The Falchion or Malchus, the rarest medieval sword

[J.G.Elmslie]

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]

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.

[Ricardo S.]

Hi. Congratulations on the amazing post. Priceless amount of information. I wonder if you have measurements of the falchion at Public Museum in Germany. The same one you've posted on this thread. Thank you.