcery after all. And yet it's possibly the most commonly messed up, un-researched, poorly realised part of a fantasy book.

I'm a medieval historian and HEMA (Historic European Martial Arts) enthusiast and for giggles I figured I'd share with you some of the observations that I commonly make about violence when it's detailed in fantasy books. If you're a budding fantasy writer then you might find some of these points useful to you.

1) Swords are the best medieval weapon…nope!

Spears are THE weapon from ancient times until modern – they're so good that they have been used in every era of human history. In recent memory I can only think of Brandon Sanderson giving a principle character some actual skill with a spear. The thing to realise is that spears are, quite simply, the best medieval weapon. A man with a sword loses to a man with a spear most of the time, assuming equal training. I think Robert Jordan mentions somewhere about the greatest Warder getting beaten by a peasant with a staff – that happens because swords are just not as good. In history, swords were always your secondary (or even tertiary) weapon on the battlefield.

2) Ducking, rolling, jumping… general performance of acrobatics during combat.

There is a reason that you don't see boxers jumping over one another's punches. You can't duck a sword cut, you'll just get a sword in the head – see the point below about lethality of wounds. Rolling around is probably the stupidest – as daft as when you see people doing flips in kung fu movies.

3) Simultaneous kills don't happen often enough!…"
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Amicalement
Armand

Thanks Armand, interesting.

I thought fantasy, by the very name, precluded myths and errors based on history…

The author must not be familiar with Seirei no Moribito. The main heroine is a spearwoman. Though someone else mentions this in the comments on the main link.

link

In general terms he is right about swords, etc. I think some people would consider Japan as an example of warriors reliant on swords, but during the Sengoku period it was the spear (Yari) that was the main hand-to-hand weapon with swords being a status symbol/weapon of last resort. The period of fencing schools and dueling was during the succeeding Shogunate period when Japan was united and largely peaceful.

Interesting.

Regarding his point number four, about people being wounded. He says that, unless hit in the head, a wound will not instantly stop your opponent from trying to kill you.

Just to back up his point, a guy I work with got into a bit of a ruck a few years ago and had his hand severed with a samurai sword. He says that the shock stopped him from feeling any pain and he was still trying to fight the other guy!

The REd Viper was a Spear and Buckler man.

(Almost worked)>

TomT

Glad you enjoyed it boys!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand