- Ancients in their language: this is a sword, and this is another kind of sword this is a foregin sword. - Weapon historians: This is a bastard swod, this is a longsword, this is a rapier, this a shamshir, this is a katana, this is dao. OH! And there is a typology of specific types logswords we created ...
Yeah and the sword he has isn’t really definitely Persian, yet he asserts it as such. The same sword could be referred to, as some people try to do, as a “سيف" (Saif, the Arabic word for sword) and it would still be the same problem. That type of sword, both the blade and handle, are so prolific in the MENA and even Europe that asserting Shamshir is the correct term is simply ignorant. This guy is goofy.
Funnily enough same in Thai "ดาบ" or daab. For westerners daab is used to refer to the thai sword but it's actually just the word for swords in general
Same with 刀 “katana” in Japan. Just means “sword”. The Japanese call their type of sword, in Japanese, 日本刀 (nihontou) “Japanese sword” to differentiate it from other types of swords made elsewhere. Starting to see a pattern here…
Sword just means "sword" Shamshir just means "sword" Katana just means "sword" Dao just means "sword" Ironically scimitar is more descriptive word if we are being literal.
The persian shamshir had some different versions as it went on , the fully curved shamshir started to apear in safavid era , this looks like a less curved version to me 😀
So Scimitar is a word from Europe that means any eastern curved blade, and the Shamshir is a curved blade from Persia, which is... To the east of Europe. So a Shamshir is a Scimitar, the way an Oakeshott Type 14, Type 15, and Type 18b are all longswords despite being as diverse in design as the blades encompassed by Scimitar.
They are also used in very similar ways, to do very similar things in combat. We need to realize that all of this classification is modern and didn’t matter to ancient people
I'd say that a scimitar isn't a one sword per say, but a family of swords Kind of like how you could call a Flamberge a two-handed longsword, you could also call a shamshir a scimitar
Scimitar is colloquially used as a general broad-purpose description for Arabian and oriental curved blades used for slashing. I was unsure of the authenticity of what you’re saying myself, so I did some independent research. Direct from the encyclopedia; A scimitar (/ˈsɪmɪtər/ or /ˈsɪmɪtɑːr/)[1] is a single-edged sword with a convex curved blade[2][3][4] associated with Middle Eastern, South Asian, or North African cultures. A European term, scimitar does not refer to one specific sword type, but an assortment of different Eastern curved swords inspired by types introduced to the Middle East by Central Asian ghilmans. These swords include the Persian shamshir (the origin of the word scimitar), the Arab saif, the Indian talwar, the North African nimcha, and the Turkish kilij.[4][5] All such swords are originally derived from earlier curved swords developed in Turkic Central Asia (Turkestan). The English term scimitar is attested from the mid-16th century and derives from either the Middle French cimeterre (15th century) or from the Italian scimitarra. The ultimate source of these terms is corruptions of the Persian shamshir.[7][8] Scimitar became used to describe all curved oriental blades, in contrast to the straight and double edged European swords of the time. Much like how a “longsword” or a “rapier” come in many designs and forms, they all have a central theme which they are classified around.
"Eastern curved blade" is also overly broad and doesn't differentiate between weapons of various countries. So, why is "scimitar" problematic but "eastern curved blade" is not?
And cavalry sword could refer to thousands of different designs, both curved and straight, double or single edged, long or very long, which is why it would be a poor descriptor, just like the word scimitar it is too broad of a term.
Yeah this guys points are all kinda stupid. Even when he says “it’s like calling this sword a katana” when in Japanese “katana” literally means and single edged sword.
@@rohanshirmard2485 Except in Japanese it’s literally a word. In Japanese what we call a katana is called uchigatana. “The specific term for katana in Japan is uchigatana (打刀) and the term katana (刀) often refers to single-edged swords from around the world.”
@@VinEllis iranians call every sword shamshir but they always mention the origin after that. Shamshir_Japanese or shamshir_samurai or Shamshir_roman But you must confess that is not accurate at all. These tool saved nations from occupation and disaster for centuries they earned and deserve the respect to call them by their correct name
Amazing video! Well done. It gets even more complex as the "shamshir" you are holding isn't even a classical Iranian sword. Yours has a knobbed handle which is Turkish in origin. You have an Iranian blade on a Turkish hilt.
I want to point out that the italian word scimitarra is the direct transcprition of the word shamshir, and they sound also very similar with the italian sci- in scimitarra that is pretty the same sound of the sh- in shamshir (in the way you pronounced it), a sound lost in the english pronunciation of the syllable sci- in scimitar. So ironically "scimitar" is actually the correct word for that sword. Otherwise it is like saying the names Pietro and Peter aren't the same name with the same meaning deriving form the latin Petrus also deriving from the greek Petros, only because they are a bit different and suffered a "localization". And it's the reason why you say See-zar (and we in italy call him Cesare) and not Kaesar, and Roma becomes Rome. It's the most common thing when different languages make contact: they mix, and english and italian have a lot of words coming from the east, for exemple the algorithm that has suggested me this video
I mean aside from calling it a pirate sword how else are you going to know what I'm talking about. And cutlasses are equally associated with pirates so Scimitar is probably best.
Oh, that's the thing: you can call it a falchion, because that's what it's closest to, but if you're going to assign a weapon to a Middle Eastern coded character, stop giving them falchions, and give them shamshirs instead
This was very informative!... Is it safe to say that the term "Scimitar" is just like a general term, since it appears most *scimitars* have an actual name... I find it interesting because we should start identifying these names for swords because it plays into the evolution of the craftsmanship behind weapons and what style would actually be used in battle. We are doing a disjustice to all those who came before and perfected the blade, shape, length and weight and other properties for soldiers and such.
So another place that you see this confusion is in places like fantasy games and tabletop games. In these places you need to have a short hand for a large swath of items that might have individual meaning on a smaller level. In this case on one uses katana and scimitar as shorthand for a certain type of sore that's different from long sword or rapier, if we're using the d&d terminology here. Now there is going to be a large bit of inaccuracy as not all long swords are considered long swords not all short swords are considered short swords and they do have a large variety in between as you point out a machete and a falcon and a claymore are not going to be all the same thing but might be long together and how they function or what kind of damage. So maybe we do need to work on our classifications but we do need to maintain this shorthand to indicate a certain type of weapon that deals a certain type of damage so that we don't have 20 different sorts that do exactly the same thing so there's no point in having any of them. Other than flavor from the DM or some sort of backstory which you are video is very helpful in, it is not helpful in the game mechanics.
I usually just say "saber" which sure is also a catch-all term, but it paints a more accurate image in people's minds. A slim, curved blade held in one hand.
The reason for the falchion like sword shape in scimitar esque swords in fantasy is because of an old legend in islam about how Imam Ali split his sword against the helmet of the mightiest warrior in Mecca. Because of that, some people who lived within islamic places from that time tried to pay homage to that moment by having their sword "split" at the end like zulfiqar.
The swords that were listed that supposedly look like European falchions actually look much more like the Saracen scimitar to me than to any European falchion, except for the width, since the fantasy scimitar is a bit more chunky compared to the Saracen.
Nothing. That particular ubiquitous fantasy sword shape has no real life equivalent. It is closest in resemblance to a European Falchion. In Always sunny in Philadelphia they call it an "Alibaba sword" from the old movies, and thats as accurate a name as any.
Scimitar is perfectly fine word as long as it's used correctly, as a general term of curved blades. General terms can actually pretty useful when you doesn't know exactly what type of it sword it is. Not everyone is an sword expert.
One should specifically look at Russian Sabre & hanger from the 18th century. Most "scimitar" looking blades I've seen. There is a short here on YT that displays some perfect examples of what I mean.
I feel like hes just disproving his own point. It is a class of sword that falls into a wide variety of swords. Look an f40 isnt a 355, but its still a ferarri. A 44 swamper is bigger than a 18 low profile tire, but its still a tire. He has no scimitar to show us, except what historians have all dubbed a scimitar lol…
"you actually use the word 'x' because people from regions closer to your culture in the past used that word" phew, I thought it was implanted in my brain by the aliens. Thanks.
The only people who actually care about these specifics are modern people. Most people back then just called swords swords. Walk into a shop with a wall of swords and you asked the guy to hand you the sword you're pointing to.
Well as he explains the word Scimitar is the English corruption of the word Shamshir, so, well, yes, but actually no. Shamshir just means sword, just like the vast majority of swords throughout history were simply called swords, so many of the different names we have today originally just meant sword (spatha, kilij, shamshir, tulwar, pulwar etc.) the practice of grouping different types of swords into categories and naming them is a modern one, for research purposes, and in this system the Persian word shamshir has become the name of the historically most prominent Persian sword, a style of curved sabre. So Scimitar was a mispronunciation of a foreign word that didn't describe any specific style of sword, but any sword, that then came to refer to any curved sword from "the East" and that's why the term is problematic today.
This assumes that everyone is going to know the names of ALL the different types of scimitar, and be able to name them all, and know all the differences. As a writer, if I know it's a shamshir, I'll call it a shamshir. If it's a different design and I can't find out the name, or if it's a fantasy design, I'll call it a scimitar because either way they're both going to fall into that family. I have a design of them that looks more like a Chinese broadsword, but it's not a Chinese broadsword because China doesn't exist in the world I created. I can't call it an Eastern broadsword because eastern culture in that world isn't the same as Earth's eastern culture. And, if I call it a broadsword people are going to think of the straight, double-edged version. So, I call it an (insert name of civilisation) scimitar because it doesn't really have a direct/specific Earth equivalent. So, maybe give a bit of leeway as even the most meticulous of authors who research a lot - as I do - can't be perfect all the time.
Maybe it's like samurai who use katana as a name of they sword, or duelist, swashbuckler and musketeer they r using rapier or another fencing sword. Maybe scimitar is a person who use curve sword from middle east, which is a sword is shamseer, kilijr or talwar
Love the video, no one is highlighting this big error in history, only few, and you are one of the few doing that, with actual facts and analyses, respect !!!!
If scimitar is a broad term for eastern curved swords i don't see an issue calling a talwar a scimitar. I just want people to stop using longsword to define a sword of standard length. Even "historians" are guilty of this on youtube
Man... if you are speaking in English, where the word "scimitar" means "one-handed, one-edged, curved sword of Eastern and/or African origin with greater curvature than a saber and a pointy (not blunt) end", then you are actually wrong in saying that a shamshir, a kilij, a tulwar, or a nimja, are not "scimitars". It's as hilarious as weeabos that strongly insist that a bokken (literally "wooden sword" is not to be refered to as "wooden sword". Before starting to correct people on the use of words in other languages, one should learn the meaning of the words in his own. _Meeeeeeeeeybe_ there *is* already a word in one's mother tongue for the foreign word that should be used instead. (Hilariously, usually that's the case with foreign languages and English loanwords. *Watching you make the same mistake on the other direction* was... amusing).
Good video! Windlass calls that model the "Persian Shamshir" but it hardly looks Persian. Most antique ones do not have fullers like the Windlass. Also, the fittings on the Windlass looks a bit off especially with that fleur-de-lis on the hilt. I see it as an Indian copy of a French copy of a Mameluke saber!
So when calling those swords "scimitars" (defined as any curved sword from the Middle East or the Asian sub-continent) you are being absolutely correct that those are scimitars. Umm.... Thanks for clearing that up for us?
"Scimitar is a broad category meaning Eastern curved sword but I want you to call it specifically by name even if you're a writer or game designer who wouldn't know off hand rather than a Smith or a historian who would" dude
Good question, and the real life scenario is Arabs using these curved swords from the 16th century onwards. The would just call it "sword" in Arabic, but that's not sufficiently descriptive. It makes more sense to use the word from the culture of inspiration, rather than the culture of manufacture. So even if it's made in Egypt, I would call that sword a Shamshir
Well I went looking to see what was out there on the “scimitar” before I cover such topics. My friend you have gone to far in the other direction. What the Europeans refer to as a scimitar is a Dē dada, Sapa, or Tegha. The other swords a names you have just mean sword in their language, kiliç in reference to a pala, tulwar in reference to a sirohi, pulwar in reference to a golia etc.
Raiden the European version of Japanese God of Thunder Rajin doesn't look like him, and European version of Buddha is far different than Indian statue of Buddha.
You make General assumptions about artists depicting curved swords. But not one of the pictures you showed as evidence were curved. So what are you basing your claim on?
Firstly I wanted to look for a video with a battle on so-called "Scimitars" because I had my doubts about Red Rose's origin(Nero's blade from Devil May Cry including Dante from Devil may Cry series), but now i understood how terribly I'm wrong, I'm sorry
That not meddle east mean Turkish did you think about Arabs that Islam when it's began read about kahled abn Alwalled to know who have used the scimitare in the wars. His first war was against the Romans in the Mutah War. He faced the Roman army numbering 3,000 against 200,000. He killed a person every 6 minutes. Nine swords were broken by his hand in this war. For your information, Islam spread by the power of God, and this great leader who never lost a war, nor was there a natural death in his bed. Finally, this sword is for knights. It can be hit like a hammer due to the density distribution in the metal, and also for individual confrontations before the start of war, as was very common in the past.
that is Indian Talwar , Indian Talwar, Turkish Kilij, Persian Shamshir is all Saber type sword. And who said that is Scimitar. Scimitar don't look like that this is Scimitar th-cam.com/video/a6KUm3a7Cys/w-d-xo.html.
- Ancients in their language: this is a sword, and this is another kind of sword this is a foregin sword.
- Weapon historians: This is a bastard swod, this is a longsword, this is a rapier, this a shamshir, this is a katana, this is dao. OH! And there is a typology of specific types logswords we created ...
I appreciate the classifications when I'm trying to purchase a particular style to cut melons with
Shamshir "شمشیر" is pretty much the Persian word for swords so it feels weird hearing it as a name for one kind of sword.
same with "talwar" in Urdu
Same with kılıj(Kılıç) in Turkish
Yeah and the sword he has isn’t really definitely Persian, yet he asserts it as such. The same sword could be referred to, as some people try to do, as a “سيف" (Saif, the Arabic word for sword) and it would still be the same problem. That type of sword, both the blade and handle, are so prolific in the MENA and even Europe that asserting Shamshir is the correct term is simply ignorant. This guy is goofy.
Funnily enough same in Thai "ดาบ" or daab. For westerners daab is used to refer to the thai sword but it's actually just the word for swords in general
Same with 刀 “katana” in Japan. Just means “sword”. The Japanese call their type of sword, in Japanese, 日本刀 (nihontou) “Japanese sword” to differentiate it from other types of swords made elsewhere. Starting to see a pattern here…
Sword just means "sword"
Shamshir just means "sword"
Katana just means "sword"
Dao just means "sword"
Ironically scimitar is more descriptive word if we are being literal.
True. The same for kilij.
The fact I was able to tell that was a shamshir at a glance tells me I have spent far too much time reading about curved swords.
The persian shamshir had some different versions as it went on , the fully curved shamshir started to apear in safavid era , this looks like a less curved version to me 😀
It's more of a Kılıç, because the hilt doesn't make the L shape, and the guard has balls on it unlike a shamshir which has flat ends on both sides.
So Scimitar is a word from Europe that means any eastern curved blade, and the Shamshir is a curved blade from Persia, which is... To the east of Europe. So a Shamshir is a Scimitar, the way an Oakeshott Type 14, Type 15, and Type 18b are all longswords despite being as diverse in design as the blades encompassed by Scimitar.
They are also used in very similar ways, to do very similar things in combat. We need to realize that all of this classification is modern and didn’t matter to ancient people
It's all pedantic hair splitting to make some feel superior to others.
I'd say that a scimitar isn't a one sword per say, but a family of swords
Kind of like how you could call a Flamberge a two-handed longsword, you could also call a shamshir a scimitar
In western words it's a sabre
@@AlexisB-gv1tk tHe TeRm "SaBeR" iS pRoBlEmAtIc BeCaUsE iT lUmPs AlL wEsTeRn CuRvEd BlAdEs ToGeThEr.
@@AlexisB-gv1tk Not really the same thing.
I just call them curved swords.
“Curved swords”
Scimitar is colloquially used as a general broad-purpose description for Arabian and oriental curved blades used for slashing.
I was unsure of the authenticity of what you’re saying myself, so I did some independent research.
Direct from the encyclopedia;
A scimitar (/ˈsɪmɪtər/ or /ˈsɪmɪtɑːr/)[1] is a single-edged sword with a convex curved blade[2][3][4] associated with Middle Eastern, South Asian, or North African cultures. A European term, scimitar does not refer to one specific sword type, but an assortment of different Eastern curved swords inspired by types introduced to the Middle East by Central Asian ghilmans. These swords include the Persian shamshir (the origin of the word scimitar), the Arab saif, the Indian talwar, the North African nimcha, and the Turkish kilij.[4][5] All such swords are originally derived from earlier curved swords developed in Turkic Central Asia (Turkestan).
The English term scimitar is attested from the mid-16th century and derives from either the Middle French cimeterre (15th century) or from the Italian scimitarra. The ultimate source of these terms is corruptions of the Persian shamshir.[7][8] Scimitar became used to describe all curved oriental blades, in contrast to the straight and double edged European swords of the time.
Much like how a “longsword” or a “rapier” come in many designs and forms, they all have a central theme which they are classified around.
This is exactly what I've been looking for to answer my confusion.
I’m excited for the TH-cam content, always thought that your content might work better in a longer format!
In the words of the great Lindybeige
"It's a metal stick you use to chop and stab people"
Yes! Thank you. I’ve been fighting this battle for years with my hema club members. I’ve been training with a scimitar since I was a kid.
"Eastern curved blade" is also overly broad and doesn't differentiate between weapons of various countries. So, why is "scimitar" problematic but "eastern curved blade" is not?
I instantly thought "cavalry sword" 🤷♂️
And cavalry sword could refer to thousands of different designs, both curved and straight, double or single edged, long or very long, which is why it would be a poor descriptor, just like the word scimitar it is too broad of a term.
In those ancient depictions it looks like they’re depicting a turkish pala
I don't mean to sound rude, it's just this sounds like the sword equivalent of the Frankenstein and Frankenstein's monster arguing
Yeah this guys points are all kinda stupid. Even when he says “it’s like calling this sword a katana” when in Japanese “katana” literally means and single edged sword.
Yes but you don't call any man with mustache dad. Or any woman with skirt mummy
@@VinEllis it's not a word any more it became a name and people should call it with it's name to respect the culture and its origin.
@@rohanshirmard2485 Except in Japanese it’s literally a word. In Japanese what we call a katana is called uchigatana.
“The specific term for katana in Japan is uchigatana (打刀) and the term katana (刀) often refers to single-edged swords from around the world.”
@@VinEllis iranians call every sword shamshir but they always mention the origin after that. Shamshir_Japanese or shamshir_samurai or Shamshir_roman
But you must confess that is not accurate at all. These tool saved nations from occupation and disaster for centuries they earned and deserve the respect to call them by their correct name
Amazing video! Well done. It gets even more complex as the "shamshir" you are holding isn't even a classical Iranian sword. Yours has a knobbed handle which is Turkish in origin.
You have an Iranian blade on a Turkish hilt.
I take pride in the fact that I knew the sword in the beginning was a Shamshir
I want to point out that the italian word scimitarra is the direct transcprition of the word shamshir, and they sound also very similar with the italian sci- in scimitarra that is pretty the same sound of the sh- in shamshir (in the way you pronounced it), a sound lost in the english pronunciation of the syllable sci- in scimitar.
So ironically "scimitar" is actually the correct word for that sword.
Otherwise it is like saying the names Pietro and Peter aren't the same name with the same meaning deriving form the latin Petrus also deriving from the greek Petros, only because they are a bit different and suffered a "localization".
And it's the reason why you say See-zar (and we in italy call him Cesare) and not Kaesar, and Roma becomes Rome. It's the most common thing when different languages make contact: they mix, and english and italian have a lot of words coming from the east, for exemple the algorithm that has suggested me this video
so if the term scimitar refers to eastern curved swords were katanas considered scimitars?
@@that_sword_guy not convincing
Thats what I'm sayying!
Yes
Technically, yes. But the weebs will get mad
I mean aside from calling it a pirate sword how else are you going to know what I'm talking about. And cutlasses are equally associated with pirates so Scimitar is probably best.
Oh, that's the thing: you can call it a falchion, because that's what it's closest to, but if you're going to assign a weapon to a Middle Eastern coded character, stop giving them falchions, and give them shamshirs instead
As an Iranian great informative video noting the distinction.
“I mean, if I went around sayin’ I was an Emperor just because some moisten bint had lobbed a scimitar at me, they’d put me away!”
This was very informative!... Is it safe to say that the term "Scimitar" is just like a general term, since it appears most *scimitars* have an actual name... I find it interesting because we should start identifying these names for swords because it plays into the evolution of the craftsmanship behind weapons and what style would actually be used in battle. We are doing a disjustice to all those who came before and perfected the blade, shape, length and weight and other properties for soldiers and such.
GIANT
CURVED
SWORDS
So another place that you see this confusion is in places like fantasy games and tabletop games. In these places you need to have a short hand for a large swath of items that might have individual meaning on a smaller level. In this case on one uses katana and scimitar as shorthand for a certain type of sore that's different from long sword or rapier, if we're using the d&d terminology here. Now there is going to be a large bit of inaccuracy as not all long swords are considered long swords not all short swords are considered short swords and they do have a large variety in between as you point out a machete and a falcon and a claymore are not going to be all the same thing but might be long together and how they function or what kind of damage. So maybe we do need to work on our classifications but we do need to maintain this shorthand to indicate a certain type of weapon that deals a certain type of damage so that we don't have 20 different sorts that do exactly the same thing so there's no point in having any of them. Other than flavor from the DM or some sort of backstory which you are video is very helpful in, it is not helpful in the game mechanics.
Shamshir and Katana both just mean "sword", so saying Shamshir sword or Katana sword is like saying sword sword.
the falchion actually started out as the single edge version of the typical medieval European cross hilted sword
I usually just say "saber" which sure is also a catch-all term, but it paints a more accurate image in people's minds. A slim, curved blade held in one hand.
Am been looking for the type of swords depicted in Prince Of Persia games and tanks to you I find them !
The reason for the falchion like sword shape in scimitar esque swords in fantasy is because of an old legend in islam about how Imam Ali split his sword against the helmet of the mightiest warrior in Mecca. Because of that, some people who lived within islamic places from that time tried to pay homage to that moment by having their sword "split" at the end like zulfiqar.
Scimitar just sounds way better than Shamshir
Digress, shamshir sounds like the name of a god or something
the commonly depicted scimitar is similar to a falchion
Shout out to Blizzard for calling their "Hollywood curved Middle Eastern exotic blade" a falchion in Diablo 1.
Are you telling me that RuneScape lied to me all these years and that it's not a rune scimmy, but a rune falchion?
The swords that were listed that supposedly look like European falchions actually look much more like the Saracen scimitar to me than to any European falchion, except for the width, since the fantasy scimitar is a bit more chunky compared to the Saracen.
ok but what is the short one handed scimitar like the one in Indiana Jones called?
Nothing. That particular ubiquitous fantasy sword shape has no real life equivalent. It is closest in resemblance to a European Falchion. In Always sunny in Philadelphia they call it an "Alibaba sword" from the old movies, and thats as accurate a name as any.
2:34 William the Conqueror is depicted bearing this sword
Scimitar is perfectly fine word as long as it's used correctly, as a general term of curved blades. General terms can actually pretty useful when you doesn't know exactly what type of it sword it is. Not everyone is an sword expert.
Sword in thumbnail almost resembles a cutlass.
Shamshir means sword, we call long swords, katanas , sabers curved swords etc shamshir
It works great for fantasy since Shamshir already has a fantasy-ass etimology: sham ("fang") and shir ("lion"), "Lion's Fang"
One should specifically look at Russian Sabre & hanger from the 18th century. Most "scimitar" looking blades I've seen. There is a short here on YT that displays some perfect examples of what I mean.
Cheer~~~a short sword with a curved blade that broadens toward the point😊
Ngl they could’ve separated each weapon based on type not where it’s from.
I feel like hes just disproving his own point. It is a class of sword that falls into a wide variety of swords. Look an f40 isnt a 355, but its still a ferarri. A 44 swamper is bigger than a 18 low profile tire, but its still a tire. He has no scimitar to show us, except what historians have all dubbed a scimitar lol…
Suppose scimitar is just an umbrella term for various types of curved blades. Guess dagger is another umbrella term
Well, ¿so what is the name of the european sword that we mistakenly call cimitar?, that's the one I like.
"you actually use the word 'x' because people from regions closer to your culture in the past used that word" phew, I thought it was implanted in my brain by the aliens. Thanks.
The only people who actually care about these specifics are modern people. Most people back then just called swords swords. Walk into a shop with a wall of swords and you asked the guy to hand you the sword you're pointing to.
So, is a scimitar even a real sword? Did anything ever exist that’s given name was scimitar and nothing else?
Well as he explains the word Scimitar is the English corruption of the word Shamshir, so, well, yes, but actually no. Shamshir just means sword, just like the vast majority of swords throughout history were simply called swords, so many of the different names we have today originally just meant sword (spatha, kilij, shamshir, tulwar, pulwar etc.) the practice of grouping different types of swords into categories and naming them is a modern one, for research purposes, and in this system the Persian word shamshir has become the name of the historically most prominent Persian sword, a style of curved sabre. So Scimitar was a mispronunciation of a foreign word that didn't describe any specific style of sword, but any sword, that then came to refer to any curved sword from "the East" and that's why the term is problematic today.
@@groglas kinda like how they call all boxed breakfast cereals in Japan “Cornflakes” even it it’s rice crispies.
@@nathandavis9385 yes that is strikingly similar!
Hay look sword daddy is back
This assumes that everyone is going to know the names of ALL the different types of scimitar, and be able to name them all, and know all the differences. As a writer, if I know it's a shamshir, I'll call it a shamshir. If it's a different design and I can't find out the name, or if it's a fantasy design, I'll call it a scimitar because either way they're both going to fall into that family. I have a design of them that looks more like a Chinese broadsword, but it's not a Chinese broadsword because China doesn't exist in the world I created. I can't call it an Eastern broadsword because eastern culture in that world isn't the same as Earth's eastern culture. And, if I call it a broadsword people are going to think of the straight, double-edged version. So, I call it an (insert name of civilisation) scimitar because it doesn't really have a direct/specific Earth equivalent. So, maybe give a bit of leeway as even the most meticulous of authors who research a lot - as I do - can't be perfect all the time.
1:11 so is like saying that the chickens are birds. What's the issue?
Maybe it's like samurai who use katana as a name of they sword, or duelist, swashbuckler and musketeer they r using rapier or another fencing sword.
Maybe scimitar is a person who use curve sword from middle east, which is a sword is shamseer, kilijr or talwar
Dang, RuneScape distorted my views of a scimitar…
So, every shamshir is a scimitar but not every scimitar is a shamshir
Love the video, no one is highlighting this big error in history, only few, and you are one of the few doing that, with actual facts and analyses, respect !!!!
when people call magazines "clips" but now it's 100x more problematic
Talk the talk vs walk the ewok.
I desperately need a girlfriend
If scimitar is a broad term for eastern curved swords i don't see an issue calling a talwar a scimitar. I just want people to stop using longsword to define a sword of standard length. Even "historians" are guilty of this on youtube
And what is the standard length of a sword? ...
Scimintar simply means curved non European sword.
So, in other words, "scimitar" is correct as a generic term.
Thank you!
Dao, means is anything with a one sided blade. in Chinese.
i call them what they are individually like talwar, kilij, pulwar
i used to call curved blade sabres
Eh vivido engañado toda mi maldita vida
Man... if you are speaking in English, where the word "scimitar" means "one-handed, one-edged, curved sword of Eastern and/or African origin with greater curvature than a saber and a pointy (not blunt) end", then you are actually wrong in saying that a shamshir, a kilij, a tulwar, or a nimja, are not "scimitars". It's as hilarious as weeabos that strongly insist that a bokken (literally "wooden sword" is not to be refered to as "wooden sword".
Before starting to correct people on the use of words in other languages, one should learn the meaning of the words in his own. _Meeeeeeeeeybe_ there *is* already a word in one's mother tongue for the foreign word that should be used instead. (Hilariously, usually that's the case with foreign languages and English loanwords. *Watching you make the same mistake on the other direction* was... amusing).
This is a familiar topic
Good video! Windlass calls that model the "Persian Shamshir" but it hardly looks Persian. Most antique ones do not have fullers like the Windlass. Also, the fittings on the Windlass looks a bit off especially with that fleur-de-lis on the hilt. I see it as an Indian copy of a French copy of a Mameluke saber!
So when calling those swords "scimitars" (defined as any curved sword from the Middle East or the Asian sub-continent) you are being absolutely correct that those are scimitars. Umm.... Thanks for clearing that up for us?
Call swords by what their original name! Call them... "SWORDS"
"Scimitar is a broad category meaning Eastern curved sword but I want you to call it specifically by name even if you're a writer or game designer who wouldn't know off hand rather than a Smith or a historian who would" dude
Anyone that did actual research. Or watched a TH-cam video.
@@Tyler_Lalonde-I goofed thought this was a different video I commented on but I have done research on this
........ What the f is so confusing about calling them all Scimitar?
Like there's a shark, and there's blue white, hammer, etc. So is Scimitar.......
I think it looks more like a Gungfu boardsword
What if your shamshir isn't Persian. Is it still a shamshir
Good question, and the real life scenario is Arabs using these curved swords from the 16th century onwards. The would just call it "sword" in Arabic, but that's not sufficiently descriptive. It makes more sense to use the word from the culture of inspiration, rather than the culture of manufacture. So even if it's made in Egypt, I would call that sword a Shamshir
Well I went looking to see what was out there on the “scimitar” before I cover such topics. My friend you have gone to far in the other direction. What the Europeans refer to as a scimitar is a Dē dada, Sapa, or Tegha. The other swords a names you have just mean sword in their language, kiliç in reference to a pala, tulwar in reference to a sirohi, pulwar in reference to a golia etc.
Good vid. The Sci in Italian is pronounced as an sh would be in English. So, scimitarra sounds like shimitarra.
Raiden the European version of Japanese God of Thunder Rajin doesn't look like him, and European version of Buddha is far different than Indian statue of Buddha.
What was that sword name? A fountain?
No no "Falchon"
@@SlyCooper1920 you’re the best thanks
No way every body told me that is a Iranian weapon
I would just call the made up one a Fantasy scimitar. As that's basically what it is. Lol
Dude just research about Zulfiqar sword then you'll know its middle eastern
Why are you showing morgan freeman as if hes holding a toy wood sword? You knew what you were doing
I guess you could say that they are all very scimilar 😏
You make General assumptions about artists depicting curved swords. But not one of the pictures you showed as evidence were curved. So what are you basing your claim on?
Always somebody to comment and show that he didn't know what he talking about.
Firstly I wanted to look for a video with a battle on so-called "Scimitars" because I had my doubts about Red Rose's origin(Nero's blade from Devil May Cry including Dante from Devil may Cry series), but now i understood how terribly I'm wrong, I'm sorry
Call this by its actual name. 😂 ok i shall call it "Sword" because that's what shamshir means
That not meddle east mean Turkish did you think about Arabs that Islam when it's began read about kahled abn Alwalled to know who have used the scimitare in the wars.
His first war was against the Romans in the Mutah War. He faced the Roman army numbering 3,000 against 200,000. He killed a person every 6 minutes. Nine swords were broken by his hand in this war. For your information, Islam spread by the power of God, and this great leader who never lost a war, nor was there a natural death in his bed.
Finally, this sword is for knights. It can be hit like a hammer due to the density distribution in the metal, and also for individual confrontations before the start of war, as was very common in the past.
Well ackually
that is Indian Talwar , Indian Talwar, Turkish Kilij, Persian Shamshir is all Saber type sword. And who said that is Scimitar. Scimitar don't look like that this is Scimitar th-cam.com/video/a6KUm3a7Cys/w-d-xo.html.
Turkey is not really in the Middle East.
But scimitar sound cooler
Diablo 2 got the shamshir right and Elden Ring got the falchion right
Buying Runes Scazmatar 12k
So it is a scimitar. Just an Italian name for it. If shamshir is the persian word for sword. Then they would have called all swords shamshir.
We do call all swords "shamshir".
Straight shamshir
Japanese shamshir
Big shamshir
Rusty shamshir
And ...
There is one sword gladius sword on the earht. İt best sword .gladius.
True
🤠👍🏿