[Low-Tech] Smallsword with the Bronze Age 'Rapier?'

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Pursuivant

Everything about the design of these "rapiers" suggests that they were mostly used to thrust. The tang doesn't look long enough to be the basis for a good swinging grip and there doesn't appear to be a good place to attach a pommel, which is necessary for a good swinging sword. (If you thrust, your hand will want to ride up on the blade. If you swing, the sword will want to fly forward or outward, so you need a good pommel or equivalent to help keep it in hand. The pommel also acts as a counterweight allowing you to recover from your strike more quickly.)

While I agree these were most likely thrusting weapons (I mean, that's probably a big part of why they're referred to as "rapiers"), it's not like a tangless weapon can't have something on the hilt to prevent hand slippage during a swing - it would just be part of the hilt (which, of course, didn't survive), rather than an attachment to the tang. Indeed, the seals linked by Dan (which are interesting in how they each depict the victor using basically the same technique to get around his foe's shield and stab his neck) show these weapons as having sizable pommels.