NexiHexi

The Silt Verses Chapter 1 - Let Me Speak First of Revelations

soup de jure: soup the government wants you to eat

soup d'etat: ousting the previous soup of the day and installing your own

death sits on God’s front porchin a clean white shirt eatinggranny smith apples all dusk.

we appear as small & plentifulas a swarm of anxious fireflies & he catchesus in his cleaned-out honey jars.

every now and then an angel dizzyon rye whiskey or homemade moonshinewanders out to sit with death, smokecigars, make sure we’re feeling okayinside this jar with no holes.

every morning God goes out & buries usnext to the squash in his vegetable patch.it’s warm in the june sun & He lets ushave dreams about beautiful thingssuch as dancing with our childrenor baking rhubarb pie for our mothers.

TL;DR - it wobbles because it’s a practice weapon, far more flexible than a real sword.

For safety reasons HEMA practice longswords are both blunt and flexible, while not being so flexible they can’t correctly beat, block or deflect.

This is a “Feder” (meaning “feather” or more correctly “quill / nib”), a training sword from the later Middle Ages into the Renaissance.

The wide section above the hilt adds realistic weight and balance while keeping the working part of the blade thin and bendable.

A sword with “realistic” flex, i.e. not much at all, would be much more dangerous than a flexy one in a move like this one:

Here’s a better example of why practice swords need to flex so much. The attack is another thrust to throat, but the attack blade bends much more on impact.

(Sorry the GIF isn’t clearer; its bright background washes things out, but the arc of the blade is visible against that distant tree.)

I have a feeling this was accidental.

Look at the attacker’s feet; they skid in the grass so he finishes the move about six inches closer than he meant to. That means there’s more body-weight behind the thrust and his point hits harder than it should, hence the impressive bend.

That same skid-augmented impact with a more rigid blunt wouldn’t have been much fun even through a padded gorget, while a live blade - sharp point, sharp edges, stiff blade - would probably go right through mere padding. The thrust, which in-period was meant to stop an enemy literally dead in his tracks, might well do exactly what it’s supposed to…

Modern sport weapons, though more lightweight and flexy than HEMA kit, can cause bruises despite protective jackets. Hits like the ones in this pic…

…can do this.

So - a wobbly sword may look funny in flight, but is safer to get hit with.

Symptoms of Nonagesimitis may include:

the urge to wrap up a local Harrow in blankets, either as comfort or restraint

feelings of sexual desire or romantic interest towards a local Harrow (may be difficult to distinguish from feelings of anger and rage)

the sense of abandonment, confusion, or loss of identity when one is separated or apart from a Harrow for extended periods of time

the overwhelming urge to be bitten, eaten, used, or otherwise be an asset to the local Harrow

sense or urge to self sacrifice onseself in service to the local Harrow (an escalation of the above - a medical emergency and symptom of late stage Nonagesimitis)