Edged and bladed weapons

thumb|upright=0.55|Swiss longsword, 15th or 16th century

thumb|right|Typical stance; the pouch at belt contains a Sharpening stone|whetstone. [[File:Scythe.svg|thumb|right|Parts of a scythe:

thumb|The guillotine used in Luxembourg between 1798 and 1821 A guillotine ( ) is an apparatus designed for effectively carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with a pillory at the bottom of the frame, holding the position of the neck directly below the blade. The blade is then released, swiftly and forcefully decapitating the victim with a single, clean pass; the head falls into a basket or other receptacle below.

300px|thumb|upright=1.35|The Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife, a modern-day dagger

upright=1.35|thumb|Pitching hay

thumb| British infantryman in 1941 with a Pattern 1907 bayonet affixed to his [[Lee–Enfield rifle]] A bayonet (from Old French , now spelt ) is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped melee weapon designed to be mounted on the end of the barrel of a rifle, carbine, musket or similar long firearm, allowing the gun to be utilized as a spear in close combat.

thumb|Machete/saw combo thumb|Mexican artisan Agustín Cruz Tinoco using a machete to carve wood thumb|Mexican machete, from Guerrero, 1970. bull horn handle, hand forged blade (hammer marks visible) thumb|Campos Hermanos Mexican machete with blade 75 centimeters long and 93 total.

thumb|Pipe tomahawk thumb|Modern commercial tomahawk A tomahawk is a type of single-handed axe used by the many Indigenous peoples and nations of North America. It traditionally resembles a hatchet with a straight shaft.

The kris or '''' is a Javanese asymmetrical dagger with a distinctive blade-patterning achieved through alternating laminations of iron and nickelous iron (pamor). The kris is famous for its distinctive wavy blade, although many have straight blades as well, and is one of the weapons commonly used in the pencak silat'' martial art native to Indonesia. Kris have been produced in many regions of Indonesia for centuries, but nowhere—although the island of Bali comes close—is the kris so embedded in a mutually-connected whole of ritual prescriptions and acts, ceremonies, storied backgrounds, and e

Gladius () is a Latin word properly referring to the type of sword that was used by ancient Roman foot soldiers starting from the 3rd century BC and until the 3rd century AD. Linguistically, within Latin, the word also came to mean "sword", regardless of the type used.

thumb|upright=1.35|The exposed blade and tang (blade)|tang of a [[Japanese sword without the hilt]]

The kukri () or khukuri (, ) is a type of knife or short sword with a distinct recurve in its blade that originated in the Indian subcontinent. It serves multiple purposes as a melee weapon and also as a regular cutting/chopping tool throughout most of South Asia. The kukri, khukri, and kukkri spellings are of Nepali English origin.

axe specifically designed for combat

A is a traditionally made Japanese knife () that was worn by the samurai class of feudal Japan. The dates to the Heian period, when it was mainly used as a weapon but evolved in design over the years to become more ornate. were used in traditional martial arts () and in the seppuku suicide ritual. The term has seen a resurgence in the West since the 1980s as referring to a point style of modern tactical knives, designed for piercing or stabbing, though the style is not present on any traditional tantō.

The naginata (, , ) is a polearm and one of several varieties of traditionally made Japanese blades (nihontō). Naginata were originally used by the samurai class of feudal Japan, as well as by ashigaru (foot soldiers) and sōhei (warrior monks). The naginata is the iconic weapon of the onna-musha, a type of female warrior belonging to the Japanese nobility.

The yatagan, yataghan, or ataghan (from Turkish yatağan), also called varsak, is a type of Ottoman knife or short sabre used from the mid-16th to late 19th century. The yatagan was extensively used in Ottoman Turkey and in areas under immediate Ottoman influence, such as the Balkans, Caucasus, and North Africa.

thumb|An elaborate Celts|Celtic scabbard in two colours of bronze, thumb|A 1916 leather scabbard for a saddle Winchester Model 1873|lever-action rifle of Jack Peters, a ranch hand who worked on the Grant-Kohrs Ranch in [[Powell County, Montana]] A scabbard is a sheath for holding a sword, dagger, knife, or similar edged weapons. Rifles and other long guns may also be stored in scabbards by horse riders for transportation. Military cavalry and cowboys had scabbards for their saddle ring carbines and rifles for transportation and protection. Scabbards have been made of many materials over the m

thumb|Engraving of a claymore and armour at Dunvegan Castle (from Footsteps of Dr. Johnson, 1890).

thumb|right|Two styles of scimitars: an Egyptian shamshir (left) and an Ottoman [[kilij (right)]]

thumb|150px|Roman era reenactor holding a replica late Roman spatha The spatha was a type of straight and long sword, measuring between , with a handle length of between , in use in the territory of the Roman Empire during the 1st to 6th centuries AD. Later swords, from the 7th to 10th centuries, like the Viking swords, are recognizable derivatives and sometimes subsumed under the term spatha.

The chakram (; ) is a throwing weapon from the Indian subcontinent. It is circular with a sharpened outer edge and a diameter of . It is also known as chalikar meaning "circle", and was sometimes referred to in English writings as a "war-quoit". The chakram is primarily a throwing weapon, but can also be used hand-to-hand. A smaller variant called chakri is worn on the wrist. A related weapon is the chakri dong, a bamboo staff with a chakri attached at one end.

The acinaces, also transliterated as akinakes (Greek ) or akinaka (unattested Old Persian *akīnakah, Sogdian kynʼk) is a type of dagger or xiphos (short sword) used mainly in the first millennium BCE in the eastern Mediterranean Basin, especially by the Medes, Scythians, Persians and Caspians, then by the Greeks.

thumb|Three (, , and ) mounted in , including one with an asymmetrical crossbar () is the term for a traditionally-made in the form of a spear, or more specifically, the straight-headed spear. The martial art of wielding the is called .

The karambit or kerambit (as used in Indonesian), kurambik or karambiak (both from the Minangkabau language) is a small curved knife resembling a claw.

pattern of fixed-blade fighting knife

thumb|Stiletto

thumb|Two kusarigama|alt=refer to caption A is a traditional Japanese weapon that consists of a kama (the Japanese equivalent of a sickle or billhook) on a kusari-fundo – a type of metal chain (kusari) with a heavy iron weight (fundo) at the end. The kusarigama is said to have been developed during the Muromachi period. The art of handling the kusarigama is called kusarigamajutsu.

thumb|right|Modern reconstruction of a Greek xiphos and scabbard. thumb|Actaeon holding a xiphos. Painted vase from [[Metaponto, c. 390–380 BC]] The xiphos ( ; plural xiphe, ) is a double-edged, one-handed Iron Age straight shortsword used by the ancient Greeks. It was a secondary battlefield weapon for the Greek armies after the dory or javelin. The classic blade was generally about long, although the Spartans supposedly preferred to use blades as short as around the era of the Greco-Persian Wars.

thumb|200px|An Omani khanjar, 1924

knife designed for military use for hand-to-hand combat

A macuahuitl is a Mesoamerican weapon consisting of a wooden sword with several embedded obsidian blades. The name is derived from the Nahuatl language and means "hand-wood". Its sides are embedded with prismatic blades traditionally made from obsidian, which is capable of producing an edge sharper than high quality steel razor blades. The macuahuitl was a standard close combat weapon.

thumb|Greek hoplite (standing) fighting against a Persian archer. Both are using a kopis. Depiction in ancient kylix, 5th century BC, National Archaeological Museum of Athens. thumb|Greek kopis, 5th–4th centuries BC, iron, Metropolitan Museum of Art. thumb|Modern reproduction of a kopis

type of polearm

The kirpan (; pronunciation: [kɪɾpaːn]) is a blade that Khalsa Sikhs are required to wear as part of their religious uniform, as prescribed by the Sikh Code of Conduct. Traditionally, the kirpan was a full-sized talwar at around 76 cm (30 inches) long; however, British colonial policies and laws introduced in the 19th century reduced the length of the blade, and in the modern day, the kirpan is typically a dagger between 5 to 12 inches. According to the Sikh Code of Conduct, "The length of the sword to be worn is not prescribed", but must be curved and single edged (as its original sword form

thumb|94px|right|Iberian falcata

thumb|Outline of a sica

thumb|Silver pattern welding|pattern welded [[rapier guard, from between 1580 and 1600, with reproduction blade]] The hilt (rarely called a haft or shaft) is the handle of a knife, dagger, sword, or bayonet, consisting of a guard, grip, and pommel. The guard may contain a crossguard or quillons. A tassel or sword knot may be attached to the guard or pommel.

thumb|A folding switchblade|250x250px

type of pole weapon with a curved single-edged blade with the cutting edge on the concave side of the blade

thumb|170px|Urumi usage in Kalaripayattu demonstrated by Gangadharan Gurukkal in Perambra, [[Kozhikode.]]

type of sword

right|thumb|350px|Traditional puukko with birch handle and full-length fuller A puukko () is a small traditional Finnish general purpose belt knife with a single curved cutting edge, solid hidden tang, and usually, a flat spine.

thumb|Two examples of Guisarmes thumb|Illustration of a scene from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, showing an axe-shaped "giserne". A guisarme (sometimes gisarme, giserne or bisarme) is a polearm used in Europe primarily between 1000 and 1400. Its origin is likely Germanic, from the Old High German , literally "weeding iron". Like many medieval polearms, the exact early form of the weapon is hard to define from literary references, and the identification of surviving weapons can be speculative.

thumb|right|Dacian warriors wielding a two-handed on the Tropaeum Traiani

ancient pole arm used as a military weapon

large cutting tool of Filipino origin

thumb|upright|Scottish dirk, blade by Andrew Boog, Edinburgh, c. 1795, Royal Ontario Museum

thumb|250px|Bladesmith, Nuremberg, Germany, 1569 Bladesmithing is the art of making knives, swords, daggers and other blades using a forge, hammer, anvil, and other smithing tools. Bladesmiths employ a variety of metalworking techniques similar to those used by blacksmiths, as well as woodworking for knife and sword handles, and often leatherworking for sheaths. Bladesmithing is an art that is thousands of years old and found in cultures as diverse as China, Japan, India, Germany, Korea, the Middle East, Spain and the British Isles. As with any art shrouded in history, there are myths and misc

A golok is a cutting tool, similar to a machete, that comes in many variations and is found throughout the Malay Archipelago. It is used as an agricultural tool as well as a weapon. The word golok (sometimes misspelled in English as "gollock") is used in Indonesia and Malaysia. Both in Malaysia and in Indonesia, the term is usually interchangeable with the longer and broader parang. In the Sundanese region of West Java it is known as bedog. In the Philippines, the term gulok (also known as gunong), refers to different dagger weapons including the kris.

thumb|300px|Reconstructions of Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean swords, the bottom one a makhaira-type sword The makhaira is a type of Ancient Greek bladed weapon and tool, generally a large knife or sword, similar in appearance to the modern-day machete, with a single cutting edge.

thumb|Staghorn thumb|A being worn on the leg The ' ( ; ) – also anglicized as skene-dhu' – is a small, single-edged knife () worn as part of traditional Scottish Highland dress. It is now worn tucked into the top of the kilt hose with only the upper portion of the hilt visible. The is normally worn on the same side as the dominant hand.

thumb|Phurba in the Walters Art Museum The phurba (; alternate transliterations: phurpa, phurbu, purbha, or phurpu)or kīla (Sanskrit Devanagari: कील; IAST: kīla) is a three-sided peg, stake, knife, or nail-like ritual implement deeply rooted in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and Bön traditions. Its primary association is with the meditational deity Vajrakīlaya (Dorje Phurba), embodying the essence of transformative power. The etymology and historical context of the term reveal some debate. Both the Sanskrit word kīla and the Tibetan phurba are used interchangeably in sources.

thumb|Gē with engraved decoration of a tiger, Warring States period (475–221 BC) thumb|Eastern Zhou bronze dagger-axe alt= Dagger-axes and variants|thumb|Two dagger-axes (left), alongside four jis

claw-like weapon from India

type of knife

part of the blade protruding into the handle

thumb|250px|Shown on Tropaeum Traiani Metope The rhomphaia () was a close-combat bladed weapon used by the Thracians as early as 350-400 BC. Rhomphaias were weapons with a straight or slightly curved single-edged blade. Although the rhomphaia was similar to the falx, most archaeological evidence suggests that rhomphaias were forged with straight or slightly curved blades, presumably to enable their use as both a thrusting and slashing weapon. The blade was constructed of iron and used a triangular cross section to accommodate the single cutting edge with a tang of rectangular cross section. Le

A shotel () is a curved sword originating from northern Ethiopia and Southern-central Eritrea. The curve on the blade varies from the Persian shamshir, adopting an almost semicircular shape. The blade is often double-edged with a diamond cross-section and about in total length. Nearly universal is a three-piece rhinoceros horn hilt with no guard, identical to that of the jile or jambiya, though wood and later bakelite examples have been observed. The shotel was typically carried in a close fitting leather scabbard which was sometimes decorated with precious metals.

thumb|Bisento (Méi jiāndāo; 眉尖刀) from the Wǔjīng Zǒngyào (武經總要) A is a polearm used in feudal Japan. The bisentō has various descriptions, "a double-edged long sword with a thick truncated blade", "a spear-like weapon with a blade at the end that resembles a scimitar", "a polearm resembling a glaive, with a long, heavy haft and a heavy, curved blade". The bisentō is said to have been used by ninja and peasants.