The parts of a sword

The blade is the whole steel section from the guard to the point. Everything forward of the hilt belongs to it, including the edges, the flats and the fuller.

A blade is never flat. In section it may be lenticular, diamond or hexagonal, and it thins towards the point. That taper decides whether a sword cuts or thrusts — and whether it feels light in the hand or pulls forward.

The long groove running down the centre of the blade — depending on the type, from half its length to almost the point. It is not a blood groove: that story has nothing to do with how swords are made or used.

The fuller removes mass from where it does no work, the middle of the section, and leaves material at the edges. The sword gets lighter without getting weaker. The same principle as an I-beam.

The thrusting end of the blade. Its shape dates a sword faster than anything else: the later the type, the sharper the taper into the point.

That was not fashion but an answer to armour. Once plate replaced mail, cutting stopped being enough and fighters went looking for gaps — which needs a point as stiff as an awl.

The bar between blade and grip. It protects the hand and lets you bind and control an opponent's blade.

Roman spathae and Viking swords had short guards already; the turning point was the cross lengthening in the 11th century. The hand could finally work in front of the shield line — no other detail changed swordplay as much. The section may be octagonal or rectangular, the arms straight, waisted or curved towards the blade.

A wooden core fitted over the tang, covered in leather and wrapped with cord or wire. It is the part that wears out first and gets replaced most often.

Its length — not the length of the blade — is what names the type: arming sword, longsword or two-hander.

The counterweight peened onto the end of the tang. It pulls the point of balance back towards the hand; without it even a light sword would drag forward.

Its shape dates a sword as well as the point does: disc, Brazil nut, the lobed Viking pommel, truncated cone. Oakeshott built a whole separate typology on them.

The extension of the blade hidden inside the grip, finished with a rivet peened over the pommel. The only part you cannot see, and the one that decides whether the sword holds together at all.

In a sound sword the tang runs the full length of the grip. Blades with a short tang glued into the handle break exactly there on the first hard cut — which is why they are good for nothing but a wall.

A wooden core covered in leather, with a steel chape at the tip and a fitting at the throat. It protects the edge and carries the sword — but it is not for storage.

Leather holds moisture and carries tannins, so a blade left in its scabbard for months pits precisely where nobody looks.