Every child has a fantasy at least once in his or her life that involves knights, dragons, princesses, or medieval armies. People are captured and rescued, knights are wounded and healed, cities are razed in the wake of great battles, and strange creatures fall at the hands of noble men. One element that is common to all these scenarios is the sword. The sword is the symbol of weaponry worldwide; there is not a place on earth that didn't once in its history try using some sort of sharpened rock, stick, or metal shard attached to a crude handle. Swords were used in certain places until less than a century ago, and were created as many as five thousand years ago. There is no weapon that has had a greater influence on history, whether it be a symbol of honor or simply an instrument of war. Without the sword as a stepping stone, it is quite possible that firearms and other technology would have taken many more years to develop, if ever developing at all. Swords are symbols of exchange between cultures and encounters of individual people and entire nations.

 

CLICK HERE to go to About the Authors and the Process Paper!

This page was last updated on 04/01/04.