Swords

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The sword is a weapon consisting of a long, sharp-edged or pointed blade fixed in a hilt which is a handle that usually has a protective guard at the place where the handle joins the blade. In a general sense, the term connotes any side arm for cutting or thrusting, such as a rapier, saber, épée, scimitar, cutlass, or claymore. Swords used in the most ancient times were made of stone, bone, or wood. Bronze swords, which were probably known to the Egyptians as early as 2000 bc, were the first metal swords. Harder iron swords, appearing at later times in different parts of the world, quickly proved superior; these remained in use until fairly recent times, when steelmaking was perfected and steel blades appeared. The requirements and methods of modern warfare have made swords obsolete as combat weapons.
The sword has always been a personal weapon, effective only in hand-to-hand combat such as it was associated with individual distinction. Although swords of political and military leaders, nobles, and exceptional warriors frequently were ornamented, with hilts elegantly decorated ,and sometimes bejeweled and blades inlaid with gold and silver or forged so as to produce a watered effect after the damascene fashion. Symbolic importance also was often attached to the sword. In mythology and literature swords possessing supernatural qualities abound. These belonged to or were acquired by heroes and superior warriors. Oaths of honor or fealty commonly were taken on the sword, and sovereigns still confer knighthood by tapping the shoulder with a sword. To surrender one's sword has always been a token of defeat or submission, and the breaking of it a ceremony of degradation.
In the U.S. Army the sword has been abolished, and a single form of saber is worn by officers on ceremonial occasions. When not drawn for use, swords generally are worn in a scabbard ,a leather or metal sheath, belted to or hung at the side.
A type of a sword is a wea...