Gordon, D.H. (1958) "Scimitars, Sabres and Falchions". in Man, Vol 58, Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, pp. 25–26.
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A falchion had a lower quality and status than the longer, more expensive swords, as almost none of them survive today.John Clements, Medieval Swordsmanship, 1998, p. 43. Falchions are sometimes misunderstood and thought of as being similar to machetes; however, the ancient falchions that have been discovered are incredibly thin and on average, lighter than a double-edged blade. These weapons were therefore not cleaving or chopping weapons similar to the machete, but quick slashing weapons more similar to shamshir or sabres despite their wide blade.
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While falchions are commonly thought to be peasants' weapons this is not always the case; the Conyers falchion belonged to a landed family,Hellqvist, Conyers Falchion and the falchion is shown in illustrations of combat between mounted knights.e.g., media:Battle from Holkham Bible.jpg Some later falchions were ornate and used by the nobility; there is an elaborately engraved and gold plated falchion from the 1560s in the Wallace Collection, engraved with the personal coat of arms of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany.
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There is a typologyBarbara Grotkamp-Schepers, Isabell Immel, Peter Johnsson, Sixt Wetzler: "Das Schwert. Gestalt und Gedanke: The Sword. Form and Thought" Deutsches Klingenmuseum. Solingen, 2015, created by James G. Elmslie for messers and falchions similar to the Oakeshott typology based on ongoing research.
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Ongoing research by James Elmslie has produced a typology covering both falchion and messer blade designs. Under this system all known falchions can be described as types 1 - 5 (with subtypes a - e used for any given type) as well as 5 levels of curvature.
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All were armed with swords or falchions and often bows or cross bows. They all formed the smallest element in the army's structure − the kopia, or Lances fournies.Sarnecki, Niclooe, p. 14. Wealthy knights of Wielkopolska and Śląsk did not differ much – in the sense of weapons and armour – from the western knighthood.
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All weapons are reproductions based on historical originals. These originals may be found in museums or drawings traceable to the period. All weapons must be blunt and within a set weight and size category, dependent upon the weapon. Metal maces, axes, swords (including falchions) and polearms are all permitted in group fights, while war hammers and weapons with hammer attachments may not be used in international events.
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A falchion (; Old French: fauchon; Latin: falx, "sickle") is a one-handed, single-edged sword of European origin, whose design is reminiscent of the modern machete. Falchions are found in different forms from around the 13th century up to and including the 16th century. In some versions the falchion looks rather like the seax and later the sabre, and in other versions the form is irregular or like a machete with a crossguard.
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The hero Arjuna, for instance, is made to wield a one-handed sword with a bevelled point, a small handguard, and a large round pommel. Two-handed swords naturally had longer handles and were broad at the hilt. Curved swords are also known to have been in common use since at least the Buddhist era, including large kukri-like falchions. The most common type of curved sword is the katti, which still occurs under various names everywhere from the deep south to the far northeast.
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Xan Yae is the goddess of Twilight, Shadows, Stealth, and Mental Power worshiped by some of the Baklunish people who inhabit the fictional lands of Flanaess and Oerik. Her symbol is a black lotus blossom. She appears as a Baklunish human of any age and gender, with a slender and graceful build, and wielding a pair of magical falchions that she can shrink to easily conceal. Xan Yae was first detailed for the Dungeons & Dragons game in the World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting (1983), by Gary Gygax.
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Queen Elizabeth planned a masque for her ambassador to present at Anne of Denmark's arrival. The English ambassador's masque would have comprised: six dancers wearing swords or falchions with helmets dressed with feather plumes, presumably representing classical warriors; six masked torch bearers with hats with feathers, their costumes party-coloured in the Stewart colours red and yellow; four speaking parts wearing wigs and flower chaplets. Only the account for making the costumes is known, and the subject of the masque was not recorded.Henry Morley, Masques and Entertainments by Ben Jonson (London, 1890), pp.
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One of the few surviving falchions (the Conyers falchion) is shaped very much like a large meat cleaver, or large bladed machete. This type is also illustrated in art. The type seems to be confined to the 13th and 14th centuries. However apart from the profile they present a very thin blade, often only 1.2 mm thick spines, 7 cm from the point with a slight taper leading near to the edge before dropping into a secondary bevel which brings the blade to a very acute edge while maintaining some durability.
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The blade designs of falchions varied widely across the continent and over time. They almost always included a single edge with a slight curve on the blade towards the point on the end and most were also affixed with a quilloned crossguard for the hilt in the manner of the contemporary arming swords. Unlike the double- edged swords of Europe, few actual swords of this type have survived to the present day; fewer than a dozen specimens are currently known. A number of weapons superficially similar to the falchion existed in Western Europe, including the Messer, hanger and the backsword.
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Modern reproduction of a kopis The term kopis (from Greek κοπίς, plural kopidesκοπίς, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus from κόπτω – koptō, "to cut, to strike";κόπτω, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, An Intermediate Greek- English Lexicon, on Perseus alternatively a derivation from the Ancient Egyptian term khopesh for a cutting sword has been postulatedGordon, D.H. (1958) "Scimitars, Sabres and Falchions". in Man, Vol 58, p. 24) in Ancient Greece could describe a heavy knife with a forward-curving blade, primarily used as a tool for cutting meat, for ritual slaughter and animal sacrifice, or refer to a single edged cutting or "cut and thrust" sword with a similarly shaped blade.
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Five years earlier, Queen Elizabeth had planned a masque for her ambassador to present at the arrival of Anne of Denmark in Scotland in September 1589. Anne however was forced to stay in Norway by accidents and bad weather, the circumstances which gave rise to Fowler mentioning thanksgiving for deliverance from witchcraft. The ambassador's masque would have comprised; six dancers wearing swords or falchions with helmets dressed with feather plumes, presumably representing classical warriors; six masked torchbearers with hats with feathers, their costumes party-coloured in the Stewart colours red and yellow; four speaking parts wearing wigs and flower chaplets. Only the account for making the costumes is known, and the subject of the masque was not recorded.
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Le Corbeiller, 210 While Europe possessed the image of a noble or a Roman goddess, America "was usually envisioned as a rather fierce savage – only slightly removed in type from the medieval tradition of the wild man."Le Corbeiller, 210 This is not to suggest that only America was radically different from Europe in terms of the figure’s appearance. Outside of personification, Asia took a dramatically different appearance from Europe. This is seen in the print The Entry of the Ambassador of Persia into Paris, Seen in the Place Royal, 7 February 1715. Coming from the “very exotic kingdom of Persia,” the plate depicts the Persian diplomat Mohammed Reza Beg with his entourage, almost all men with turbans, moustaches, distinctive noses, and robes, some bearing falchions.
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