A tanto is a short Japanese blade, traditionally anything under one shaku, about 30 centimetres. That is the classical definition ...

A katana is a Japanese single edged sword with a blade longer than about 60 centimetres, a gentle curve, and one defining habit: i...

A kukri is a Nepalese knife with a forward curving blade, the edge on the inside of the curve and most of the mass out near the ti...

Blunt arms beat armour by ignoring it. A sword edge has to cut something to do damage, and mail will not let it. A mace head does ...

The spear was the arm a Norseman was most likely to own. It shows up in more graves than the sword, it cost a fraction as much, it...

Viking armour came down to a mail shirt, an iron helmet and a round shield. Most men who sailed on a raid owned none of the first ...

A dagger is a short blade built primarily to thrust, usually with a point strong enough to punch and a grip made for a reverse or ...

A wakizashi is a Japanese short sword with a blade between roughly 30 and 60 centimetres, about 12 to 24 inches. Anything longer i...

A scimitar is not one sword. It is a European catch all for the curved, single edged sabres of the Middle East, Central Asia, Nort...

A Viking helmet was a rounded iron bowl, usually built from riveted panels, often with a nose bar and sometimes with a spectacle s...