Woops, looks like I misspoke, bronze is copper and tin, not zink! darn my slippery brain!

@skepticalbadger

8 ай бұрын

Also not how you spell "zinc".

@kienhwengtai8113

8 ай бұрын

Just "copper alloy", that covers brass and bronzes

@giannihenk

8 ай бұрын

Was about to say. “Did runescape lie to me all those years?”

@dukenukemani07

8 ай бұрын

Hey, nobody's perfect... We all make mistakes. Still a very informative video. Thanks, Shad! 👍

@kienhwengtai8113

8 ай бұрын

@@dukenukemani07 Watch "From The Bronze Age To The Iron Age: Was Iron REALLY Better Than Bronze?" made by the MetaTron. it does into detail about bronze and iron.

Cool, but we had to leaf them behind.

@jamiebailey7375

8 ай бұрын

Lol

@Nathan_Coley

8 ай бұрын

*"boo this man" gif* 🤣😂

@scottgun

8 ай бұрын

Lettuce leaf them.

@TheKotor2309

8 ай бұрын

Boo! 🍅

@Levi_Void

8 ай бұрын

You sick b@sturd 😂

Leaf blades went out of fashion because every fall they turned orange and fell off the hilt. It just wasn't very practical to keep forging blades every year. 🌈 the more you know!

@monikah.g1918

7 ай бұрын

😂😂😂

@berekclay75

6 ай бұрын

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣best pun ever

@ShrockWPS

6 ай бұрын

It's the rainbow emoji that did me in 🤣

I think Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy proves that longer steel leef-blade swords are quite fitting for Elves. And all the negative reasons you presented about how challenging and time consuming they could be even further reinforces that since those are things that wouldn't bother them much, might even make the forging process more interesting and attractive to them.

@BerylLx

8 ай бұрын

Isn't the typical Elvish sword shape in Middle-Earth more of a curved scimitar-esque profile?

@khodexus4963

8 ай бұрын

@@BerylLx Depends which sword you're looking at. The aforementioned Glamdring is an elven sword, as is Bilbo's/Frodo's Sting, and Orcrist, the sword Thorin ends up using in The Hobbit movies, is kind of like a half-leaf shaped falchion, so even some of their single edged swords still have that aesthetic.

@AnnaMarianne

8 ай бұрын

@@BerylLx In the Peter Jackson trilogy, the Elven swords from the First and the Second Age are leaf shaped, while the Elven swords from the Third Age are scimitar-like. The idea is that the passing of the millennia is represented in the developing design of the armor and the weaponry. Gandalf's Glamdring, Thorin's Orcrist and Bilbo's / Frodo's Sting are all Elven swords from the First Age, from the Elven city of Gondolin that was destroyed near the end of that Age. Remember that they were all found together, from the treasure hidden by the Trolls. Meanwhile the swords carried by, for example, Arwen, Elrond, Haldir and Thranduil are all "up to date" Third Age design.

@markgonzalez4199

8 ай бұрын

As I recall n the books most elven blades are straight. Only Penlod is mentioned having a sword that was bent in the Silmarillion.

@Theduckwebcomics

8 ай бұрын

These Greek style swords were given to elves in fantasy long before Peter Jackson came along, probably because they were the sword style used by the Celts.

It's a shame it went out of fashion/was forgotten. To me the leaf shape looks so much more aesthetic. It would be interesting to see a real life 2 handed longsword or even zweihänder featuring a leaf shape.

@random-unbreaded-commentor

8 ай бұрын

Zombie tools diphos. I got one of the last xiphos they made since they were discontinued. But the diphos is there 2 handed version that's still for sale. Worth a look.

@bare-footjo35

8 ай бұрын

Stephen Lockwood has a leaf blade longsword design on his website.

@jacesweesy1202

8 ай бұрын

Like the zwihander one that's squiggly?

@random-unbreaded-commentor

8 ай бұрын

@jacesweesy1202 that's a flameberge not a zweihander.

@codiersklave

8 ай бұрын

@@random-unbreaded-commentorIn German it is sometimes literally called a "Flamberge Zweihänder". To my knowledge it is simply a variant of the European two-handed sword (i.e. "Zweihänder"), not a different category. The word "Flamberge" describes the blade that somewhat looks like a "flame" (derived from French "flambé"... flame). But in all other respects it is still a two-handed sword.

Now that's dedication. Shad recording a video from the Shadlands while on vacation in Europe.

@Devlinator61116

8 ай бұрын

Shad found a cloning potion inside the Shadlands crypt.

@Justin-pe9cl

8 ай бұрын

Astro projection, like in Star Wars but not terrible.

@jjgourde

8 ай бұрын

Image the time it took to pack up his castle and send it to Britany

@benkayvfalsifier3817

8 ай бұрын

Hmm, that teleportation spell is pretty expensive. How much gold did it cost him to cast it?

@samneis128

8 ай бұрын

Scroll of town portal?

Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin. Zinc is present in bronze as admixture/impurity. It was in miniscule amounts and was not on purpose. Alloy of copper and zinc is brass.

@MyMy-tv7fd

8 ай бұрын

beat me to it

@THOBIASSER101

8 ай бұрын

He seems to take a sec to think just before he says zinc, probably just forgot and misspoke the first thing that sounded like the word he was looking for. Honest mistake, but yea, editor should've caught it I guess 🙈

@mikkohernborg5291

8 ай бұрын

Generally speaking, yes. But there are many different recipes for bronze and brass items throughout history, as they are mostly copper with a smattering of other metals (and sometimes non-metals), sometimes with what was available at the moment. The first bronzes were made from copper-arsenic ores (algodonite & domeykite), making arsenic bronze, while the first copper-tin ore (stannite) bronzes were smelted a few centuries later. Tin was rather rare, though, and though not very useful on its own, made for superior bronzes, so might explain why people resorted to using alternatives while still calling it 'bronze'.

@rachdarastrix5251

8 ай бұрын

Modern bronze also using a little bit of aluminum and sometimes even a slight bit of titanium. Those who have seen modern bronze would be dumbstruck when they look at bronze age bronze. It almost looks more like sheep horn.

@MyMy-tv7fd

8 ай бұрын

there is a really good Wikipedia article on bronze - it was not so easily distinguished back in the BC period as zinc ore was not so well understood and often got into the alloy by chance @@rachdarastrix5251

I'm actually curious how much people in medieval times were aware about the past. During excavations in Kraków archeologists found bronze and stone axes in the XIV century cultural layer, and they stated that it could mean that one of the medieval merchants in Kraków was collecting oddities. Interesting how much did he know about what he had, and how often did people collect such strange items.

@novacat3032

7 ай бұрын

interessting point... i do recall the oddity that you can often date pictures that depict historical stuff by how the depict the armour / weapons... e.g. a picture of jesus christs crucification from the XV century usually clads the roman soldiers in XV century armour whereas pictures of the crucification from the XII century show romans wearing contemporary XII century armour

@tymonkalbarczyk1456

7 ай бұрын

@@novacat3032 Interesting. So most of the artists didn't have knowledge of the past.

@leonardomarquesbellini

7 ай бұрын

​@@tatumergo3931renaissance happened in great due to an influx on greeks and their culture into western europe due to the rapid collapse of the ERE. Vatican secret archives had little to do with that.

@tymonkalbarczyk1456

7 ай бұрын

@@tatumergo3931 It's not like Vatican kept this material in secret. Some books, especially from Persia was known in medieval times. Also I'm pretty sure that we know quite a lot about origins of humanity. I can only sent you to YT channel Miniminuteman who recently filmed some sites in Türkiye - Gobekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe. These sites record first chapter of humanity, they're megalithic sites, but it's believed that people who build them were still hunter-gatherers. Both of them are more than 12 thousand years old

@aasphaltmueller5178

7 ай бұрын

@@tatumergo3931 Sorry, but a lot of that knowledge of the antique came to the west by Arab sources, for example after the conquest of Granada

You gotta admit, leaf-bladed swords are cool. The first sword in my Arsenal is such one: a xiphos. It’s mostly decorative though. I’d love to have a functional one.

@thisdude9363

8 ай бұрын

Could probably find some affordable-ish ones on Kult of Athena if you look in combat ready ancient swords. For more Medieval style, high-end versions I know Valiant Armoury has, I believe, both a one-handed leaf-blade and a two-handed leaf-blade longsword. Their price range is quite high, though. Their models are typically over $1000 but come with custom leather scabbards and a belt, and are all 5160 steel.

@casthedemon

8 ай бұрын

I got the combat commander Gladius. Super functional.

@BertReno

8 ай бұрын

Zombie Tools has functional blades. I dunno if they still make their variant of the Xiphos. I have one and its wonderful and is practical

@user-xx6vy9ri8p

8 ай бұрын

Orcrist from Hobbit is leaf-shaped.

@itsapittie

8 ай бұрын

Windlass makes one based upon the xiphos. I think they call it a hoplite sword. I have one and it’s definitely functional.

I think you nailed it. Longer leaf shape iron/steel sword just does not make much sense back then. It does not add much advantages, but makes the production much harder/longer.

@bolbyballinger

8 ай бұрын

Yeah, being wider than usual at the usual striking point allows the angle of the blade's edge to be smaller and therefore sharper. But it's still not slashing through armor and the straight edge swords can still cut through flesh without issue. So while the leaf blade is better it's not so much better that it improves the results. So if it's more difficult to make it's gonna get tossed aside.

@saintnoir5127

8 ай бұрын

theres also the issue of the quench a iron/steel sword the thinner section would be under a lot of stress when quenched and have a much higher chance to warp or crack

@foldionepapyrus3441

8 ай бұрын

I'd go further than say 'does not add much advantage' and say by the medieval period it is actively hurting the weapons effectiveness on a battle field - armour gets a good deal better and more common, so you want that narrower profile long stiff point to get through it better, and probably want the tip as light as it can possibly be so it is as easy as possible to deliver that thrust/slash to the targeted spot. Or you want to go much further the other way and get the big heavy impact weapons that will at least hinder your opponent as you dent their armour - at which point a leaf shape long blade makes less sense than the halberd/axe or mace style weapons. Off the battle field it might make sense, it looks good, has more room to add your pretty inlay/engraving/damasacus patterns to really show off your wealth and power. And if you ever have to use it it will still work very nicely on the cloth, flesh and perhaps lower grade armour you'd be likely to face.

@anderporascu5026

8 ай бұрын

And should they had bothered they'd reserve it for higher paying clients namely royalty.

@anderporascu5026

8 ай бұрын

​@@foldionepapyrus3441Ah yes a fine point most fail to consider. Though it did exist and not merely in fantasy makes it just by aesthetic the European katana meaning not largely used or useful but seriously damned pretty.

Finally, some understanding as to the bronze vs iron sword history! I am so tired of seeing people online comparing bronze and iron swords, and they use a cast bronze sword against a hammered and forged iron sword, which is really a proto-steel sword, and saying, "look how much better iron is!" The problems with working the two different materials is the real story.

@jpe115

4 ай бұрын

to true bronze swords were some times far better than iron ones but to fix a broken bronze sword you were looking at re casting it while with iron you could re work it in the field as it were

They're elegant! Leaf bladed swords were given to the Hobbits by Tom Bombadil in Fellowship of the Ring. "For each of the hobbits he chose a dagger, long, leaf-shaped, and keen, of marvellous workmanship, damasked with serpent-forms in red and gold."

@korstmahler

8 ай бұрын

I find it excellent that those were Barrow Blades, as if the Middle Earth world had a similar magical bronze age with leaf shaped blades as the style.(even if it was a strange kind of Damascene or engraved steel by description)

@bretthess6376

8 ай бұрын

Well cited.

Please make a video trying to build a leaf bladed longsword and test it for its strengths and weaknesses! i'd love to see your and Tyranths take on it!!

@Ranstone

8 ай бұрын

Please! Also, make your own bronze sword from start to finish! if it ends up sucking, that's a lesson in itself!

@charlieb1441

8 ай бұрын

I agree

@user-qw5fo1tr1t

8 ай бұрын

I think it is great idea. This blade profile (short and compact two handed leaf blade) appeals to me, but this particular blade have few problems according to Shed's test that in some way make it worse than one handed version. I was inspired by their succesfull attemp at making falshion out of modern machete and thus fixing some glaring flaws and make it practical. I would like to see a "fixed" version of this blade made by Shad and company.

@WJS774

8 ай бұрын

Not sure if forging blades is within their capabilities. They've rehilted several blades in the past, but that's a whole different kettle of fish to forging the blade in the first place.

@TheChadPad

8 ай бұрын

People make them! There’s the Sage by Darksword Armory that I’d like to see him review

Another thing to consider is the types of armor that were being dealt with. I feel like a sharper, more needle-pointed blade is going to be more easily able to defeat mail, and later plate armor (in a pinch) than something with a broader head on it like a leaf-shaped blade.

@DanJMW

8 ай бұрын

A leaf-shape might even get jammed in metal armour more easily, as the wide section acts like barb. That won't be the case with straight or tapered blades.

@nobodyspecial115

8 ай бұрын

The shape does handle leather pretty well. The middle thin part makes the intial cut an the tip cuts deeper in

@HomicideJack187

8 ай бұрын

@@nobodyspecial115 Oh, certainly. But I think a coat of plates is going to defeat that thing rather handily. An axe is going to have more effect against mail armor, too. I just don't see how a leaf shaped blade would have been effective once you start seeing iron and steel armor being introduced.

@nobodyspecial115

8 ай бұрын

@@HomicideJack187 yeah which is more than likely why they kind of disappeared once that kind of armor became common place.

@1stCallipostle

7 ай бұрын

​@@HomicideJack187Granted though, most any cut focused blade is gonna be ass against mail, and they outlived the rest as a concept. Though the curved crew kinda did better at staying in choppy Vogue

I think it is likely the manufacture of bronze swords produced leaf shapes almost by accident. If you cast a bronze blank fairly straight and even, then work the point and cutting edges to harden them but leave the base of the blade unworked and soft. The cutting portion of the sword is going to expand out and thin through, flaring that section to a shape like the falchion Shad holds in the video. Adjust the original blank to make a better point and take a bit of weight from the base, and the finished blade is leaf shaped.

Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin. Brass is the alloy you get when you mix copper and zinc.

@Cyber_Nomad01

8 ай бұрын

There are many types of bronze, not just copper/tin

@bigmoe9856

8 ай бұрын

Didn't know about the Brass composition so neat

@bigmoe9856

8 ай бұрын

Didn't know about the Brass composition so neat

@dangerouswitch1066

8 ай бұрын

Thanks for th3 metallurgy reminder

I think one of the best aspects of a leaf blade from a fantasy-writer's standpoint is that it has an organic elegance inherent in its leafyness. I have a fantasy war-scythe design I've been working on -- of the single-edged cutting-spear variety, not the grim reaper kind -- that has similar plant-inspired form.

@RazorO2Productions

8 ай бұрын

It's also very Elvish when you think about it.

In my quirky opinion the leaf blade is #2, right after the recurved blades of Iberia. The falcata and kopis, and their distant cousin twice removed, the Kukri, have my favorite blade profile. Heavy and choppy but the angle makes them pretty stabby too, and they're extremely practical. They frequently appear in my own fantasy stories. Also, the sirupate kukri is a much longer, borderline machete variant of the kukri that not only looks amazing but handles more like a short sword. It frequently hangs on my belt while exploring the forests of my native Midwestern United States.

I absolutely love the design. It's as elegant as it is functional. I'll be adding this to my dnd campaign!

I remember the first time I saw the sword of Gandalf, “Glamdring”. As shown in the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings movies. I’ve loved leaf blade Longsword a ever since. I’ve designed many over the years.

A bronze leaf blade sword can stab better than a straight bronze sword, but an iron/steel sword does not benefit nearly as much for thrusting from the shape, hence such iron swords are very rare, but it is a common bronze pattern.

@marceloantunes998

8 ай бұрын

Because bronze needs a wider tip otherwise it bends rather than stabing? The leaf isn't just for better chopping power but it's structurally needed for thrusting?

@nostalji75

8 ай бұрын

@@marceloantunes998 I call bs. Justmake it thicker at the hilt, if you dont want your sword to bend. Having an actual leaf form does nothing here. Metal will bend at its weakes point, which makes this form a negative. The only benefit I see is more heavyness towards the topside which lets you chop harder. But thats limited by the quality of the metal... So the only actual reason to make these kind of swords are aestetics.

@TheAchilles26

8 ай бұрын

​@@nostalji75 leaf blade bronze swords ARE thicker near the hilt. Wider across the flat =\= thicker.

@nostalji75

8 ай бұрын

@@TheAchilles26 well the dimension doesn't really matter. My point is that the leaf form itself gives u most likely unessessary weight while you actively create a weak spot on ur sword. Its even worse because the weak spot is close to the hilt. It literally makes a sword weaker. If you want a good chopping tool take an axe. Obviously you can make some decent swords with bronce in the leaf form, but except the looks I see no point why this form wouldve been used. Maybe for balance.

@TheAchilles26

8 ай бұрын

@@nostalji75 you clearly have no idea what you're talking about

When it comes to leaf shaped blades going ot of fashion, I assume that it has to do with steel being somewhat more prone to break rather than bend like bronze does so it ought to be pretty hard to make leaf shaped iron or steel blades that don't have a tendency to snap at the narrow portion.

I love the leaf blade design, I've always assumed because it was quite a bit harder to forge iron into that shape using the initial colder forges. And by the time forging techniques improved that design had been more or less forgotten.

I will always stand by you Shad

Seconds into the video I was thinking of Sting and Shad did not disappoint in bringing that blade up. This is why I love your channel, Shad!

Just wanted to say we support you Shad! 💪

xiphos is metal af. I'm in 100% agreement. I think your bronze to iron theory is a good one. Once the style had changed they'd have needed a really good reason to swap back.

Some of those verti-green museum leaf blades from ancient history are so beautiful and so enchantingly old - pre-Han China, prehistoric Britain, they're always gorgeous

My first legit 'sword' is a leaf blade gladius. The same one even from the best home defense sword video. Incredibly affordable, and really cool leaf shape blade

@johnchristianson515

8 ай бұрын

Always loved the look of a leaf blade Gladius

Hey Shad, I just found out about the recent drama with Matt from Schola Gladiatoria. Stand strong 💪

That pool noodle being left uncut is criminal. 😢

Always liked these kinda blades they have a nice mix of fantasy and practicality. Also remember that bronze and iron were used in tandem during the transition to the iron age, until they were all phased out (wonder if they became family heirlooms?)

"The sword that Disappeared from history" Me: *smiling, hopeful of Falcata" Shad: Leaf-blade swords! Me: D: Jokes aside though I think towards the end you made a very good point as to why these (and maybe my obsession) just stopped showing up historically. There was a long time in between the Ancient and Medieval periods so it really could of just been "lost tech"

Leaf blades might never have come back into fashion because, both for busting mail rings and for getting into gaps of plate armor, having a flared tip counterproductive. You want that tip to be as narrow as possible so it doesn't get caught between plates and it only has to bust a couple rings to get into the juicy bits beneath the mail.

Really like your critique of this blade. I think its downfall in terms of popularity was as you said, likely the time that went into production, forging, grinding etc. When you have to equip armies of 10,000's finesse goes out of the window even for the smallest detail and saving even just a few minutes on production of each unit becomes important. You can see even more changes in sword design much later in history when mass production became popular.

Another great video, Shad👍👍 Also, really sorry you had to go through the Schola drama. Nothing worse than a friend becoming a turn-coat due to mob pressure. Please, don't let this stop you from trusting others and making friends. Here in Nigeria, despite the issues we face, most of us strive for co-existence with each other. I am a Christian and conservative myself but a good portion of my friends (both back in Nigeria and in Canada where I currently live) aren't Christian or conservative but are simply good people who share fun interests with me and know of my beliefs but also trust my good nature and I theirs. There are more of those. I know how politics has polarized the western world but surely the majority or people there are not as irrational as Matt. Please, do not stop trusting others and making friends and making good content, sir.

@elio7610

8 ай бұрын

What drama?

@dallassukerkin6878

8 ай бұрын

@@elio7610 A most sad case of one of our sword-content creators (Matt Easton) falling to the Woke cancel-culture mob and going much further than most, basically putting out a public character assassination of Shad because he's Christian and not a raving Leftie.

@stuartclarke3171

8 ай бұрын

@@dallassukerkin6878 Oh, so it was Shad that Mat was talking about in his obscure video. Honestly the way that Mr Easton was whinning about being unhappy with someone else's political views I thought to myself what did he do, did he accidentally do some work with C18?

@mikefule330

8 ай бұрын

I missed the "Schola drama". I unfollowed Scholagladiatoria after a particularly arrogant response from Matt to a comment I made challenging one of his opinions. I can't recall the details, but I can recall he didn't like having his opinion confronted, be it ever so respectfully.

When I was in middle school I drew black knights with leafblade shaped swords, I was unaware of all of the sword blade shape advantage/disadvantages back then but I thought it looked cool for a 100% black knight to have a long sword with a wide end on it covered in black fire.

boar hunting swords do kind of have some similarities to leaf blades. they aren't really made for the same task, but they still combine a strong base with a vicious tip for deep cutting thrusts

@GrandDawggy

8 ай бұрын

Wow that's cool, I knew about boar spears but not swords.

@jacksonsmiler8028

8 ай бұрын

​@@GrandDawggythe sword was used mostly to deliver the coup de grâce

@GrandDawggy

8 ай бұрын

@@jacksonsmiler8028 I just watched a segment from forged in fire about them and yes coup de grace is a good way to describe it more elegantly than "absolutely devastating final blows to pigs" lol I like that it has the stops like a boar spear or lion spear has to prevent the beast still charging you while impaled absolutely fantastic bit of kit, well I bet the boars did think so. Edit: correction it's a tigar spear not lion I get the two confused due to dyslexia.

@galdramann2478

8 ай бұрын

@@GrandDawggy I just love the German word for the boar spear, Saufeder (literally "sow-feather").^^

@GrandDawggy

8 ай бұрын

@@galdramann2478 that is another really cool fact, thank you 👍👍

stay strong Shad!!!!!

I love the curve of a single edged sword. But I also love the utility of the double edged sword. The leaf blade unites my two great loves. I no longer have to choose.

I always thought leaf-blades were the best design, because they're equally excellent at cutting/slashing *and* stabbing.

@PhilBagels

8 ай бұрын

And the wide part should make an excellent chopping weapon. Giving some axe-like abilities to the sword.

@allstarwoo4

8 ай бұрын

yes but if you're a soldier in battle now you have to repair the damage that incurred. Straight blades just use a regular grind wheel or even just a stone to reestablish a straight profile and sharpen. Leaf shaped blades you need a skinny rounded grind wheel or a thin rounded stone for the concaves. They look great but once you want to repair the damage you might regret you desicion.

@killerkraut9179

8 ай бұрын

@@allstarwoo4 i am not sure , while leaf bladed swords came back in the 18-19 century for the military! Maybe where still used in the early 20 century!

@allstarwoo4

8 ай бұрын

@@killerkraut9179 I'm just speaking from a logistical standpoint point. Shad also pointed out the simplest gladius was also the best to arm an army.

Shad just can't let that sword go, no matter how flawed it is. I've been trying to talk myself out of it too. I should get the UC gladius... But there's just something about it. Damnit.

@eatonknass247

8 ай бұрын

I have the UC gladius. I think it's the more aggressive leaf shape. Curves, man. Curves are sexy

Here to support the algorithm because Shad is awesome. Its that simple.

And the leaf blade is and has always been my favorite lol I never thought I would see a video on it though so THANK YOU SHAD!!!!!!!!!!!! This has been a hard week for our family and our pastors family as well so a fun video I didn't think I would get to see? Perfectly timed guys! And whoever chose to launch it today while shad is off seeing castles THANK YOU!!! If it was a knight they need a raise if the lady she needs to be spoiled for a month if the shadlings then THEY need to be spoiled for at least a week and get extra cookies hot chocolate and ice cream with a family movie night!

Leaf shaped blades were specifically made to overcome the weakness of making swords out of bronze. Once they stopped making swords out of bronze the leaf shape was unnecessary and harder to make since they would have to be forged rather than cast, so they fell out of favor. Bronze is a lot softer than steel or iron so to get extra durability out of the blade they had to make the cutting edge wider and the the middle of the blade thicker but this isn't necessary for a steel sword and would be less effective because of how much heavier the steel is. The leaf shaped blade was probably the most efficient design for bronze but it definitely not the most efficient design for a steel sword. Still looks cool though

@TheFredmac

8 ай бұрын

I think it is possible that attacking someone with iron armor or shield would make a bronze cutting edge useless rather quickly.

@ChrisHolman

8 ай бұрын

Early Roman Gladius was a leaf shaped steel short sword.

@dariuspatrick1385

8 ай бұрын

@@ChrisHolman sure, it was during the iron age so that makes since but even then they were already starting to fall out of favor eventually being replaced by the spatha, which has a straight blade

@dariuspatrick1385

8 ай бұрын

@@TheFredmac yup, that's why they stopped making weapons out of bronze when steel and iron became more common

@ChrisHolman

8 ай бұрын

@@dariuspatrick1385 You're not wrong. Just pointing out one example. There was a transitional period that the early gladius fell into.

6:16 ...Copper and tin. Copper and zinc make brass. 🤓 But to be fair, in ancient times, people weren't very picky about different kinds of white metals.

Esthetically speaking you're looking very rugged and rad my friend. Digging the look. God bless you friend.

I love the Celtic bronze age leaf blade swords. I noticed they don't flare out as much and I wonder if that's due to horseback combat. As for the leaf blade dying out, look at it as a smith. The king wants 100 good swords within a month or two. You need to make those as fast as possible, so you make them straight.

Leaf blades are cool n practical. Also nice to see your in UK 🇬🇧 We are based lower feltham if you want to say hi n nerd heh But my BIG recommendation is BRIDGENORTH as well as the nice Severn vally railway the oldest mechanical clock, medieval pub/tavern and the fact its a CITADEL might peak your interest 😉 😜 Just thoughts...

Hey shad love your videos, love to see a fantasy rearmed series return maybe with something like the atlatal or something. Can’t wait for your next video.

Ooh, look at that, Shad is back in Australia again.That's the magic of youtube, I suppose. Now to cross my fingers for Oz to make an appearance at some point as a guest for the Wheel of Time reviews.

I have wondered about why leaf shaped blades lost popularity, i have only really seen people talk about how good they are so it seems strange that people mostly stopped using them.

@kyriss12

8 ай бұрын

the design looks like it would be great for soft targets, but when encountering any kind of armor, you'd probably want something aimed more towards piercing. Also, when working with a softer metal like bronze, the leaf shape is going to be more durable, but with harder metals that access material is going to ad weight and be more trouble to hammer into shape.

@elio7610

8 ай бұрын

@@kyriss12 It might be too wide to fit between gaps of armor but the shape is still pointy. Not all steel blades are designed for piercing anyway. I suppose it is easy to say good things about the design but it may just not actually make all that great of a sword in practice. It is interesting that a more polygonal version of this leaf blade design is very common in cartoon swords, i guess that could be called "diamond" shaped.

Leaf shaped blades are most definitely my personal favourite. Another factor to why they went out of fashion is their origin point as opposed to the peoples who migrated through and took over Europe during Rome's decline. To my knowledge, the leaf shape is predominantly Greek in origin, and most Roman swords were straight as you brought out, for ease of mass production similar to the system they had set up for making Segmentata armour. Also, the Germanic tribes, who took over after Rome, had metalworking traditions mostly involving straight blades. Seems fair to say that if it ain't broke, don't fix it, and if we have straight blades that cut perfectly well, there's no real need to improve on them

This is the first time I'm Early for a Shad Video. Nice Sword!

@collinnicolazzo2065

8 ай бұрын

Ikr it so exhilarating isn't it

@thechuckjosechannel.2702

8 ай бұрын

​@@collinnicolazzo2065Yes it is, I Love learning about Swords.

@collinnicolazzo2065

8 ай бұрын

@@thechuckjosechannel.2702 I know it's a blast

I always though that leaf blades are awesome, but I never imagined that they were that much harder to make! Very nice learning that!

I can’t believe Matt Easton did you like that Shad! Screw that guy, a coward indeed. I will never watch another one of his videos not that he cares. Your great Shad, keep up the good work.

Literally the perfect sword. I have nothing else to say.

Love your videos, Shad!! Hope your doing well, God bless.

I loved leaf blades since I saw a leaf blade dagger at my local ren fair years ago. I have a character that I am making that uses one but still has parts of its design that needs work.

Great content as always. God bless you, brother.

A part of me thinks that an increase in the usage of armour and more importantly hard armour might of had a role, as a sword it looks great for cutting and stabbing but I wonder how well it holds up physically when it comes to striking metal, especially with that thinner middle. Added to that the prevalence of iron and iron swords being harder to repair than bronze swords I suspect that may have had something to do with their initial decline.

The difficulty in making them, both the forging and the sharpening, make sense as to why they stopped being made. But if there were enough people wanti g to use them in high enough positions, they'd still be around. It makes me think that the issue may be additionally compounded by difficulty in usage. They are my favorite style, combining the inward curve of a kukri style, with an ojtward curve of swords like scimitars and dao, while still having a double edge, and a nice stabbing point. But they take more effort to make, both in smith training and in energy used to make them, and take more practice to use well, to make proper use of the advantages of the style. Modern materials and methods can overcome the material issues, but even now they are not as popular. Which is unfortunate, as they are a sexy sword design. And as fantasy media doesn't often capitalize on real weapon properties, but more often vague "magical" ones, you often get hack job representation. A great example, was the sword used in Xena. It was a nice leaf blade, but the show did no justice to it. it was never intended to be accurate, but still it was my first visual of leaf blades, and where i developed my interest. In the old world, making a sword once, was hard, but having to fix mistakes, even more work. If a smkth could more easily make a mistake on a leaf blade, or just had to take mlre time on it, they'd much prefer to make straight blades.

I like the curve of the leaf blade. Not only is there more weight on the tip, but the curve looks helpful for drawing a cut across a weak point in a fight against an opponent who is well-armored, giving you the option of defeating your opponent by blood loss (only an option in a fight to the death). The double edge also suggests versatility, finding purchase in either edge to draw a bloody cut.

OOOO Shad is in 2 places at once. Seeing Englands castles and back home in AU making videos. He is a super hero. :)

Hey Shad: at 6:20 you mentioned that Bronze is Zinc and Copper. Metatron made a video a couple weeks back or so talking about Bronze and its alloys. In his video he mentioned that Bronze is 10% Tin with the rest being copper (with or wiout things contextually of coarse). I hope you enjoy the rest of your trip in Europe! Enjoy some of that fine cuisine 👌

My guess (before even watching the video): Leaf shaped blades work best on short swords, cause on longer swords the leaf shape would either be less pronounced and therefore useless or would make the sword way to wide and heavy at the tip, making it harder to steath aswell. Shortsword however went out of fashion after the classical period so did leaf shaped blades. Also when it comes to swords being designed for cutting they were kinda replaced by sabers, cutlasses etc which, when you think about it, are basically just "half" of a leaf shaped blade, so they safe material, weight and space and are still decent at stabbing.

Shad showing love to the leaf blade is a reminder that no sword should be left out.

First time on the channel, this is really cool. I have collected swords over the years but was never deep into it the details. You are awesome!

I love it! The leaf blade shape is so beautiful, and I think it is the superior design. It can cut and thrust better than straight and curved swords, respectively. It’s like a jack of all trades. I’d like to see you review the Sage by Darksword Armory if you ever feel like tackling a leaf-bladed longsword!

@ericaugust1501

4 ай бұрын

i expect it to be less nimble than a straight blade. the bulge at the tip surely makes it more top heavy. one of the things shad missed was that the longer the blade can be, thanks to iron tech, the further away the bulge will be from the hand, making it even more top heavy and thus even less nimble, etc, than the shorter bronze blades. I like the blade shape, but certainly there are drawbacks.

@TheChadPad

4 ай бұрын

@@ericaugust1501 that’s probably true. It does shift the balance quite a bit

Leaf blade is my favourite style.

"Perhaps leaf blades just weren't worth the effort." Flamberge: "Allow me to introduce myself!"

I love gladii with flared tips; they just look amazing. (I mean Mainz style if I'm describing it wrong.) I think you're right with it just being more difficult to make, compared to a straight blade.

Sorry to hear about Matt Easton, how despicable Hope he realises his fault, but it's very unlikely. Shameful.

F$%^ the haters, keep going man!!!

Oohhhh I was looking forward to another vid of yours!!! Glad I ran into you guys!!!

I Love it!! So much Logic and knowledge with an entertaining presentation. Great Job!!!

Shadmans stepped up his game from his former profession!

@asahearts1

8 ай бұрын

Fir a minute I was wondering why you were mentioning that particular comic artist (Shadman) who is known for... patrician taste. 😂

@John-pe7nf

8 ай бұрын

@@asahearts1 i had to idk why it hasnt been done earlier xD. Names aged. Like a fine yogurt. Extra frothy

Before I watch, I think the leaf shaped blade really lent itself to bronze swords, that needed that flare at the point of impact to reduce the risk of bending. When iron started coming to the fore, blacksmiths simply used the shapes they saw in bronze at first, but then realized they don't need that shape.

@nostalji75

8 ай бұрын

So it will just bend further down the hilt at the thinnest part. Honestly I think the only reason someone would design a weapon that way is because it looks nice.

@TheAchilles26

8 ай бұрын

​@@nostalji75 you clearly didn't pay attention to the description of the material benefits and the concept of a distal taper

@Unpainted_Huffhines

8 ай бұрын

@@nostalji75 if they hit with the thinner waist near the hilt sure, it'd be more likely to bend there but swords arent often used like that. I was referring to the most common place the sword would be struck.

@nostalji75

8 ай бұрын

@@Unpainted_Huffhines But the indents just give the sword a weakspot dont they? If you ram your sword in a shield or other armor, chances are it bends at its thinnest part.

@nostalji75

8 ай бұрын

@@TheAchilles26 what has distal taper to do with the leaf form? The topic of this discussion? Or material benefits if we talking about the functionality of a shape? The question isnt whether it can be done, but why it should be done. And I dont really see any functional reason.

You're the fuckin' man! Keep being you and don't bow down to ANYONE or ANY HATER!

If you want a nice leaf shaped sword check out Valiant Armoury. They make them in short, arming, long and warsword sizes and with your choice of dye for the veg tanned leather handle and scabbard.

Based and Shadpilled

You see more of that blade profile on spears then anything else.

@TheSteam02

8 ай бұрын

Probably because spearheads are smaller and require less effort to make. Making a leaf-blade sword would require a lot more work than on a spearhead.

@mansfieldtime

8 ай бұрын

@@TheSteam02 Not to mention how effective the design is at thrusting. As Shad mentioned it is a good cutter, but a smaller blade the thrust is use more.

Love ya shad keep on truckin brother

Glad you made this video because I was curious about that as well

Based outside of youtube channel too, subscribed.

i remember an old anime called the sacred blacksmith which is about a smith who made a girl, the MC, a leaf shaped sword, and she asks him about the shape and why it's not triangular like everyone elses, and he says in my own words "your smaller than them, this is lighter, nimble, no less stronger, AND you can slash and stab optimally with this design where as other sword are better at one of the other, though you won't have the slashing a claymore does, or the stabbing a rapier does, you'll do both better than most the common swords the soldiers carry" it was one of those "truth in the exaggeration" moments where he overly exaggerated how good or better a leaf shape blade was, but it was an interesting take at a time every anime was going "oh glorious nippon swords of the east folded a gazilion times can cuz the universe!" so it was nice

Great video! Informative and very interesting.

For a second there I though Gary was right and I had CERN'd to a different universe. My classical studies made me really appreciate the leaf blade, so thinking it was only recently discovered (just based on the title) made me question if Dr. Strange was messing about... again. Though I would like to see the Maple Leaf design sword, and possibly a Palm. You know, for diversity

Isn't bronze usually copper and tin rather than copper and zinc?

@wolokowoh0

8 ай бұрын

Correct. The latter is brass, not bronze. His point about relativite scarcity was still correct. Brass in most most forms isn't good for swords as thin brass would break far too easily and would alright for blunt weapons like knuckles but bronze of many alloy variations is for good anything melee.

Another awesome video from you, Shad, that covered a really interesting topic. And after watching it, I find myself agreeing most with your idea that it was a combination of multiple factors that caused the leaf-blade sword style to go out of mainstream style, because very often that is what history has shown us time and time again. It usually isn't one single factor that causes events on such a massive scale, but instead it's more often a combination of factors that lead to that outcome. And you provided a lot of strong evidence for that being the exact same case with leaf-shaped blades going out of style.

Very nice vid, thx Shad ✨

north african and sudanese swords have examples of leaf blades

@admirekashiri9879

8 ай бұрын

Yep, and some West African ones like the Benin Opia sword.

Twitter didn't exist yet in the medieval times, so nobody got cancelled if they wanted something to be straight.

Loved the info, very interesting.

super cool sword shape and great overview on the history :)

Just read what that slime ball Matt said about you, I immediately unsubscribed from him and told him what I thought of him. You may be the kindest most decent guy on YT, attacking you is just beyond the Pale. Stay strong and do not bow to the woke religious bigots.

matt seem's like a coward. keep it up with your silly videos, I like them.

Thanks for the video😊

Great content as always!

I just saw Matts post about you shad. What a snake. All power too you .