Very nice! Digging the khopesh.

The question becomes, is that a kypiq's sword or a brudvirs dagger or a yoru's toothpick 0,0

Very nicely done, though I don't find use of bone a viable blade material given the low fantasy setting. Maybe some very rare creature has bone that strong but it would be so rare that it could not be the normal sword material.

Posted By Lodrig at 12:36 AM - Tue Jul 25 2017

Very nicely done, though I don't find use of bone a viable blade material given the low fantasy setting. Maybe some very rare creature has bone that strong but it would be so rare that it could not be the normal sword material.

I believe it says that is the weapon material for them, not sure though.

Can't tell if the Dras handle is backwards or just strangely designed.

Very nice designs Hellmoon. Symbolically very good though some tribes would likely not use swords (Kyqip-not conducive to guerrilla fighting/small size, Dras as spears combined with long arms better choice).

Posted By Takeda_Shinukage at 8:44 PM - Mon Jul 24 2017

Posted By Lodrig at 12:36 AM - Tue Jul 25 2017

Very nicely done, though I don't find use of bone a viable blade material given the low fantasy setting. Maybe some very rare creature has bone that strong but it would be so rare that it could not be the normal sword material.

I believe it says that is the weapon material for them, not sure though.

When bone is/has historically been used to create weapons it is used by creating spear heads or arrowheads. This is because bones structure allows a point to be put on one end and remain structurally sound but if any alterations are done to its edges it rapidly losses strength. Also just think of how bones are in your body, they are meant to hold weight vertically (aka standing) meaning they can take the force of a thrust but when turned horizontal a sectional piece of bone cannot take the same force without breaking (which would be cutting or blocking with a sword)

Very creative and nicely done! I like the curved blade of The Waerd with its kopesh and ninjato inspirations.

Posted By mickdude2 at 06:46 AM - Tue Jul 25 2017

Can't tell if the Dras handle is backwards or just strangely designed.

once you see it, you cannot make it unseen. Oh god. :O

Nice drawings, but the brudvir sword doesn't really look like it is made for cleaving or hacking IMHO, same with the Hrothi. In my opinion the Brudvir sword looks like a normal 2h sword and would be used as such.

The Hrothi sword looks like a Gladius almost which is a almost purely stabbing weapon, sure you can hack but most damage would of been via stabbing.

Gorgeous artwork @Hellmoon!

For Janoa I was thinking in a Kopic style but when you look their matirials it make sense what you have drawn. For Kypiq I imagined a leaf-shaped swords. The rest of them i absolutly love it!

Posted By Maulvorn at 10:12 AM - Tue Jul 25 2017

Nice drawings, but the brudvir sword doesn't really look like it is made for cleaving or hacking IMHO, same with the Hrothi. In my opinion the Brudvir sword looks like a normal 2h sword and would be used as such.

The Hrothi sword looks like a Gladius almost which is a almost purely stabbing weapon, sure you can hack but most damage would of been via stabbing.

First of all, thanks for giving me the possbility to comment on this thread without only criticising the artist.

Let me start with you though. The Brudvir sword looks like a very good sword for chopping etc. it has a broad, heavy blade, same goes for the Hrothi sword.

The gladius is definitely not "almost purely a stabbing weapon". The gladius is a good sword to chop with, but because the roman soldiers usually also carried a scutum, stabbing was the thing you did when fighting other 'roman' soldiers, which might be where this misconception hails from.

Now to the swords themselves:

The Brudvir sword lacks a pommel, and is made out of bone(?!). Could maybe be used as a ceremonial sword, but, as someone already mentioned bones don't really lend themselves to cutting weapons. Besides, the Brudvir are allied with the Hrothi, so metal should be easy enough to come by. Since this also implies that metal armor might be relatively prelevant in the north, it would also make sense to have a slimmer blade, so the point can thrust through mail etc.

The janoan sword has some of the same problems (bone, no pommel) as the brudvir's, but also has no kind of handprotection e.g. a crossguard. Its length also makes it unwieldy, and keep in mind Janoa might want to climb with their weapons.

The other swords have typical fantasy problems aswell, namely too heavy blades, useless crossguards, and too many spikes.

There are three that are good though: the Hrothi, the Dras and the To'resk swords.

Not to say the others don't look cool aswell, but those three are functional weapons, without glaring issues.

Edit 1: the 'reversed' handle on the Dras sabre is something you can find on for example the falcata.

Nice!

If you all want to get into specifics and get real swords of each tribe IRL based on Hellmoon's interpretations:

Brudvir = Oakeshott Type XVIIIe

Janoa = Elmslie 3d

Waerd = Elmslie 3e (or an Egyptian Khopesh)

To'resk = Oakeshott Type XII with a 15b Cross Style

Neran = Oakeshott Type XII (cross guards that aren't flat or pointing towards the tip never existed and wouldn't serve the purpose of protecting the fencer)

Dras = Elmslie 4b

Hrothi = Oakeshott Type XIII

Kypiq = Oakeshott Type XV

For critiquing: Blades are a bit too thick and the handles are a bit too wide or the length are too small in proportion of the blades size. Keep crossguards flat or pointed towards the blade to protect the hand. I know it's not shown, but ensure that the handles are oval with the narrow end towards the edge when imagining these weapons.

For straight blades, the best cutter I've personally seen were Type XVIIIc's as shown in this past tournament (I believe all of them used one) Advanced Cutting Tournament Finals as well as this Short edge combo from Dustin Reagan

Note: the typology of swords as well as some of the naming conventions we use today like "broadsword" is a modern invention and a lot of text describing the different types like arming and sidesword and shortsword came from movies, fantasy books, video games and renaissance scholars who were noted to describe knights needing cranes to mount their horses and invented the visored barbutte, both "old facts" that were horribly wrong and because it's "old" and "documented by an old source" doesn't mean they correctly interpreted an even older subject. They'd go as far as fabricate evidence such as the aforementioned visored barbutte.

If you want to get super detailed, especially with straight blades, use circles for proportions. A lot of documents show that the sword dimensions back in the day were described as "X" amount of "circles" long when compared to the handle. They kinda went the Masons route of engineering using basic geometry to make complex objects:

Other than that, I dig how you document, give size comparison and go over locational resources for each sword! Keep it coming!

Awesome job Hellmoon. Really a fantastic idea beyond any possible comment.

Hope to see more of this in the future! :D

Great job on the designs very well thought out @Hellmoon!