Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil Masters
. Okay, so it may originally have come from archaeology. Whatever; game designers do sometimes suffer from too-narrow reference pools.
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I've seen the meme in older fiction. Specifically in the Incomplete Enchanter series by de Camp and Pratt. I just haven't seen any real swords to back it up.
People can get crossed up by artificial distinctions in the way material gets presented. If some curator wants to put up a display of "European Swords" and he starts with the Vikings and goes on well into the Renaissance you can get the idea of a steady evolution away from slashing towards thrusting blades.
Only if he had started with Roman Spathas those were very sharply pointed and all the Renaissance Falchions (heavy chopping blades) are in another display case if not another museum.