Does anyone know why Highlander Tryndamere has a leather strap coiled around his sword above the hilt?
At first I thought it was for aesthetic reasons but after playing Dark Souls 3 I also saw another sword with a leather strap on the blade (Hollowslayer Greatsword) so I was curious if it served some sort of function in combat.
RcGjWO640w1 votesIt's called the ricasso which is the unsharpened portion of a blade between the actual edge and the guard. The leather is more than likely there for just decoration. Most swords simply have a bare metal ricasso with no coverings, but somethings a design or something engraved near it.
Overall, a ricasso has no substantial function and doesn't really change the way that a blade is used.
Bloodyrains1 votesAh, that clears things up, thanks a lot!
Nik Nikerson1 votesSome experts think that the ricasso on some larger two handed swords was actually functional. You would hold the sword with one hand on the pommel and one hand on the ricasso, to make it easier to wield in close quarters, where the length and size of the blade would actually be a liability. Being able to choke up on the sword made it more versatile.
Warlord Dienekes2 votesNo, the ricasso has a function. For smaller swords an un-sharpened section near the hilt of the blade allows a different type of grip where the index finger goes above the guard. This allows for increased control doing certain types of thrusts or strikes. Now having this be un-sharpened isn't necessary, you can touch the sharpened section with your finger and make the attack and you should be ok, but you might cut yourself. So, why take the chance when it's just easier not to sharpen the base?
On a larger sword, like Tryndamere's sword here, the ricasso serves in even greater function. Essentially, think of great swords, like claymores and bidenhanders as a cross between a sword and a pole-arm. You can't really get the control of a pole-arm just by grabbing at the base where a normal sword's grip would be. It's too awkward and top heavy. That's why you see most spears being held somewhere around a third of the way from the back, or even further depending on the grip.
So for these great swords the ricasso allows essentially a secondary grip. Which is also why the later ricasso's of great swords were wrapped in leather, to allow a more comfortable and just better grip upon the blade. If the wielder of the weapon wanted to make a thrust, it would be beneficial to at least start by having one hand hold the ricasso. Or, it provides far greater control when making tighter less wild strikes, which is going to be done in a lot of situations, such as when you're fighting in closer quarters than a bidenhander without a ricasso would be comfortable with.
That's why when you look at a lot of the true later aged great swords such as the previously mentioned bidenhander and a few montante there will even be little hooks above the ricasso to act as a secondary guard.
Really, Highlander Tryndamere's sword is one of the most accurate and practical swords Riot has designed. It's fairly well proportioned, way better than that chunk of useless steel the normal Tryndamere and Garen skins use. Kudos to Riot.
RcGjWO640w1 votesA ricasso so close to the guard wouldn't be as well equip for half swording, though. True half swording would give you the best control, but requires a hold further up on the sword than where a ricasso typically stops. If the ricasso came up that far, you'd be better served with a polearm. The index finger over the guard, however, is dangerous is basically every style of swordplay except for fencing.
Warlord Dienekes1 votesI didn't mention true half-sword, that's a different thing. Though, that can also, in theory, be done with a true great sword, it is more the purview of the slightly smaller longswords.
True great swords are a very interesting (to me) and unique kind of blade. Too long to actually use all the maneuvers we see done with a longsword, but it still can do some. While being big enough to use many of the moves of a pole-arm, without having the often funky weight distribution of a pole-axe. They had a specific purpose, namely, destroy pike lines. But, interestingly we have records of them being used in late medieval/renaissance duels, where, they appear to perform actually pretty well. Having such a huge reach advantage will do that for you. But, it also means you have to carry that 6 ft tall monstrosity around with you all day, which no one wanted to do.
Anyway, yes, you put your hand on the ricasso. That's why it has the leather hand-hold grip, that's why they were developed with a secondary guard hooks. They don't add that stuff (particularly weight on the blade) for no reason. It serves a purpose, and that purpose is to allow increased control over this ridiculous 6 ft (sometimes even 7 ft) long swords that couldn't quite be controlled like a normal two-handed longsword anymore. It was an attempt to take the parts of both a sword and a pole-arm that you liked and mix them together, and, honestly, it was only somewhat successful in that attempt. But it was used, and it did serve a purpose.
The index over the guard being dangerous is kind of true, since, you know, all sword fighting is dangerous. But we have fechtbuchs of people doing that with arming swords. So, yeah, it was done. It's a maneuver that was used. We even see some arming swords that have little ring hooks to put your finger through if you wanted. They were never particularly popular, but they were done.
Though, yes, unarguably, when the fencing-style swords with baskethilts were developed finger over the guard became much safer and was more commonly used.