Claymore is a sword that contains part of the soul of a true warrior and knight

Every nation connects all its great victories witha certain type of weapon, close to him in spirit and famous in battles. He is sung by the heroic epic, numerous legends and legends. For Scotland, such weapons became the claymore-sword, which at one time was widely used by the mountaineers, and later found its place in the cinema.

Since ancient times the sword was considered compulsoryelement in the equipment of any warrior. He occupies an honorable place among other legendary weapons. In the old days, not a single battle could be dispensed with without its use. Weapons have been in many bloody battles.

The history of the sword

On the territory of Scotland in the fifteenth -In the sixteenth century, severe local battles were fought. Conflicts occurred between the warring clans of highlanders. Clashes often occurred between the native inhabitants of Scotland and their oppressors from England. In these years, a claymore sword was invented, which was massively used by the tribes of the Highlanders, and from 1689, after the Battle of Kallikranki, became a national weapon for the Scots.

Dimensions of the Claymore Gun

The sword took its name from the chaildheamh mor, which in Scottish means "great sword." The weapons are of considerable size.

The Scottish two-handed sword claymore has a blade 1 m long. The weapon reaches the person from the floor to the chest or up to the neck.

Design

When creating weapons, many nuances are taken into account, each peculiarity is given a unique uniqueness, which allows the product to be original and original.

One of the mandatory elements in the designThe sword is the guarda. The standard garda received minor changes in the process of creating a claymore gun. The mountaineers' sword differs from its counterparts by crossing the guard, directed forward at a slight angle to the blade. An original form enabled the mountaineers to carry out the capture of enemy blades and turn them out of hand.

Along the blade on the crosshair there are severaltechnical arcs. In the area of ​​the crosshairs, a slight narrowing is observed near the end of the arch. The decoration of the sword is also original. To create a picture, the casting procedure is applied. The image of a four-leafed clover made on a guard is a traditional decoration that distinguishes a claymore (sword). The photo below shows the features of the exterior design of this Scottish weapon.

The technique of "flattering"

A characteristic feature of the two-handed ScottishThe sword of a claymore is considered to be its large size. At the same time, while preserving the blade's standard length for these swords during the manufacture of certain products by Scottish masters, changes were made to their parameters. As a result of improvements, the swords were equipped with a new element - the "ricasso" - an undeveloped area near the cross of the guard.

The presence of the "ricasso" enabled the mountaineerseffectively apply during the battle techniques halbschwent, which in translation from Scottish means "half-sword." Its essence lies in the fact that the soldier could safely take his hand for an undefined section of the blade, direct it for an accurate strike, without fear of injury. This technique has shown its effectiveness in those cases when it was necessary to make piercing strokes in the articulation of the armor of the enemy in combat. In such situations, the legendary Scottish sword claymore was used as an ordinary spear.

Differences between Scottish stigma and European swords

By its dimensions, the mountaineers' sword is somewhat inferiortheir European counterparts. The claymore sword, whose weight is also smaller than the similar two-handed European swords of that time, gives the warrior the opportunity to wield them much faster and more efficiently. This is due to the fact that the weapon is light, not bulky, has increased speed and maneuverability. All claymores have a good balance.

Museum Claymores

• In the gallery "Kelvingrove", located in Glasgow,The ancient sword of the Scottish Highlanders, dated 1410, is kept. The handle of this product is designed for grasping in one and a half hands. Despite the fact that the weight of the sword is only 1.48 kg, it belongs to the class of heavy weapons. Blade length of 89.5 cm has a shape with a rounded point. The width of the blade closer to the cross of the guard is 5.2 cm and gradually decreases further to the point - 3.7 cm. This form allows to judge that this claymore was intended for cutting more with the aim of breaking through the defense of the opponent than for applying point piercing strokes .
• Similar sword claymore with a handle, calculatedon one hand, can be seen at the museum in Philadelphia. This weapon is much smaller than the product stored in the Kelvingrove. The total length of a one-handed sword is 89.5 cm. Weight - 0.63 kg.
• In the National Scottish Museum in EdinburghThe sword of claymore, made in the sixteenth century, is kept. This two-handed weapon has a total length of 148.6 cm. Of these, 111.8 cm is the length of the blade. Of all two-handed guns of this type, this is the heaviest claymore sword. The weight of the product is 2.6 kg.
• In the same museum there is a one-handed versionclaymore. The blade of this sword reaches 87 cm, and the weight of the weapon is 0.82 kg. For the plains of Scotland are characterized by stigma, equipped with long and heavy blades. Such products are classified as a continental type.
• In the Dublin Museum, a Scottish sword is keptclaymore, found in Ireland. The weapon was made by German smiths from Luneburg. The product contains a stigma that depicts a lion standing on its hind legs. There was a suggestion that this claymore was not created in Scotland. This was confirmed during the chemical and metallurgical survey of the sword. It was found that forging weapons used ore, characteristic of the German area.
• In one of the museums of Great Britain is keptThe one-handed claymore, which weighs half a kilo and the blade has a length of 72 cm, is pulled from the Irish Bann River. In museums in England, in addition to one-handed claymores, there are also two-handed Scottish swords. They are represented by products of various weights - from one and a half to two and a half kilograms.

Where to forge

Researchers dealing with historyScottish swords and other ancient types of weapons, there was an opinion that the German smiths made a significant contribution to their production process. From Germany, already handled forged blades, of which in the future created this or that sword of claymore. With their own hands, the Scottish masters only encrusted the imported products and adapted various hilts to the ready-made blades, characteristic of the plain or mountainous areas in Scotland. An example can be the sword of the claymore, stored in the Kelvingrove. On the stamp of this weapon, a beautiful gold inlay depicts a running wolf. This is confirmed by the fact that this sword was made in Solingen or Passau.

The Sword of Claymore thanks to a whole series of famousThe film "Highlander" became one of the most recognizable guns. The beautiful form of this weapon was also borrowed when creating the video game "The Witcher". Although the name of the sword is not mentioned there, its attractive design found its followers among the developers of the game.

There are no instructions on the Internet for those wishing to createthe sword of claymore with his own hands. Lovers of the Middle Ages and the culture of chivalry online shops offer to purchase various models of finished weapons. The owner of the claymore sword is not just the owner of a souvenir piece of deadly steel. He is the owner of a part of the soul of a real warrior and a knight.