Cloak and Baldric

Son of Witz17 Feb 2009, 17:32as archived

Cloak and Baldric

No, it's not a new subgenre, it's a costuming question. So, Severian's got this huge sword on a baldric, slung over his (left) shoulder most of the time. Too big to hang from a sword belt. But how does that work with a cloak? It would have to be worn OVER the cloak, but, unless the cloak was pushed back over the shoulders, the baldric would essentially trap his arms in by holding the cloak tight around his torso. It seems he could have one side free, at least, but the other would be constricted. Or am I completely wrong? Am I mistaken, or is this not really much of a problem for a wandering swordsman? Are any of you guys Ren Fair or Historic Recreation types? any insight here? I ask because I was drawing Severian, and this suddenly struck me as a real problem. /Devil in the details ~Witz

brunians at brunians.org17 Feb 2009, 17:35as archived

↳ in reply to Son of Witz

Sev's not a duellist, he's not wandering around striking on the draw and such. If he was a duellist he surely would not have that kind of sword. .

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No, it's not a new subgenre, it's a costuming question. So, Severian's got this huge sword on a baldric, slung over his (left) shoulder most of the time. Too big to hang from a sword belt. But how does that work with a cloak? It would have to be worn OVER the cloak, but, unless the cloak was pushed back over the shoulders, the baldric would essentially trap his arms in by holding the cloak tight around his torso. It seems he could have one side free, at least, but the other would be constricted. Or am I completely wrong? Am I mistaken, or is this not really much of a problem for a wandering swordsman? Are any of you guys Ren Fair or Historic Recreation types? any insight here? I ask because I was drawing Severian, and this suddenly struck me as a real problem. /Devil in the details ~Witz _______________________________________________

Son of Witz17 Feb 2009, 17:46as archived

↳ follows brunians at brunians.org · by subject

I thought writing "wandering swordsman" might invite that objection. but, so, you acknowledge that this phenomenon would exist, just that it wouldn't really be a problem since the sword is more "cargo" than defensive weapon? ~Witz

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-----Original Message----- From: brunians at brunians.org [mailto:brunians at brunians.org] Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2009 09:35 AM To: 'The Urth Mailing List' Cc: urth at urth.net Subject: Re: (urth) Cloak and Baldric Sev's not a duellist, he's not wandering around striking on the draw and such. If he was a duellist he surely would not have that kind of sword. .

No, it's not a new subgenre, it's a costuming question. So, Severian's got this huge sword on a baldric, slung over his (left) shoulder most of the time. Too big to hang from a sword belt. But how does that work with a cloak? It would have to be worn OVER the cloak, but, unless the cloak was pushed back over the shoulders, the baldric would essentially trap his arms in by holding the cloak tight around his torso. It seems he could have one side free, at least, but the other would be constricted. Or am I completely wrong? Am I mistaken, or is this not really much of a problem for a wandering swordsman? Are any of you guys Ren Fair or Historic Recreation types? any insight here? I ask because I was drawing Severian, and this suddenly struck me as a real problem. /Devil in the details ~Witz _______________________________________________

brunians at brunians.org17 Feb 2009, 19:25as archived

↳ in reply to Son of Witz

Sure. He's got a minute or two to take himself apart and get his sword out. Remember a lot of the time he has taken the gaurd off and is using it as a staff. Finally, Severian is not and does not look like someone you'd want to run into in a dark alley. I don't imagine that too many people casually start fights with him, even leaving aside that he is some kind of cop. .

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I thought writing "wandering swordsman" might invite that objection. but, so, you acknowledge that this phenomenon would exist, just that it wouldn't really be a problem since the sword is more "cargo" than defensive weapon? ~Witz

-----Original Message----- From: brunians at brunians.org [mailto:brunians at brunians.org] Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2009 09:35 AM To: 'The Urth Mailing List' Cc: urth at urth.net Subject: Re: (urth) Cloak and Baldric Sev's not a duellist, he's not wandering around striking on the draw and such. If he was a duellist he surely would not have that kind of sword. .

No, it's not a new subgenre, it's a costuming question. So, Severian's got this huge sword on a baldric, slung over his (left) shoulder most of the time. Too big to hang from a sword belt. But how does that work with a cloak? It would have to be worn OVER the cloak, but, unless the cloak was pushed back over the shoulders, the baldric would essentially trap his arms in by holding the cloak tight around his torso. It seems he could have one side free, at least, but the other would be constricted. Or am I completely wrong? Am I mistaken, or is this not really much of a problem for a wandering swordsman? Are any of you guys Ren Fair or Historic Recreation types? any insight here? I ask because I was drawing Severian, and this suddenly struck me as a real problem. /Devil in the details ~Witz _______________________________________________

Son of Witz17 Feb 2009, 19:39as archived

↳ follows brunians at brunians.org · by subject

Good points. I'd forgotten completely about the sword as staff without it's guard. And yeah, I'm taller, but I wouldn't mess with Severian. thanks, ~witz

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-----Original Message----- From: brunians at brunians.org [mailto:brunians at brunians.org] Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2009 11:25 AM To: 'The Urth Mailing List' Subject: Re: (urth) Cloak and Baldric Sure. He's got a minute or two to take himself apart and get his sword out. Remember a lot of the time he has taken the gaurd off and is using it as a staff. Finally, Severian is not and does not look like someone you'd want to run into in a dark alley. I don't imagine that too many people casually start fights with him, even leaving aside that he is some kind of cop. .

I thought writing "wandering swordsman" might invite that objection. but, so, you acknowledge that this phenomenon would exist, just that it wouldn't really be a problem since the sword is more "cargo" than defensive weapon? ~Witz

-----Original Message----- From: brunians at brunians.org [mailto:brunians at brunians.org] Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2009 09:35 AM To: 'The Urth Mailing List' Cc: urth at urth.net Subject: Re: (urth) Cloak and Baldric Sev's not a duellist, he's not wandering around striking on the draw and such. If he was a duellist he surely would not have that kind of sword. .

No, it's not a new subgenre, it's a costuming question. So, Severian's got this huge sword on a baldric, slung over his (left) shoulder most of the time. Too big to hang from a sword belt. But how does that work with a cloak? It would have to be worn OVER the cloak, but, unless the cloak was pushed back over the shoulders, the baldric would essentially trap his arms in by holding the cloak tight around his torso. It seems he could have one side free, at least, but the other would be constricted. Or am I completely wrong? Am I mistaken, or is this not really much of a problem for a wandering swordsman? Are any of you guys Ren Fair or Historic Recreation types? any insight here? I ask because I was drawing Severian, and this suddenly struck me as a real problem. /Devil in the details ~Witz _______________________________________________

Chris P17 Feb 2009, 21:32as archived

↳ in reply to Son of Witz

The sword itself is very explicitly not designed for that kind of fighting. It is designed for executions; the balance and size guarantee that, no matter how you contrive to carry that thing, you're not going to get a quick graceful reaction with it. So yeah, I would say it becomes a cargo issue - the task is to carry it in a way that doesn't overly interfere with your movement.

"When small men begin to cast big shadows, it means that the sun is about to set." -- Lin Yutang

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From: sonofwitz at butcherbaker.org To: urth at lists.urth.net Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2009 17:46:40 +0000 Subject: Re: (urth) Cloak and Baldric I thought writing "wandering swordsman" might invite that objection. but, so, you acknowledge that this phenomenon would exist, just that it wouldn't really be a problem since the sword is more "cargo" than defensive weapon? ~Witz

-----Original Message----- From: brunians at brunians.org [mailto:brunians at brunians.org] Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2009 09:35 AM To: 'The Urth Mailing List' Cc: urth at urth.net Subject: Re: (urth) Cloak and Baldric Sev's not a duellist, he's not wandering around striking on the draw and such. If he was a duellist he surely would not have that kind of sword. .

No, it's not a new subgenre, it's a costuming question. So, Severian's got this huge sword on a baldric, slung over his (left) shoulder most of the time. Too big to hang from a sword belt. But how does that work with a cloak? It would have to be worn OVER the cloak, but, unless the cloak was pushed back over the shoulders, the baldric would essentially trap his arms in by holding the cloak tight around his torso. It seems he could have one side free, at least, but the other would be constricted. Or am I completely wrong? Am I mistaken, or is this not really much of a problem for a wandering swordsman? Are any of you guys Ren Fair or Historic Recreation types? any insight here? I ask because I was drawing Severian, and this suddenly struck me as a real problem. /Devil in the details ~Witz _______________________________________________

Gwern Branwen18 Feb 2009, 01:56as archived

↳ in reply to Son of Witz

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On Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 12:32 PM, Son of Witz <sonofwitz at butcherbaker.org> wrote: No, it's not a new subgenre, it's a costuming question. So, Severian's got this huge sword on a baldric, slung over his (left) shoulder most of the time. Too big to hang from a sword belt. But how does that work with a cloak? It would have to be worn OVER the cloak, but, unless the cloak was pushed back over the shoulders, the baldric would essentially trap his arms in by holding the cloak tight around his torso. It seems he could have one side free, at least, but the other would be constricted. Or am I completely wrong? Am I mistaken, or is this not really much of a problem for a wandering swordsman? Are any of you guys Ren Fair or Historic Recreation types? any insight here? I ask because I was drawing Severian, and this suddenly struck me as a real problem. /Devil in the details ~Witz

I'll throw in a suggestion. Perhaps there is a slit in the cloak. Then he could have the baldric all tight around his body but the actual sword and sheathe would be outside the cloak and loose.

gwern