backsword

A backsword is a sword having a blade with only one edge.^[1] The back of the sword is often the thickest part of the blade and acts to support and strengthen it.

The term refers more specifically to early modern European weapons, usually straight, and typically with complex protective hilts as used in George Silver's manuscripts^[2]. It can also refer to the singlestick, which is used to train for fighting with the backsword, or to the sport or art of fighting in this fashion.^[3]

Backswords were often the secondary weapons of European-style cavalrymen beginning in the late 16th, early 17th centuries.^[1] The weapon's name was possibly derived from the practice of slinging the weapon in a scabbard behind the trooper's back while riding in order to prevent it from clanging against his or the horse’s side as they galloped,^[4] though it may merely reference the thickened back of the backsword blade.

Examples of backswords

• Falchion
• Sabre
• Szabla
• Shashka
• Scimitar
• Katana

References