Why Were Some Swords Leaf-Shaped?

Hello everyone and welcome. So you might already have seen a sword with a shape similar to this one. So as you can see this sword starts out relatively thin, then widens out into the wider section of the blade before thinning down again to the point. This shape right here is called a leaf shape and as you can see this particular sword right here has this leaf shape. Now to be fair this exact sword is actually a wooden sword but I'm just going to use this during the video to illustrate certain points. And this leaf shape was actually incredibly popular and common during certain periods of history like for example the Bronze Age or early Iron Age. The vast majority of bronze swords will have a leaf shape and if we take some swords like the Xiphos for example they will also have a leaf shape and the same goes for something like the early Gladius Hispaniensis or the Mines Gladius even though the Mines Gladius has it to a lesser degree but it still is a leaf shape. And then you also have some swords that have properties similar to the leaf shape even though they are not exactly leaf shaped. For example that is the case of the Falkata or the Kupish. Those swords are effectively starting out relatively thin then widening out before thinning down into the point again but they are one edge and they are not exactly of the same shape as a classic leaf shape but they do keep the same properties. And also if we take something like a Viking Sax it has this broken back which actually retains some, not all, but some of the properties of a leaf shaped sword. And speaking of the properties of the leaf shaped sword in this video we are going to look at all the advantages and disadvantages of having such a shape on your blade to eventually find out why it was so common during certain periods of history and why it mostly disappeared during others. Let's get started. Now the leaf shape is actually quite a genius design because at least within a specific context it actually improves both cutting and thrusting. Only within a specific context but still. Now the reason why it improves cutting first of all is because you are actually adding mass around the centre of percussion. Now what is the centre of percussion, well it basically is the point on the blade with which it's the best to actually hit the target. So for example on this sword right here it would be approximately around right here, right at the thickest point because obviously if you go too far down on the blade then you will not have enough momentum but if you go too far out the sword will lose some of its rigidity and will not be that efficient in the cut. So you have a certain point with which it's the best to hit your target and the fact is that leaf shaped swords are adding more mass around that centre of percussion because they are basically adding width to that section and this means that the point of the blade with which you are going to hit the target has the most mass so it's going to do the most amount of damage. Then you also have the fact that a leaf shaped sword in a certain kind of way has a sort of curve right around the spot with which you hit because as you can see you have basically a curve going from here to the point and a curve is actually going to help you do more damage when you're actually cutting because it is going to follow through the slicing movement better and it's actually going to concentrate the force you put into the swing into a smaller section of the blade. If I hit something flat with this curved section of the blade as you can see I'm only hitting with a very very small portion of the blade. As you can see I can kind of change which is that portion I hit with. Now this means that when I'm actually cutting I'm concentrating all the force into that one little section and obviously the more force you add on a small section the more you're actually going to be able to cut efficiently. Obviously certain swords like for example a cavalry sabre, a shamshur or anything like that will actually have curved blades to actually get those advantages of having a curve on your sword but the problem is that they are actually going to have entire blades that are curved meaning that they are going to be way worse to thrust with for example. While something like a leaf shaped sword actually has this curve but still is completely straight so you can still perfectly well thrust with it without any problems. So it essentially adds a curve to a straight blade which obviously is great. Now let's talk about why having a leaf shape can also improve the thrusting capabilities of the sword because obviously you'll probably be relatively familiar with certain swords like the rapier that are optimised for thrusting but that actually have relatively thin points. Now this is done to make the blade lighter towards the end to make it more nimble and on certain swords not exactly the rapier but on certain other swords also to make them better at armour penetration. If you take something like the leaf shaped sword as you can see it does not have a very thin point it even has a very wide point because the wider section of the blade is relatively close to the point depending on the exact leaf shape you have but generally speaking that will be true. Now we'll talk about the disadvantages of that later but it does have some real advantages because it actually allows you to create a wider wound when you thrust because the thing is that if you get hit by a thin object what's it actually going to do is obviously it's going to hurt you it's not going to be pleasant or anything like that and it still might kill you obviously but it is less likely to hit a vital organ and less likely to hit a large blood vessel because it is so thin. When you have a leaf shaped sword with a wider point which is going to create a wider wound that is actually more likely to hit a vital organ or a large blood vessel and it will hit more blood vessels which is going to make you bleed more. So it is actually more dangerous at least within a specific context to get hit by a leaf shaped sword than a very thin object. So this means that at least within a specific context the leaf shaped sword is better at both cutting and thrusting. Now obviously this is only within a specific context because it does have some major disadvantages too. For example it is way harder to make a leaf shaped sword than a sword with straight unpowered edges. Now this is especially the case when you're actually forging the sword out of iron or steel. It's not too bad when you're actually casting the sword out of bronze because it's not that much harder to create a mold for the sword in a leaf shape even though it is harder than creating it with parallel edges. But it does become a big problem when you're making the sword out of iron or steel because you need to forge it. And obviously forging a sword with this weird shape that starts thin and winds out before thinning down again is actually really really hard because you actually need to get everything right everything's symmetrical and so on. Forging a sword with straight edges is much more easy because you're just making a long even bar you don't need all these fancy shapes. Then you also have the fact that it is much harder to create a scabbard or sheath for such a leaf shaped sword because obviously this wider section here need to actually fit through the top of the scabbard meaning that the top of the scabbard needs to be as thick as the widest portion of the blade. And obviously that might not sound like a big problem but it does mean that the top of the sword will basically sit and rattle in the top of the scabbard because the top of the scabbard is way too wide for the top of the sword. So you need to create some sort of system to actually hold this tight while still being able to get the bottom through and this can be done for example by having a guard that fits into the scabbard or something like that. It still is perfectly possible it just is much harder to do. Then you also have the fact that the leaf shaped sword is much worse against armor. As I said some swords dedicated for thrusting are actually quite thin and this is partly because they actually need to pierce through armor. And obviously the thinner the object is the easier it will go through armor. If we take something like a bodkin arrow which is specifically designed to go through mail as you can see it is really really thin because it has to be able to bust open that link. That wouldn't be so easy with for example a barbed arrow because it is so wide. And the same goes for a leaf shaped sword because obviously since it is wider it actually needs to create a wider hole through the armor to actually be able to pierce it which isn't so easy. Then you also have the fact that it is less nimble and more front heavy than some swords with parallel edges because obviously a lot of the mass of the sword is on the front of the sword. Meaning that the point of balance of the sword is going to be further to the point further away from the hilt. So on this exact sword right here it is around the middle of the sword but obviously this is a wooden sword so it doesn't really count but generally speaking the point of balance is going to be further out on the blade. Meaning that the sword feels heavier in the hand even though it might not be heavier. It's a little bit more like handing an axe which has more mass on the front. Obviously it's not as bad as an axe but just to give you an idea. And obviously this is not too much of a problem on shorter swords but it can become a real problem if you're trying to make longer swords with leaf shapes. If I had something like this long sword with a leaf shape it would actually have a lot of mass right out here meaning that it would be incredibly heavy because it's so long and would actually have a lot of its mass so far out. So for longer swords it's actually not ideal to have a leaf shape. And finally you have the problem that the center of percussion on a leaf shaped sword is actually going to be pretty far in on the blade. On this particular one it's about right here but if you take a sword that's not leaf shaped it's actually going to be usually going to be slightly farther out on the blade. Now the problem with this is that when you are fighting with a leaf shaped sword you actually need to get close enough to actually be able to hit with the center of percussion which is pretty far in on the blade. If I had a sword that was not leaf shaped the center of percussion would actually be a little bit farther out so I wouldn't need to be so close to my opponent to actually hit him. So effectively you are basically reducing the effective chopping range of the sword if that makes any sense. Because you actually need to hit farther in on the sword for maximum cutting efficiency. And if we take a sword like the Mainz Gladius which is leaf shaped not to an as extreme level as this one but it still is leaf shaped it will actually have a center of percussion that is usually like there might be some few exceptions but usually the center of percussion is going to be closer to the hilt than the center of percussion on something like the Pompeii Gladius which is a shorter sword. So that basically means that the center of percussion of the Mainz Gladius is closer to the hilt than the one of the Pompeii Gladius, the one of the Pompeii Gladius is a little bit farther out, even though the Pompeii Gladius is a shorter sword than the Mainz Gladius. And that goes to show that actually having leaf shape is actually reversing the center of percussion further back meaning that your effective chopping range is shortened. Obviously you could do something like taking that wider section actually putting it farther out towards the point so the wider section would actually be somewhere around here and that would indeed make the center of percussion be farther out on the blade meaning that you would increase the effective chopping range. The problem with that is that then you would shorten the distance from the point to the wider section of the blade meaning that the point would be more abrupt so instead of being like this it would be a little bit more like this meaning that the point would be less efficient and you would have a worse thrusting sword. Meaning that it isn't necessarily worth it and for some swords at least it's actually better to just have parallel edges rather than having a leaf shape. So in the end the leaf shape is absolutely great for a short sword that is supposed to be used against unarmored or lightly armored targets because it is incredibly efficient in a thrust against unarmored targets and it's incredibly efficient in a chop on a short distance. However it is harder to make and that was the primary reason why it was abandoned because it was mostly abandoned within the Roman Republic and Empire. We see a gradual decrease of the leaf shape in the different versions of the Gladius. We start with the Gladius Expaniensis that is very clearly leaf shaped but then it decreases into the Minus Gladius which is slightly less leaf shaped before ending in the Pompeii Gladius which is not leaf shaped at all. And this is partly for that reason that it is way harder to make and make a scabbard for a leaf shaped sword. And it is usually a bad idea to have a leaf shape on a longer sword because it will add so much weight on the front that it will make the sword way less nimble. But again the leaf shape is great for those specific uses meaning on a short sword to be used against lightly or unarmored targets. So as most characteristics of swords the leaf shape is a trade off and can actually be incredibly useful for certain uses but it does have certain limitations and isn't necessarily worth it for all swords. And if you are further interested in any other trade offs you can have on swords stay tuned for the next video because we will be exploring a whole bunch because we will be exploring a very particular and interesting sword. So see you there. Goodbye.