Migration Period sword
The type of sword popular during the migration period and the Merovingian period of European history (c. 4th to 7th centuries), particularly among the Germanic peoples was derived from the Roman era Spatha, and gave rise to the Carolingian or Viking sword type of the 8th to 10th centuries.
The blade is normally smooth or shows a very shallow fuller, and often has multiple bands of pattern-welding within the central portion. The handles were often of perishable material and there are few surviving examples. Blade length measured between 28" and 32" (710 and 810 mm) in length and 1.7" to 2.4" (45 to 60 mm) in width. The tang has a length of only some 4" to 5" (100 to 130 mm) long. The blades show very little taper, usually ending in a rounded tip.
Surviving examples of these Merovingian-period swords have notably been found in the context of the Scandinavian Germanic Iron Age (Vendel period).
Names and terminology
There is no single term that can be reconstructed as having referred specifically to the spatha in Common Germanic. There are a number of terms and epithets which refer to the sword, especially in Germanic poetry.
Merovingian dynasty
The Merovingians (/ˌmɛroʊˈvɪndʒɪən/) were a Salian Frankish dynasty that ruled the Franks for nearly 300 years in a region known as Francia in Latin, beginning in the middle of the 5th century. Their territory largely corresponded to ancient Gaul as well as the Roman provinces of Raetia, Germania Superior and the southern part of Germania. The Merovingian dynasty was founded by Childeric I (c. 457 – 481), the son of Merovech, leader of the Salian Franks, but it was his famous son Clovis I (481–511) who united all of Gaul under Merovingian rule.
After the death of Clovis there were frequent clashes between different branches of the family, but when threatened by its neighbours the Merovingians presented a strong united front.
During the final century of Merovingian rule, the kings were increasingly pushed into a ceremonial role. The Merovingian rule ended in March 752 when Pope Zachary formally deposed Childeric III. Zachary's successor, Pope Stephen II, confirmed and anointed Pepin the Short in 754, beginning the Carolingian monarchy.
Merovingian (disambiguation)
The term Merovingian has several uses:
List of minor characters in the Matrix series
Many of the characters listed here have names reflecting certain aspects of them, such as their status, personality or role.
Apoc
Apoc (played by Julian Arahanga) is a crew member of the Nebuchadnezzar in The Matrix.
Apoc drives Neo to his meeting with Morpheus, and assists Tank in locating Neo inside the Power Plant. He and Switch are portrayed as front-line soldiers while inside the Matrix, acting as "point" and "rear guard" in their escape from the Agents and police and laying down covering fire as they make their way into the sewers. Cypher murders Apoc by pulling his jack out of his head while Apoc is connected to the Matrix. In The Matrix Reloaded, Arahanga can be seen in one of the first establishing shots of Zion, as a machine operator who flashes quickly by the camera.
Captain Ballard
Captain Ballard (played by Roy Jones Jr.), was the captain of the Zion hovercraft Caduceus in the film The Matrix Reloaded and the video game Enter the Matrix. During the Captain's meeting in Reloaded, Ballard volunteers to stay behind during the massive recall of all hovercrafts to Zion in order to await a message from The Oracle. As Ballard stayed behind, he was eventually contacted and challenged to a fight by Seraph. Shortly after the fight, Ballard met with the Oracle to retrieve her message. The crew of the Caduceus eventually made it back to Zion and gave the message to Neo.
Sword
A sword is a bladed weapon intended for both cutting and thrusting. The precise definition of the term varies with the historical epoch or the geographical region under consideration. A sword in the most narrow sense consists of a straight blade with two edges and a hilt, but depending on context, the term is also often used to refer to bladed weapons with a single edge (also referred to as a backsword).
Historically, the sword developed in the Bronze Age, evolving from the dagger; the earliest specimens date to ca. 1600 BC. The later Iron Age sword remained fairly short and without a crossguard. The spatha, as it developed in the Late Roman army, became the predecessor of the European sword of the Middle Ages, at first adopted as the Migration period sword, and only in the High Middle Ages, developed into the classical arming sword with crossguard. The word sword continues the Old English, sweord.
The use of a sword is known as swordsmanship or (in an early modern or modern context) as fencing. In the Early Modern period, western sword design diverged into roughly two forms, the thrusting swords and the sabers:
Sword (band)
Sword is a Canadian heavy metal band that was active in the 1980s and just announced a reunion for 2011.
History
In the early 80's, south of Montreal in Saint Bruno, Quebec, Rick (vocals) and Dan Hughes (drums) formed a heavy metal band called Sword. They were joined by guitarist Mike Plant and bassist Mike Larocque in the first lineup of the band. They signed their first commercial contract in 1984 with Aquarius Records.
Sword released two albums for Aquarius in the late 80s; the debut album Metalized in 1986 and its follow-up Sweet Dreams in 1988. They toured in the support slot for Motörhead and Alice Cooper, and the group was hand-picked to open for Metallica on the 1986 Master of Puppets tour.
After disbanding, Rick Hughes formed Saints & Sinners and released a self-titled album with them.
In 2006, Aquarius Records released The Best of Sword a compilation album, which was in stores on Tuesday, October 31.
Throughout their career, Sword sold in excess of 180,000 albums.
On February 17, 2011 it was announced that Sword had reunited and were rehearsing for live shows to come.
Sword (disambiguation)
A sword is a cutting and/or thrusting weapon.
Sword, Swords, or The Sword may also refer to:
People
Places
Business and technology
Books
Podcasts:
