In this article:
- Swords have a long, rich history with cultures all over the world developing their own designs and sword fighting styles.
- These badass bladed weapons have also made a major impact on media and pop culture.
- Even if you’re not a medieval knight or ancient samurai, you can still buy real, battle-ready swords (or replicas if you’re too accident-prone for the real deal).
Swords are the epitome of cool. These bladed weapons have made cameos in famous works of art, literature, and film including the flaming sword of the Bible, King Arthur’s Excalibur, the lightsabers of Star Wars, and She-Ra’s Sword of Protection.
Their frequent appearance in media has etched swords into our culture as symbols of nobility, honor, bygone ages, and the entire fantasy genre.
Outside of fiction, swords are brutal weapons with multiple varieties all designed to kill. Most types of swords are specialized martial tools made for hacking, slashing, and stabbing enemies, no matter if you’re doing it on the Mongolian steppes or a 17th-century battlefield.
8 Types of Swords, Their Rich Histories, and Cultural Impact
1. Great Swords: Massive Longswords of the Middle Ages
The great sword is one of the most recognizable types of swords in media, partly because of its size and the kind of characters that tend to wield them. A sword that large is hard to miss, especially when you make it the signature weapon of valiant defenders and brutes alike.
In A Song of Ice and Fire, the great swords of ancient houses are crafted from a rare material called Valyrian steel that’s said to have the power to kill the undead. Several great swords are mentioned throughout the books like the Starks’ Ice, House Tarly’s Heartsbane, and House Lannister’s Brightroar, just to name a few.
Real-life great swords tended to be around 60 to 70 inches, specifically if the swords were of the Zweihander (two-hander) variety. Because of their length and reach, Swiss soldiers in the early 1500s used a variant of the great sword to cut enemy pikes. Pikes are spear-like weapons designed for thrusting.
But looking at that picture, you’re probably wondering how much they weighed. According to author Dr. Lee Jones, who has tried swinging a few of them around, they’re about eight pounds.
Despite their weight, the swords are surprisingly easy to maneuver, which makes sense given that they were meant for combat scenarios where an unwieldy sword could easily get you killed.
2. Gladius: Roman Legionnaires’ Weapon of Choice
Rick Riordan’s Heroes of Olympus, a sequel series to Percy Jackson and the Olympians, prominently features the gladius as part of the typical equipment of Roman Legionnaires. Juno’s Gladius, a sword made of Imperial Gold, is the signature weapon of one of the protagonists, Jason Grace.
While Jason Grace’s magical sword isn’t real, the part about the gladius being a Roman soldier’s weapon is. The gladius was a weapon designed for stabbing and slashing, making it excellent for mutilating enemies and lobbing off limbs. Or so the poet Livy tells us.
The gladius’ defining feature was a pointed tip called a mucro. This type of sword typically had a short, wooden handle that would sometimes be plated with bronze or silver. A longer version of this sword, the spatha, was popular among cavalry units because of the extra reach it provided.
3. Cutlass: Trusty Companion to Pirates
No pirate worth their salt would leave home for the high seas without their trusty cutlass because how else are you going to duel someone off the plank? That’s why Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl spends 4 minutes of screen time teaching viewers the importance of being handy with a cutlass.
The cutlass was a popular weapon among seafarers during the Age of Sail, not just pirates, because of its effectiveness in close combat. Ships were often crowded and chaotic places to be on so a sword that was longer or heavier would have been a disadvantage, not to mention cumbersome.
Cutlasses were usually commissioned in small batches from swordsmiths as part of the equipment that a ship’s crew received. Their added functionality as tools kept cutlasses in navies far after the end of the Golden Age of Piracy, though these days, you’ll mostly find them in museums or at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
4. Rapier: A Fashionable Sword Designed for Self-Defense
En garde!
Few types of swords are as slender as the rapier. This French sword, believe it or not, actually takes its name from the Spanish term espada ropera which means “sword of the robes” because it was a civilian dress sword.
It first appears in 1474, though the early versions have thicker blades. It was only after the late 1500s that the rapper gained its fancy handguard while the thinner blades would appear in the 1600s.
Unlike the other swords on this list, the rapier is the only one that didn’t start as a military weapon and later developments reflected this. During the Renaissance, it was a self-defense weapon until finally becoming the light, springy sword we know today.
The rapier is never far from the most recent adaptation of The Three Musketeers so you’re going to see it even in the most unexpected films, including a Barbie movie.
5. Scimitar: An Elegant Weapon of the Islamic Golden Age
If you thought Prince of Persia was cool, this type of sword is the sword for you.
The scimitar is a medieval weapon with a curved blade and a single cutting edge, much like the cutlass that was mentioned earlier on this list. Scimitars first appeared in the 9th century and became popular in the Middle East, where locals previously preferred straight swords, following their introduction by Turkish warriors.
The curved blade and length of the scimitar made it a suitable sword for warriors on horseback who needed a weapon that could cut down combatants as they rode past enemy lines.
Why not just a long sword like the great sword, instead of a curved blade? Apparently, if you’re moving at the speeds that warriors on horseback do, a straight sword had a nasty habit of getting stuck in the person it injured.
The scimitar’s curved blade allowed it to slide through cleanly, preventing the embarrassing accident of losing your sword mid-fight.
Sounds metal, right? It gets even cooler: the scimitar supposedly gets its name from the Persian word “shamshir” which means “lion’s claw.” The weapon appears in various cultures throughout the Middle East, Central Asia, and South Asia. Arabs call it the saif, Moroccans call it a nimcha, and in India, it’s known as the tulwar.
The scimitar is also featured in the wuxia comic, Heaven’s Official Blessing.
Speaking of wuxia, next up ion this list of types of swords is the jian.
6. Jian: A Hallmark Weapon in the Wuxia Genre
The jian is a Chinese shortsword with a straight, double-edged blade. Aside from being shown on the recent adaptation of Mulan, it shows up throughout the entire wuxia genre in the hands of both heroic princes, warrior ladies, and villains alike.
Wu what? Wuxia! It’s an ancient genre of Chinese fiction that features the adventures of skilled martial artists. Remember those Chinese martial arts films where everybody looks impossibly ethereal and they float in mid-air while sword fighting? That is wuxia. These days, wuxia media is mostly historical fantasy dramas and webtoons on sites like Bilibili Comics.
But back to real-life history!
The jian originates from the third millenium B.C and quickly became a weapon of both practical, stabby use as well as a status symbol that showed off its owner’s social rank. The jian was called the “gentleman of a hundred soldiers”, marking it as something of a dress sword like the rapier.
That said, don’t let its title fool you. The jian is an elegant yet lethal weapon that favors fast, fluid movements in a real fight.
7. Katana: The Most Famous Sword in Pop Culture
Katanas are a favorite in media, showing up in classic films like Seven Samurai and recent video games like Cyberpunk 2077 where katanas can be equipped as your character’s melee weapon.
Of course, historic katanas are older than neon-lit megacities. The katana first emerged in the early Heian period, in 700 C.E, though its name would come later in the Kamakura period, around 1885 to 1333.
The katana was initially a straight sword, like the jian, until a legendary swordsmith forged it into a curved design. The swordsmith, assuming he exists, was called Amakuni and it’s believed that he gained immortality from all the blood absorbed by the swords he had made for samurai.
On the battlefield, this legendary sword was the weapon of choice of high-ranking swordsmen known as the samurai. Samurai warlords such as Oda Nobunaga were the key to unifying Japan into one centralized state, instead of multiple fiefdoms, and they did it all with a katana in hand.
The katana had several cousin swords such as the wakizashi, a shorter sword meant to accompany the katana, and the mamori-gatana. These mamori-gatana were made specifically for use by women from samurai families as a self-defense weapon which is why it would often be given to them by their fathers for their wedding day.
8. Keris: The Poisonous Snake Sword of Indonesia
The keris or kris has one of the most unusual shapes you’ll ever find among the types of swords out there. Its serpentine blade no doubt makes you wonder: how are you supposed to fight with this thing?
We’ll get to that later. For now, here’s the lowdown on the keris.
The keris is a sacred sword that’s most well known in Indonesia, though its other variants are common all throughout Southeast Asia, namely in Malaysia and the Philippines.
Its forging technique involves folding multiple types of metal and minerals, which creates the snakeskin patterns that you find on an authentic keris. Sword nerds out there who find that familiar might recognize that the keris’ forging bears resemblance to the way katanas are made.
While this UNESCO intangible cultural heritage is mostly used for ceremonial purposes, the keris is a sword made for ruthlessly swinging down on enemies and slashing across flesh. The shorter, dagger version of the keris is the signature weapon of Alexandra Trese in the Netflix animated series Trese.
Where Can I Get One of These Swords?
Alright, onto the fun part! Where do you get a replica of these types of swords? Surely, no one makes such outdated weapons anymore?
Spoiler alert: people still do. In fact, there’s a whole market for both replica and battle-ready swords and a slew of independent smiths who cater to it.
Before you buy anything, here are a few tips on buying swords online:
First, make sure it’s legal where you live and, second, understand the difference between a replica and a battle-ready sword. If it’s battle-ready, you can fight with it. If it’s a replica, it’s just a wall display.
As for where to buy them, you can check out this list from Historical European Martial Arts Resources. You could also pop over to Kult of Athena, an online historical weapons shop that also sells armor.
Are these historical types of swords not your style? Check out this article on why Lightsaber Fights Are Real and So Are Lightsabers for the swords of the future (plus, you’ll also find out where to buy a real battle-ready lightsaber).