Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-05-22
TUE SWORD ~ HISTORY.
EvoIation of the Weapon from Le-
sendHry Times.
Evening Post)

Evening Post)
Many centuries ago, at the east OF the
! Garden Of Eden. was placed a flaming
sword. which turned every way, to keep
the way Of the tree of life" And
| through tho years that have followed the
SWORD has everywhere played a promi-
/ rsnt part as Il means Of protection and
J DEL nee The white Arm" as it has
! teen styled has reached far and wide
! over The face of the earth, and has been
! VI rhty power for good and evil. In
! tire days o. mythology it was eonsecrated
! 70 ~. gods. and was the symbol OF cour-
I arc End liberty. The highest oath was
I s1lerrr2ed by kissing the sword-hilt, and
I s,s touch sin confers the order of knight
/ hood. The degraded army officer has
! his sword taken from him, as the sullied
/ hard 20 longer has the right to WELD 1t,
! while the voluntary surrender OF the
weapon entities submission. In times
! iast. sentiment and strong personality
, attach Il themselves to a sword tried
md .rue and it became the second self
* its possessor, and was sometimes dig
nife6 by name OF its own. This perso-
nal.ty was heightened by the fact that
10 two swords can be made exactly alike.
Each weapon has its own characteristics
ard individuality.
The word sword is the Scandinavian
sva rd the Danish svaerd. and the Anglo
) xon sweord or suerd. In the Old Ger
man we have svert, now changed into
he modern form schwert, while the
Sc"tch gives the word swerd.
TIE evolution of the sword as we now
sec IT, from the first rude weapon OF the
,rclants, is an interesting study to those
.rrCerned with the history Of arms and
armor. II may be that, in the first ages
Z re world men saw fish and animals,
~ese milling the sword-fish, the walrus,
ieciant, and hippopotamus, armed with
,sarr and natural weapons Of defence,
md fashioned their own weapons as like
a. these as possible. From such missiles
az ones, and from the club. the spear,
3rd The axe, they advanced to swords
Of various kinds.
The Caribs male huge swords OF palm
wood and the Indians Of Virginia were
discovered using weapons Of like form
and structure. One tribe Of Africa
shared the sword-blade into the form
~ w'rgs, and by another 1t was made to
resemble the head Of bird.
The next step in sword-evolution was
he combination of wood and stone, and
tho weapon assumed new and more inn
portant aspect. Specimens of blades Of
Alnt presumably used as sword-blades,
IRE found in the old burial mounds of
Western countries. After these primi-
live weapons Of wood and stone come
swords Of bronze, copper, and brass, and
finally 81 iron or steel. Much time and
thought was given to improving the
methods OF construction, and by certain
manufacturers plates were buried in
he ground until the weaker part was !
corrodea and only the well-tested por-
Ion ren1a ned for use.
In the study Of the history OF the sword |
we cannot go much farther back than |
70 ancient Egypt, whence it's manu-
facturo was distributed throughout Pales- |
tine. Syria and Asia Minor, and on to |
Persia and India, and so throughout |
the known world.
II was IN Egypt that the three shape |
OF ne sword-bade originated. these |
beire tie straight, the curved. and the |
half carved AS the shapes became |
more settled and more symmetrical, |
roat attention was given to the adorn- |
nent Of the sword, or, more especially. |
ne hit. and. again, in Egypt were
-ourd swords blue In color. with hits
f cod sword Of the Pharaohs had |
rormel surnounted by a hawks head,
iyrn -ol ca OF the sun, while pins and |
.ti.ds OF gold ornamented the handle.
An eastern writer claims that in India
he sword was introduced by Brahma,
n1 relates how the sword-god appeared
= The summit Of one OF the Himalayas,
haIIng the foundations Of the earth
nd Terminating the sky. The arm Of
h's gcd was given by Brahma to the
feitv SAiva and from him IL was pass
4 on 10 various parts Of India, or so
LIE t,c nd nuns. Among the Mosems
he HIGHEST lille given 10 q warrior or
enown H. "The Sword OF Allah" and
ne niiegorical use OF the word Is found
"a many parts of the Bible. while
.oman literature abounds in illusions
- tie sword. And so the symbolism
Il courage. integrity. and power has
never been lost. although there has been
misuse and abuse Of the weapon in all
yes
At Nvcenae pr Schliemann made very
rnpor ant discoveries OF ancient swords, |
many Or which were curiously carved
nj engraved Upon the hilt Of one OF
'hess 6ls.nterred weapons Is carved the
ag-re ~ q goat, while another has the
II 9te OF a lion-cub. The Roman sword
ras II r.eater size than that OF the
-;reeas. sri IN the days OF the empire
.oaov @. the sheaths were so covered
WIN reYoussee work and incrusted with
.r.ciors stones as 10 be veritable art
'rSasures.
p,iy.rg tho revival of learning I'm Italy
en- fopnd pleasure and profit In a sort
s. intellectual warfare. using the pen
"a = Weapon OF offence and defence.
! The sword lost some OF its prestige.
rtel ocfual duels became moro fashion
,b;e tran those fought with the sword.
,tth i.x,, the latter weapon remained