Scabbard

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An elaborate Celtic scabbard of 1-200 AD, in two colours of bronze PageMuseum of Scotland scabbard.jpg
An elaborate Celtic scabbard of 1-200 AD, in two colours of bronze
1916 Leather Scabbard for a saddle lever-action rifle of Jack Peters, a ranch hand that worked on the Grant-Kohrs Ranch, in Powell County, Montana LeatherScabbardPortlandOregon1916NPS.jpg
1916 Leather Scabbard for a saddle lever-action rifle of Jack Peters, a ranch hand that worked on the Grant-Kohrs Ranch, in Powell County, Montana

A scabbard is a sheath for holding a sword, dagger, knife, or similar edged weapons. Rifles and other long guns may also be stored in scabbards by horse riders for transportation. Military cavalry and cowboys had scabbards for their saddle ring carbines and rifles for transportation and protection. Scabbards have been made of many materials over the millennia, including leather, wood, and metal such as brass or steel.

Contents

Most commonly, sword scabbards were worn suspended from a sword belt or shoulder belt called a baldric.

Antiquity

Bronze scabbard fitting from a Roman gladius. (40-250 AD) Bronzen plaatje schedebeslag ValkenburgZH 196014 RMO Leiden.jpg
Bronze scabbard fitting from a Roman gladius. (40-250 AD)

Scabbards have at least been around since the Bronze Age, and are thought to have existed as long as the blade has. [1] [2] Wooden scabbards were typically covered in fabric or leather; the leather versions also usually bore metal or leather fittings for added protection and carrying ease. [1] All-metal scabbards were popular items for a display of wealth among elites in the European Iron Age, and often intricately decorated. Little is known about the scabbards of the early Iron Age, due to their wooden construction. However, during the Middle and late Iron Ages, the scabbard became important especially as a vehicle for decorative elaboration and social status. After 200 BC fully decorated scabbards became rare, but in their lesser extent existed well into the Medieval period. [1] [3] A number of ancient scabbards have been recovered from weapons sacrifices, a few of which had a lining of fur on the inside. [4] The fur was probably kept oily, keeping the blade free from rust. The fur would also allow a smoother, quicker draw, and protect the blade. [1] In classical antiquity, Greek scabbards often had ornamental metal fittings, characteristic of the Iron Age. [5] The Roman army used scabbards to a great extent with short baldrics, carrying their swords quite high up. [6]

Japanese blades typically have their sharp cutting edge protected by a wooden scabbard called a saya. [7]

Modern era

Princely Mughal sabre with jewelled scabbard Arms and Armor.jpg
Princely Mughal sabre with jewelled scabbard

Entirely metal scabbards became popular in Europe early in the 19th century and eventually superseded most other types. Metal was more durable than leather and could better withstand the rigors of field use, particularly among troops mounted on horseback. In addition, metal offered the ability to present a more military appearance, as well as the opportunity to display increased ornamentation. Nevertheless, leather scabbards never entirely lost favor among military users and were widely used as late as the American Civil War (1861–1865). [8]

Some military police forces, naval shore patrols, law enforcement and other groups used leather scabbards as a kind of truncheon.

Mounting for a Japanese short sword (wakizashi) 18th century. Metropolitan Museum of Art Blade and Mounting for a Short Sword (Wakizashi).jpg
Mounting for a Japanese short sword ( wakizashi ) 18th century. Metropolitan Museum of Art

On the other hand, in Japan, except for some cases of the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy, water-resistant lacquered wooden scabbards have been used throughout history.

A Japanese Edo period wood block print of a samurai carrying a nodachi/odachi on his back Samurai wearing a nodachi (field sword).png
A Japanese Edo period wood block print of a samurai carrying a nodachi/ōdachi on his back

Scabbards were historically, albeit rarely, worn across the back, but only by a handful of Celtic tribes, and only with very short lengths of sword. [9] This is because drawing a long, sharp blade over one's shoulder and past one's head from a scabbard on the back is relatively awkward, especially in a hurry, and the length of the arm sets a hard upper limit on how long a blade can be drawn at all in this way. Sheathing the sword again is even harder since it has to be done effectively blind unless the scabbard is taken off first. Common depictions of long swords being drawn from the back are a modern invention, born from safety and convenience considerations on a film set and typically enabled by creative editing, and have enjoyed such great popularity in fiction and fantasy that they are widely and incorrectly believed to have been common in Medieval times. Some more well-known examples of this include the back scabbard depicted in the film Braveheart and the back scabbard seen in the video game series The Legend of Zelda . This has facilitated the modern anachronism colloquially known as a shabbard, developed by YouTuber and novel writer Shad Brooks. It uses a flat plate attached to the sheath which more easily guides even large swords into the scabbard. [10] There is some limited data from woodcuts and textual fragments that Mongol light horse archers, Chinese soldiers, Japanese samurai and European knights wore a slung baldric over the shoulder, allowing longer blades such as greatswords/zweihanders and nodachi/ōdachi to be strapped across the back, though these would have to be removed from the back before the sword could be unsheathed. [11]

In The Ancient Celts by Barry Cunliffe, Cunliffe writes, "All these pieces of equipment [shields, spears, swords, mail] mentioned in the texts, are reflected in the archaeological record and in the surviving iconography, though it is sometimes possible to detect regional variations" (page 94). Among the Parisii of Yorkshire, for example, the "...sword was sometimes worn across the back and therefore had to be drawn over the shoulder from behind the head."

Scabbards as Status Symbols

1. Scabbards as Status Symbols:

Scabbard Materials and Techniques

2. Scabbard Materials and Techniques:

Scabbards and Sword Carrying Etiquette

3. Scabbards and Sword-Carrying Etiquette:

Scabbards in Modern Times

4. Scabbards in Modern Times:

Common terms

The metal fitting where the blade enters the leather or metal scabbard is called the throat, which is often part of a larger scabbard mount, or locket, that bears a carrying ring or stud to facilitate wearing the sword. The blade's point in leather scabbards is usually protected by a metal tip, or chape, which, on both leather and metal scabbards, is often given further protection from wear by an extension called a drag, or shoe.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baldric</span> Belt worn over one shoulder to carry a weapon or other implement

A baldric is a belt worn over one shoulder that is typically used to carry a weapon or other implement such as a bugle or drum. The word may also refer to any belt in general, but this usage is poetic or archaic. In modern contexts, military drum majors usually wear a baldric.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Japanese sword</span> Type of traditionally made sword from Japan

A Japanese sword is one of several types of traditionally made swords from Japan. Bronze swords were made as early as the Yayoi period, though most people generally refer to the curved blades made from the Heian period (794–1185) to the present day when speaking of "Japanese swords". There are many types of Japanese swords that differ by size, shape, field of application and method of manufacture. Some of the more commonly known types of Japanese swords are the uchigatana, tachi, ōdachi, wakizashi, and tantō.

A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed tip. A slashing sword is more likely to be curved and to have a sharpened cutting edge on one or both sides of the blade. Many swords are designed for both thrusting and slashing. The precise definition of a sword varies by historical epoch and geographic region.

A tachi is a type of sabre-like traditionally made Japanese sword (nihonto) worn by the samurai class of feudal Japan. Tachi and uchigatana generally differ in length, degree of curvature, and how they were worn when sheathed, the latter depending on the location of the mei (銘), or signature, on the tang. The tachi style of swords preceded the development of the katana, which was not mentioned by name until near the end of the twelfth century. Tachi were the mainstream Japanese swords of the Kotō period between 900 and 1596. Even after the Muromachi period (1336–1573), when katana became the mainstream, tachi were often worn by high-ranking samurai.

<i>Naginata</i> Type of Japanese polearm

The naginata is a polearm and one of several varieties of traditionally made Japanese blades (nihontō). Naginata were originally used by the samurai class of feudal Japan, as well as by ashigaru and sōhei. The naginata is the iconic weapon of the onna-musha, a type of female warrior belonging to the Japanese nobility. A common misconception is that the Naginata is a type of sword, rather than a polearm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kukri</span> Knife associated with the Gurkhas of Nepal

The kukri or khukuri is a type of short sword with a distinct recurve in its blade that originated in the Indian subcontinent. It serves multiple purposes as a melee weapon and also as a regular cutting tool throughout most of South Asia. The kukri, khukri, and kukkri spellings are of Indian English origin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Club (weapon)</span> Blunt weapon

A club is a short staff or stick, usually made of wood, wielded as a weapon since prehistory. There are several examples of blunt-force trauma caused by clubs in the past, including at the site of Nataruk in Turkana, Kenya, described as the scene of a prehistoric conflict between bands of hunter-gatherers 10,000 years ago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kampilan</span> Sword

The kampilan is a type of single-edged sword, traditionally used by various ethnic groups in the Philippine archipelago. It has a distinct profile, with the tapered blade being much broader and thinner at the point than at its base, sometimes with a protruding spikelet along the flat side of the tip. The design of the pommel varies between ethnic groups, but it usually depicts either a buaya (crocodile), a bakunawa, a kalaw (hornbill), or a kakatua (cockatoo)..

<i>Jitte</i> Japanese non-bladed weapon

A jitte is a blunt melee weapon that was used by police in Edo-period Japan (1603–1868). In English-language sources, it is sometimes incorrectly spelled jutte, such as in Ikkaku-ryū juttejutsu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viking Age arms and armour</span> Military technology of the Vikings from the late 8th to the mid-11th century

Knowledge about military technology of the Viking Age is based on relatively sparse archaeological finds, pictorial representations, and to some extent on the accounts in the Norse sagas and laws recorded in the 12th–14th centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Japanese sword mountings</span> Housings and associated fittings that hold the blade of a Japanese sword

Japanese sword mountings are the various housings and associated fittings that hold the blade of a Japanese sword when it is being worn or stored. Koshirae (拵え) refers to the ornate mountings of a Japanese sword used when the sword blade is being worn by its owner, whereas the shirasaya is a plain undecorated wooden mounting composed of a saya and tsuka that the sword blade is stored in when not being used.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chape</span>

Chape has had various meanings in English, but the predominant one is a protective fitting at the bottom of a scabbard or sheath for a sword or dagger. Historic blade weapons often had leather scabbards with metal fittings at either end, sometimes decorated. These are generally either in some sort of U shape, protecting the edges only, or a pocket shape covering the sides of the scabbard as well. The reinforced end of a single-piece metal scabbard can also be called the chape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman military personal equipment</span> Ancient Roman soldiers equipment

Roman military personal equipment was produced in large numbers to established patterns, and used in an established manner. These standard patterns and uses were called the res militaris or disciplina. Its regular practice during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire led to military excellence and victory. The equipment gave the Romans a very distinct advantage over their barbarian enemies, especially so in the case of armour. This does not mean that every Roman soldier had better equipment than the richer men among his opponents. Roman equipment was not of a better quality than that used by the majority of Rome's adversaries. Other historians and writers have stated that the Roman army's need for large quantities of "mass produced" equipment after the so-called "Marian Reforms" and subsequent civil wars led to a decline in the quality of Roman equipment compared to the earlier Republican era:

The production of these kinds of helmets of Italic tradition decreased in quality because of the demands of equipping huge armies, especially during civil wars...The bad quality of these helmets is recorded by the sources describing how sometimes they were covered by wicker protections, like those of Pompeius' soldiers during the siege of Dyrrachium in 48 BC, which were seriously damaged by the missiles of Caesar's slingers and archers.

It would appear that armour quality suffered at times when mass production methods were being used to meet the increased demand which was very high the reduced size cuirasses would also have been quicker and cheaper to produce, which may have been a deciding factor at times of financial crisis, or where large bodies of men were required to be mobilized at short notice, possibly reflected in the poor-quality, mass produced iron helmets of Imperial Italic type C, as found, for example, in the River Po at Cremona, associated with the Civil Wars of AD 69 AD; Russell Robinson, 1975, 67

Up until then, the quality of helmets had been fairly consistent and the bowls well decorated and finished. However, after the Marian Reforms, with their resultant influx of the poorest citizens into the army, there must inevitably have been a massive demand for cheaper equipment, a situation which can only have been exacerbated by the Civil Wars...

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shotel</span> Type of curved sword originating in Ethiopia

A shotel is a curved sword originating in Eritrea and northern Ethiopia. The curve on the blade varies from the Persian shamshir, adopting an almost semicircular shape. The blade is flat and double-edged with a diamond cross-section. The blade is about 40 inches (1 m) in total length and the hilt is a simple wooden or rhinoceros horn piece with no guard similar to the jile or jambiya. The shotel was carried in a close fitting leather scabbard which was often decorated in precious metals and worn on the right side.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pattern 1796 heavy cavalry sword</span> Weapon

The Pattern 1796 heavy cavalry sword was the sword used by the British heavy cavalry, and King's German Legion Dragoons, through most of the period of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. It played an especially notable role, in the hands of British cavalrymen, at the battles of Salamanca and Waterloo. The pattern was adopted by Sweden and was used by some Portuguese cavalry.

<i>Guntō</i> Japanese military sword, 1872-1945

The guntō was a ceremonial sword produced for the Imperial Japanese army and navy after the introduction of conscription in 1872.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barong (sword)</span> Muslim Filipino weapon

The barong is a thick, leaf-shaped, single-edged blade sword. It is a weapon used by Muslim Filipino ethnolinguistic groups like the Tausug, Sama-Bajau, or Yakan in the Southern Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shoulder belt (military)</span> Belt worn usually over the right shoulder and across the body

In military uniforms, a shoulder belt is a wide belt worn usually over the shoulder and across the body. With nearly all line infantry, skirmishers, light infantry, grenadiers and guard regiments, two shoulder belts were worn - one carrying the cartridge box, and another for the bayonet, a sword, or other military equipment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weapons and armour in Anglo-Saxon England</span> Types and usage of weaponry in Anglo-Saxon England

Many different weapons were created and used in Anglo-Saxon England between the fifth and eleventh centuries. Spears, used for piercing and throwing, were the most common weapon. Other commonplace weapons included the sword, axe, and knife—however, bows and arrows, as well as slings, were not frequently used by the Anglo-Saxons. For defensive purposes, the shield was the most common item used by warriors, although sometimes mail and helmets were used.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Navy cutlasses</span> Swords in British military service 1804–1936

Ratings of the Royal Navy have used cutlasses, short, wide bladed swords, since the early 18th century. These were originally of non-uniform design but the 1804 Pattern, the first Navy-issue standard cutlass, was introduced at the start of the 19th century. This was a bluntish weapon that was perhaps intended for cutting away canvas and ropes rather than as a thrusting combat weapon. The 1845 Pattern cutlass introduced a bowl-style hand guard which provided greater protection, with a longer and more curved blade. Its sharper point made it more useful for thrusting attacks, which were now emphasised in the drill manual. The 1845 Pattern was modified several times including shortening and straightening the blades, which weakened them. The 1889 Pattern had a straight, spear-pointed blade with a hilt that curved outwards to catch and redirect an opponent's sword point. The 1900 Pattern, the last navy-issue cutlass, was similar to its predecessor with the introduction of a fuller and a hilt insert that cushioned the user's little finger. The cutlass was withdrawn from service in 1936 but remains in use for ceremonial purposes. It is thought that it was last used in combat in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion.

References

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  2. "Treasure Trove of Bronze Age Weapons and Artifacts Discovered in Scotland". Popular Mechanics. 2017-02-16. Retrieved 2023-06-12.
  3. How Ancient Europeans Saw The World p115,125 by Peter Wells
  4. p266 & p282 Lars Jorgensen et al. 2003 The spoils of Victory - The north in the shadow of the Roman Empire Nationalmuseet (National Museum of Denmark)
  5. "Scabbards and Sword Holders Archives". Medieval Ware. Retrieved 2023-06-12.
  6. "The Carriage of Weapons". www.romanarmy.net. Retrieved 2023-06-12.
  7. Samurai (2017-11-19). "Saya - Traditional Katana Scabbared". Samurai Swords Store. Retrieved 2023-06-12.
  8. "Civil War". HISTORY. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
  9. "Sword in Early Medieval Northern Europe - UCL Discovery" (PDF).
  10. "Blades And Blazers - Shabbard". Blades And Blazers. Retrieved 2023-06-12.
  11. "how to make a metal scabbard". leather.jerrychan.net. Retrieved 2021-09-02.

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