The Falchion or Malchus, the rarest medieval sword

stephen wood · 17th October 2012, 06:39 PM

...wasn't Malchus the servant of the High Priest whose ear was cut off by St Peter and restored by Christ?

J.G.Elmslie · 17th October 2012, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stephen wood

...wasn't Malchus the servant of the High Priest whose ear was cut off by St Peter and restored by Christ?

correct. Particularly among the german states, the style of short curved messer/falchion became associated with that action and took the name.

sort of like a Bowie knife is named after the person it was associated with.
Named after the well-known british musician....(sorry. I'm joking there. could'nt resist.)

wardlaw · 20th October 2012, 09:49 PM

J.G. Elmslie - it's the cultural element that fascinates me; the socio-cultural symbolism of the falchion and messer (it's appearance in art and literature) suggest to me that it had a particular resonance within western European society. I'm trying to get a paper written up that I gave at the International Medieval Congress a couple of years back on the subject, but other projects and commitments keeping getting in the way

The use of 'Malchus' as a term for a falchion in Germany was mentioned earlier in this thread, with some consideration of its origins and earliest usage. I don;t think, however, that a firm conclusion was reached on how early this term was used?

(It's Dr actually, in so far as it matters

) Wardlaw - or Rob Jones - either suits.

17th October 2012, 06:39 PM	#1
stephen wood Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 227	...wasn't Malchus the servant of the High Priest whose ear was cut off by St Peter and restored by Christ?

20th October 2012, 09:49 PM	#3
wardlaw Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Somerset, UK Posts: 8	J.G. Elmslie - it's the cultural element that fascinates me; the socio-cultural symbolism of the falchion and messer (it's appearance in art and literature) suggest to me that it had a particular resonance within western European society. I'm trying to get a paper written up that I gave at the International Medieval Congress a couple of years back on the subject, but other projects and commitments keeping getting in the way The use of 'Malchus' as a term for a falchion in Germany was mentioned earlier in this thread, with some consideration of its origins and earliest usage. I don;t think, however, that a firm conclusion was reached on how early this term was used? (It's Dr actually, in so far as it matters ) Wardlaw - or Rob Jones - either suits.