The sword was developed as a hunting tool just after the Neolithic period. The primitive daggers made then were of bronze and their blades were fastened to their handles with brittle rivets. This allowed for only a thrusting motion, as cutting or slashing broke the rivets. Swords of this time were small and crude, and have been found by archaeologists and described as having great stress to the rivets in them.
    Because these first swords were easily broken and couldn't be easily used, technology called for improvement. After some trial efforts, hunters developed a sword with a full tang, meaning its blade extended all the way through its handle. This allowed for much more maneuverability, causing the need for a lighter metal.
    When man discovered the secret of iron, swords adapted and improved. They got longer and more useful, now utilized as devices with which to kill and not only to hunt with as before. Iron was key to the sword's enhancement, as it was cheaper and easier to work with than bronze. Because iron was so easily shaped, swords began to have a common form: that of a leaf. Their blades were thicker in the middle than on the edges, tapering to a slightly rounded point at the end. This style became known as the broadsword.
    As more and more people armed themselves, war sparked everywhere. It became increasingly more endemic as technique started forming and people got better with their weapons. This called for yet another development: defense.
    To protect themselves from the iron swords of other tribes and villages, smiths created iron chainmail and shields. Because these were rather primitive styles of armor, people continued to die, but in less extravagant amounts.
    In the Middle Ages, chainmail was replaced by plate armor, and broadswords had no hope against it. It seemed the world was in a rather chaotic stalemate, so people began to upgrade the sword yet again.
    Now blades were longer and tapered to a sharp point that was used to pierce armor. It was then that "hilts, quillions, and the classic sword shape evolved." ("Swords and Fighting," Kirkpatrick of Rannoch).
    Since horses had long been domesticated, swords now changed to consider the mounts of their wielders. Horsemen used long, heavy swords, but these were hard to fight with. Though foot soldiers needed to reach the men on the horses, they used shorter, faster swords with which to fight in more of a fencing style.
    By now, swords had become so long and heavy and armor so reliable that the shield was rendered rather obsolete. Sword handles were extended for use by two hands, and guards widened greatly to protect swordsmen's hands.
    All this slow progress toward the perfect bladed weapon soon was overshadowed by the newest technology: firearms. Plate armor only ensured death from gun wounds and so wasn't used anymore, and with its departure went also the need for heavy armor-piercing swords. Men who had been endangered for not being able to afford restricting armor could now put their acquired fencing skills to work. The blades of swords thinned and technique and swordsmanship showed its real value at last. Though the bayonet soon replaced the sword on the battlefield, it had ensured itself a life after war.
    The first fencing schools were opened in the fifteenth century. Rapiers, the new lighter swords, were used for dueling and sport. In fact, so many noblemen died from dueling with long rapiers that Queen Elizabeth I said any man in London with a rapier longer than 30 inches would have to have it shortened. Jousting came about for sport as well, but didn't last a very long time.
    From primitive bronze daggers to the modern rapier, swords have evolved greatly throughout Europe and its surrounding countries. Read more to focus on more detailed aspects of this ancient weapon.

(top left: Artificial bronze-age swords, made by Kirkpatrick of Rannoch.)