[Mid] Wearing Swords

>>I don't know about sumptuary laws, but a wise man said: "In the SCA,
>>two kinds of people wear swords--knights and geeks. Don't be a geek."
>
>I can't imagine why someone would say this - ok, that's not strictly
>true, I have a pretty good imagination and can therefore invent any
>number of possibilities. I guess I should say that I can't imagine why
>we as a group would want to perpetuate such a belief. Was it true in
>period that only knights wore swords? Of course not. Would a sword be a
>perfect and perhaps even necessary accessory to many well-developed
>personnas? Indeed.

I think the point being made was, well....

Case study time. I have a sword. It's not anything special. I did go to the
trouble of properly rigging it though. I rarely wear it. It just doesn't go
with garb and when I'm in armor I can't take it out on the field and..... About
the only place it's apropriate is when acting as a guard or for a helm show.

Now, think about the guys you regularly see wearing swords. Strapped on over
all sorts of garb that it doesn't go with and hanging down in their (and
everybody else's) way. If it helps "dress" the mental image, imagine that the
guy in question is wearing all black, the cross guard has a skull molded into it
with little red gems for eyes and he's explaining to someone that he doesn't
fight because he's had so much marshal arts training he's afraid he might
accidentally kill someone.

That's not to say that everyone who ever wears a sword is such, but you've got
to admit, the person I just described is damn near an archetype!

Avery
From: TJKOCO@monsanto.com
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Received on Fri May 2 04:29:50 1997