You all seem to have not read the latter half of my sentence.
I wrote:
Quote:
I personally think having any kind of sword on horseback is impractical (unless you've lost your lance)
I was speaking more of the common soldier than those gallant heroes we all know. And I was influenced in my statement by numerous Eyewitness books (Not the most grown-up, but certainly some of the most reliable books.) Where it says, quote:
Lances were the preferred weapons of any mounted horsemen. A sword was an impractical weapon unless you lost your lance. A lance has much more power behind it and could punch through plate, half plate, or any other kind of armor with ease on the charge. However, once the rider dismounted, the sword was drawn.
However, that aside, I
have looked on wikipedia and other places about weapons. I'm a weapon obsessist. I gave it some thought, and here's my personal reasons why I think a lance is more practical on the charge.
1) Much more power. A charging knight with a lance was next to unstoppable. He had the full power of his body weight and the horse's charge focused on a very sharp, hard metal point--typically directed with intent to harm.
2) Required less metal than a sword, which is very useful for those cultures low on metal
3) Greater reach
And, in the first place, I said that it was
my personal opinion that swords were impractical. I wasn't trying to offend anyone, just state
my personal opinion.
I'm sorry, but I also think my post was reacted to a little strongly, especially by Dorthonion. I don't think it's a sweeping comment, I merely stated my opinion. If you all disagree, that's fine with me. And you both pointed out things that are mostly, if not completely true. However, I feel this has become less a discussion and more me being told I am wrong--even if I am, in fact, wrong.
Captain Ingold wrote:Quote:
Also Josh, you may have noticed in the film that the Rohirrim and Gondorian cavalry charges at Minas Tirith both involved riders with swords. Not only that, but at the Battle of the Morannon, Aragorn was on a horse and drew Anduril (Blade of Kings ). You will note that he had no lance, as he preferred a sword.
While the first two comments are true, I doubt Aragorn would have had much training with a lance as a ranger, so I don't know if it was preference as much as practicality.
Edit:
Oh gosh, I just realized how stupid I was sounding. I've been assuming that you both misunderstood me, but looking back at my post I just realized I never said what I meant to say. My original statement was supposed to be that a sword was an impractical weapon for a horseman as compared to the lance--since the lance has all the advantage on horseback. Oops