This is the area that makes most men drool -- sharp pointy things.

Before we get into the kinds of weapons used during the Elizabethan era, and the Renaissance in general, you have to know that not every Faire allows weapons of any sort. Other Faires allow weapons that are sheathed and peace-tied, meaning they can't be drawn. No bare blade edges. Reenactments, which are different from Faires, do not allways allow actual weapons either. You have to check with the particular Faire or Reenactment to find out what they allow. It would really dampen your enjoyment of an event if you arrived, dressed to the nines in mercenary garb with swords and knives, and found out you cannot have your toys.

There are also some legal issues to contend with. Many states have laws against carrying concealed, concealable, or double-edged weapons, and any throwing weapons---period. Other states allow non-concealed weapons, even double-edged ones, ONLY if it is completing a costume THAT YOU ARE WEARING AT THAT MOMENT. It's the carrying and wearing of these weapons in public that is the issue, not the ownership of them in a collection. Also, knives, single or double-edged, beyond a certain length are illegal to carry in public. So the weapons on this page are meant ONLY for completing costumes. Check your state laws before strapping on that massive, wicked dagger.

As for actual costume considerations, there are certain weapons that were restricted to the nobility, or the military on active duty. As a general rule, anyone less than a noble was prohibited from owning a sword, much less carrying one. No one, without prior authorization, was allowed to wear a sword in a city or village. Bows were treated the same way, as were crossbows. Since only the gentry and nobility were even allowed to hunt, there was no reason anyone of lesser stations should own one. In fact, most Faires will make you unstring your bow upon entry.

We will start with weapons anyone could carry, peasant to noble alike.

The Quarter-staff was the most common weapon. It doubled as a walking stick, but in skilled hands, a stout staff of solid wood could break skulls and other bones. A strong staff could also be fitted with an axe or spear head in a pinch. For Faires, a staff is a highly practical weapon, and beyond all others, I recommend one. For costume purposes, you can get a thick rod of pine and dress it up as you like. It isn't a weapon, but it looks like one, and it is light enough to make a comfortable walking stick. Woods for weapon grade staves are hickory, oak, ash, and yew. Hickory is very heavy, as is oak. Ash is moderately weighty, but it has better flexibility, which protects against breaking. Ash is often used for bows for that reason.

Axes were the next level of tools that doubled as weapons. Most commoners already owned them. They had many advantages. They were visibly intimidating. They didn't require lengthy and complicated training to use. A full length woodsman's axe could be a cutting weapon, a bashing weapon, and a short staff. Weapon-grade axes had spikes on the head for stabbing an opponent, metal butts on the handles that could be used as jabbing points. Some axe heads had nasty hammerheads on one side and blades on the other. The main disadvantages of axes were their short reach, and they required both hands to use. Hand axes were great for throwing, but then the thrower was left without a weapon if he didn't have a backup. Axes also went to the very large extremes, including the double bit great axe, and halberds.

Knives were also a common tool that served as weapons. I classify knives as any single edged blade that is shorter than a short-sword. They could be carried openly without worry of being confiscated. Since your costume should already have a utilitarian knife as an accessory, this is one weapon you have by default. Knives of the period were fixed blades, with wooden handles mostly, though antler handles were seen too. For common people, pearl handles, or other fancier materials, were prohibited. The Bowie knife, with it's curved point, is NOT a period-correct knife. Get a drop-point knife, or a knife with a completely curved blade.

Daggers are double edged knives, usually tapering to a point. There is a wide variety of dagger shapes, from wavy (flamberge in Europe, kris in the Pacific islands) to long and narrow. They vary in size from the sgian dubh of the Scots to the "city sword" dagger, which were only slightly shorter than a short-sword, and were a replacement for a sword while in a city or village. In fencing, a left-hand dagger, the main gauche, was as important as a rapier. They were most often made as part of a rapier/main gauche set. It could block as well as attack. Your choice of dagger will depend on what your character does for a living. Some women even had bodice daggers, which could be made to look like jewelry but have small, sharp blades. Smaller daggers are more of a surprise diversion. Hit quick with the dagger, and then run while the opponent is surprised. Unlike knives, daggers really only have one purpose -- hurting other people. So if your character is the sort that generally does not hurt other people, you don't actually need a dagger at all.

Short-swords/ arming swords/ archer's swords, were meant really as a last resort weapon in a battle. They were wielded by one hand, leaving the other free to hold a buckler or to just fend off an opponent. They are great for close quarter fighting, or where there isn't a great deal of room. They are a practical weapon, not meant for fancy fencing matches. Just slash, stab , and move on. Wielding two short swords could fend off an opponent long enough to find an opening and go for the kill. Of the swords on this page, these strike me as the ones that were sharpened to a keen edge, to make effective slashes and cuts at close range, where one's body weight might not come into play.

Single-handed longswords were the classic image of a sword. They were longer than a short sord, but shorter than a great sword. These were the real work-horses of soldiers, men-at-arms, and knights, in Europe. Contrary to popular belief, they were not kept sharp. With advances in armor and chain maille, using a sword as a cutting and slashing weapon against another knight was worthless. Instead, the point was used to pierce maille and armor, and the edge was used to break bones. So the knight learned to grip both the hilt and the blade in a fight, making the sword a really versatile weapon. The quillons could bash teeth and gouge eyes, the pommel became a miniature mace. In illustrations of sword fighting manuals of the day, you can actually see soldiers gripping the sword by the blade with both hands and using the hilt and quillons like a hammer or an axe. The Scottish basket-hilted sword is a longsword with a basket around the hilt to protect the hand. This kind of sword was later called a claymore, but that was originally reserved for the Scottish greatsword. Of course, if one's most common opponent was not heavily armored, nor armed with an equal sword, then it made sense to sharpen the blade for slashing. However, for costume reasons, there is no need to sharpen your sword anymore than it is right out of the box.

Falchions were single-handed, single-edged swords and are often confused with scimitars or shamshirs of the Muslim world, from which it was derived. These swords, with their curved blades, had excellent cutting ability, and were used fittingly as slashing and chopping weapons against anything that could be slashed and chopped. They were heavyweight swords for their size, but that gave them marvelous power. As swords became smaller and lighter over the years, the falchion became the saber and cutlass. As such, I tend to think of falchions as a naval weapon, but that's not writ in stone.

Bastard swords, or hand-and-a-half swords, were a cross between a longsword and a two handed greatsword. The blade was not much longer than a longsword, but it had a handle long enough for two a handed grip. Becasue of the power such a design could produce, the bastard sword could very well crush armor and break through maille. Most often, the wielder would swing it as a slashing or bashing weapon rather than use the point, even though the point could be used for piercing and stabbing.

Two-handed greatswords are truly menacing weapons. Their greatest value was in breaking a horse's legs, under a mounted knight. Like the single-handed swords, the two-handed sword was gripped both on the hilt and the blade, and had the advantage of excellent reach, many blades reaching or exceeding six feet from point to pommel. Most greatswords had a simple design: A straight blade, straight quillons, heavy pommel. Some designs were unique though. The most famous examples of such were the Flamberge swords, with their wavy blades, wielded by the Swiss mercenaries, the Landsknechts, and the Scottish Claidheamh mòr, with its very long blade, and upward sloping quillions. As a side point, these swords have been protrayed as being worn on a solider's back and then drawn off the back for combat. This is highly inaccurate. Longswords would be removed from their scabbards and the baldric, the strap tha holds the sword on the back, would be removed too, long before entering combat. Greatswords were likely never born on the back at all, but carried in wagons or strapped to a horse's saddle. ALSO, swords were never EVER stored in their scabbards, unless those scabbards were made of thin sheets of wood. Moisture and acids in leather scabbards will seriously etch and rust a sword faster than leaving them exposed, even when properly oiled and cared for. Even stainless steel swords will be etched over time, though so much more slowly than carbon steel as to be not noticed until a very long time has passed. "Stainless," really should be, "Corrosion Resistant," instead of "Rust Proof."

Other weapons include war hammers, maces, flails, and mourning stars (those are like maces, but with the heads on chains.) However, such weapons are even more restricted at Fairs, and in the outside world, than blades.

These swords and other weapons were not the weapons of the nobility and gentry during the Elizabethan Era. They were the weapons of soldiers. No, the weapon of choice among the gentry was the Rapier, with Main Gauche.

Firearms had been introduced into European combat rather early, such as the Arquebus and artillery in the Battle of Formigny in 1450. Muskets and pikes were replaceing longbows and halberds, but there was still a mix between the old tactics and the new. As iron-clad knights realized these guns could pierce their armor, they began abandoning the heavy suits in favor of mobility. Off the battlefield, this concept translated into the gentleman's weapon, the Rapier. In Elizabethan times, the Rapier was the weapon of nobility, and fencing the sport of choice.

The Rapier is a thin bladed weapon, light and whippy. It usually had a bell or cage around the hilt to protect the hand. There was a sturdy cross piece at the hilt, very wide, and it was customary to wrap the index finger around this cross piece for greater balance and finesse. As stated before, the Main Gauche was wielded by the left hand, or vice-versa in the case of a southpaw. A variation on this is the Rapier and Cape, where the short, courtly cape would be whipped around to both deflect the opponent's rapier, or catch it, as well as to distract the opponent. Fencing schools developed to teach the fine art of Rapier combat, and these continue today. The Epee is the practice form of the Rapier.

When you attend a Renaissance festival you will most likely see Gentry characters carrying a Rapier. The Main Gauch is worn across the small of the back, so it could be drawn simutlaneously with the rapier without getting in the way.

There have been people who wear swords from places and times other than the historical period of most Faires. As paying customers, you can use whatever you like, within the law and reason. But please, dress the part that matches the weapon. If you have elf weapons, be an elf. If you are bearing a Katana and Wakizashi, be a Samurai. And remember too that bows will be unstrung at the gate so if that's your most impressive costume piece, perhaps you should pick a different item.

For use in a costume, as opposed to combat reenactment, I would strongly suggest buying the less expensive stainless steel versions of any of the weapons on this page. There are very fancy cast metal swords and such too, but in my experience, that kind of metal shatters very easily. So leave those kinds of weapons on the wall.

But where to buy weapons of any kind? Frankly, for a costume, go to an auction site. Why spend a fortune on a weapon that you will never draw at a fair, and will never use in combat? DO be aware though, that a lot of the war weapons, such as longswords and greatswords, offered on auction sites are very, VERY, poor quality. I have received swords that were bent, or shaped incorrectly. And they tend to be very much smaller than the pictures will have you believe.

For weapons of quality, even combat readiness, follow the links I provide on my Projects page.