Cinta Beda Alam

Cinta Beda Alam, Cinta Sejatikah?  

Andry Chang

VadisReview – Artikel Umum dan Resensi Novel “A Girl Who Loves A Ghost” – Alexia Chen

Cinta dan hubungan asmara sungguh banyak ragamnya dan penuh warna. Salah satu bentuknya yang sedang trend adalah LDR (Long Distance Relationship), Hubungan Asmara Jarak Jauh. Dalam hubungan jenis ini, sepasang kekasih yang tinggal amat berjauhan, bahkan beda negara bisa membina hubungan asmara. Walau jarang bertemu langsung, pasangan LDR dapat memanfaatkan perangkat-perangkat telekomunikasi canggih agar bisa terus berinteraksi, seperti internet, webcam dan semacamnya. 

Nah, bagaimana bila jarak yang memisahkan pasangan kekasih itu terlalu jauh, bahkan beda alam? Jangankan sarana transportasi, internetpun mustahil dapat digunakan. Satu-satunya cara berinteraksi adalah lewat sarana supranatural, misalnya kemampuan melihat makhluk gaib, misalnya hantu. 

Pertanyaannya, bisakah Hubungan Asmara Beda Alam atau RDR (Realm Differential Relationship) ini berlanjut ke jenjang yang lebih tinggi? Bersatu dalam ikatan pernikahan, misalnya? Jawabannya bisa saja, namun pernikahan seperti ini sama sekali tak wajar, tak diakui oleh masyarakat, dosa besar menurut ajaran agama manapun, dan menyalahi hukum alam. Dan yang terparah, menentang kodrat yang digariskan oleh Yang Maha Kuasa. 

Tentunya, baik dalam ranah fiksi maupun kejadian aneh-tapi-nyata, fenomena atau sindrom Cinta Beda Alam (RDR) ini cukup banyak diekspos. Sebut saja novel “The Ghost Bride (Mempelai Hantu)” dan film legendaris Hollywood “Ghost”. Juga novel anyar karya Alexia Chen berjudul “A Girl Who Loves A Ghost”. Saya sendiri pernah membahas sindrom yang sejenis dalam cerpen “Legenda Li Junyang”. Dalam kisah ini, seorang wanita tinggal dan tidur bersama jenazah suaminya. Di dunia nyata, beberapa kejadian aneh-tapi-nyata orang yang tinggal dan menikahi mayat pernah terjadi di Inggris, Malaysia dan sebagainya, yang tentunya pernah saya baca dan saya ingat. Taruhlah saya percaya hubungan mereka nyata, tak sekedar obsesi belaka. Tapi benarkah mereka sungguh bahagia hingga akhir hayat?

Jadi, mungkinkah ada cinta sejati dalam Hubungan Asmara Beda Alam? Jawabannya, mungkin saja. Tergantung seberapa kuat rasa cinta, kepercayaan dan ketulusan hati si orang yang masih hidup dengan pasangannya, secara timbal-balik. Entah apakah tindakan mereka itu gila, sangat aneh atau tak dapat diterima akal sehat, biasanya perasaan yang bisa timbul dari hubungan ini cenderung sangat kuat, ekstrim dan cenderung obsesif. Tentu saja sebab-musabab terjadinya RDR juga menjadi faktor penentu kadar cinta yang dihasilkannya. Entah karena pasangan yang semula wajar, lalu salah satunya meninggal dunia, atau seperti di novel AGWLAG (A Girl Who Loves A Ghost), di mana si gadis, Aleeta Jones justru tertarik setelah melihat sosok Nakano Yuto, seorang pemuda korban pembunuhan dan perampokan yang telah menjadi arwah penasaran.

Namun, walau sekuat apapun perasaan pasangan RDR, walau mereka menemukan cinta sejati, hubungan mereka takkan bisa berlanjut secara wajar. Baru-baru ini ada berita heboh di Indonesia tentang upacara pernikahan seorang pria dengan makhluk halus dari alam gaib. Tentu saja ini memancing kontroversi karena dan tak wajar dan menyalahi segala norma yang berlaku. Walau pria itu tampaknya bahagia, apa dia benar-benar terus demikian hingga hari tuanya? 

Jadi, bilamana salah satu kekasih masih ingin hidup dengan wajar dan bermakna, dia harus belajar melepas pasangannya yang beda alam itu. Caranya, bisa saja selama “kebersamaan” mereka, pasangan ini bahu-membahu menyelesaikan “urusan yang tertunda” atau “hal yang membuat penasaran” si arwah penasaran, membuka jalan agar si arwah itu bisa berpindah ke alam baka, tak terperangkap terus sebagai hantu di dunia fana. 

Contohnya, dalam novel karya Alexia ini, pasangan kekasih beda dunia, Yuto dan Aleeta bisa bahu-membahu menyelesaikan segala masalah yang membuat Yuto jadi arwah penasaran. Termasuk mungkin, seluk-beluk tentang pembunuhan Yuto yang bisa saja bukan murni perampokan. Masyarakat dan lingkungan pasti menganggap Aleeta gila dan cenderung mengucilkannya, alih-alih membantu. Namun, bukankah cinta itu “buta” dan “gila”?

Walaupun Aleeta dan Yuto galau karena tahu mereka tak bisa bersama, namun perasaan di antara mereka malah makin kuat dengan adanya “misi” ini. Walaupun cinta mereka bagai api lilin yang sewaktu-waktu bisa padam dihembus angin, justru kesementaraan inilah yang melahirkan cinta sejati, seperti bunga sakura yang mekar paling indah dan amat sebentar, sebelum akhirnya layu selama-lamanya. 

Namun, akibat buruk bisa saja terjadi pada Aleeta-Yuto dan pasangan-pasangan RDR pada umumnya. Salah satunya, bila pihak yang masih hidup, Aleeta misalnya tak mampu mengendalikan obsesinya, “kegilaan semu” itu bakal meledak jadi kegilaan nyata dan permanen. Yang terburuk, Aleeta bisa jadi bakal nekad mengambil jalan pintas agar bersatu dengan kekasihnya di alam baka. 

Satu lagi cara penanganan sindrom RDR ini, pasangan beda alam butuh figur pendukung yang mampu berpikir melebihi logika, percaya pada keduanya dan bersedia membantu mereka dengan sepenuh hati, membimbing mereka ke jalan yang benar. Tak harus figur cenayang seperti di film “Ghost”, dan orang itu bisa punya kemampuan melihat hantu atau tidak. 

Mengapa butuh pendukung? Supaya pada akhirnya, saat api lilin cinta harus padam, kembali pada keseimbangan alami, masing-masing kekasih tak perlu bersama-sama mengambil jalan pintas ke alam baka seperti Romeo dan Juliet. Dengan demikian, pembaca akan mendapatkan hikmah positif dari fenomena kisah cinta yang dicontohkan oleh Aleeta dan Yuto ini.

Akhir kata, sekali lagi saya sampaikan. Biarlah cahaya lilin terpancar secerah matahari sebelum padam selamanya, meninggalkan kehangatan pada siapapun yang terjamah cahayanya.

Dan bagi semua insan yang sedang mencinta, ingatlah. Nikmatilah cinta sebaik-baiknya selama waktu kebersamaan yang ada, namun jangan lupa dunia bukanlah hanya milik berdua.

"A GIRL WHO LOVES A GHOST"
A novel by Alexia Chen

“Kenyataan bahwa aku bukan lagi menjadi bagian dari dunia ini nyaris menghancurkanku. Jiwaku perlahan rusak oleh dendam dan amarah, hingga gadis itu muncul dan menemukanku.”

“Apa yang akan kau lakukan jika kau ternyata melihat sesuatu yang sebenarnya tidak nyata? Seperti misalnya, sesosok hantu berparas tampan? Bagaimana reaksimu seandainya kau terlambat menyadari bahwa kau telah jatuh terlalu dalam untuk bisa menemukan jalan kembali? Manakah yang lebih bijaksana, mengarungi neraka demi sebuah akhir bahagia ataukah menyerah dengan melepaskan? Apa yang akan kau lakukan jika kau jadi aku?”

-----------------------------------------------
 
ISBN: 978-602-70105-4-3
Harga Rp 80.000,- (552 hlm.)
Penerbit: Javanica
Email: ptkaurama@gmail.com

Pemesanan bisa melalui e-mail di atas atau HP: 081993817721.

Untuk preview novel ini, kliklah link berikut ini:

http://fireheart-vadis.blogspot.com/2014/11/a-girl-who-loves-ghost-alexia-chen.html

Sumber gambar:

Atas: Phantom Embrace -  http://farm9.static.flickr.com/8440/7938619472_308fb45791_m.jpg

Bawah: Cover "A Girl Who Loves A Ghost" dari Javanica.

A Girl Who Loves A Ghost by Alexia Chen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



View all my reviews

Goetia and the 72 Demons

Goetia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goetia

 

For the various editions of the book, The Goetia, see The Lesser Key of Solomon.

Aleister Crowley's variant of the circle and triangle, used in the evocation of the seventy-two spirits of the Ars Goetia.

Goetia (Medieval Latin, anglicised goety /ˈɡoʊ.ɨti/, from Greek γοητεία goitia "sorcery") refers to a practice which includes the invocation of angels or the evocation of demons, and usage of the term in English largely derives from the 17th-century grimoire The Lesser Key of Solomon, which features an Ars Goetia as its first section. It contains descriptions of the evocation of seventy-two demons, famously edited by Aleister Crowley in 1904 as The Book of the Goetia of Solomon the King.
Goetic Theurgy, another practice described in the Lesser Key of Solomon, is similar to the book's description of Goetia, but is used to invoke aerial spirits.

Contents

• 1 Etymology
• 2 Renaissance magic
• 3 The Ars Goetia
• 4 The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage
• 5 In popular culture
• 6 See also
• 7 Notes
• 8 References
• 9 External links

Etymology

Ancient Greek γοητεία (goitia) means "charm, jugglery"^[1] from γόης "sorcerer, wizard".^[2] The meaning of "sorcerer" is attested in a scholion, referring to the Dactyli, stating that according to Pherecydes^{[disambiguation needed]} and Hellanicus, those to the left are goētes, while those to the right are deliverers from sorcery.^[3] The word may be ultimately derived from the verb γοάω "groan, bewail". Derived terms are γοήτευμα "a charm" and γοητεύω "to bewitch, beguile".
Γοητεία was a term for witchcraft in Hellenistic magic. Latinized goetia via French goétie was adopted into English as goecie, goety in the 16th century.

Renaissance magic

During the Renaissance goeteia (Latinized goetia, French goétie, English goety) was sometimes contrasted with magia as black (evil) vs. white magic, or with theurgy as "low" vs. "high" magic.
James Sanford in his 1569 translation of Agrippa's Of the vanitie and uncertaintie of artes and sciences has

The partes of ceremoniall Magicke be Geocie, and Theurgie.

Georg Pictorius in 1562 uses goetie synonymously with "ceremonial magic".

The Ars Goetia

Main article: The Lesser Key of Solomon

Ars Goetia is the title of the first section of The Lesser Key of Solomon, containing descriptions of the seventy-two demons that King Solomon is said to have evoked and confined in a bronze vessel sealed by magic symbols, and that he obliged to work for him. The Ars Goetia assigns a rank and a title of nobility to each member of the infernal hierarchy, and gives the demons "signs they have to pay allegiance to", or seals. The lists of entities in the Ars Goetia correspond (to high but varying degree, often according to edition) with those in Johann Weyer's Pseudomonarchia Daemonum an appendix appearing in later editions of his De Praestigiis Daemonum, of 1563.
A revised English edition of the Ars Goetia was published in 1904 by Samuel Liddell Mathers and Aleister Crowley as The Goetia. based on manuscripts from the British Museum, with additions by Crowley, including a Preliminary Invocation drawn from Goodwin's Fragment of a Graeco-Egyptian Work upon Magic, and the essay The Initiated Interpretation of Ceremonial Magic. It is not a faithful edition of the source manuscripts but contains several innovations,^[4] including some evocations in Enochian written by Crowley. In his introduction, Crowley argues that the work of demonic evocation is merely a form of psychological self-exploration. It has since become a relatively well-known book of magic and has even been featured in places like the graphic novel Promethea by Alan Moore and James Blish's novel Black Easter.

The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage

Main article: The Book of Abramelin

The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage^[5] is considered both a theurgic and goetic book of magic, mostly used in a religious context. Contrary to the other Goetia Grimoires, this book does not denote the evocation of demons to do one's bidding or involuntary handywork, but describes how one might summon these infernal forces, solely for the purpose of excommunicating them from the life of the Magus.^[6] This book was considered a system that led the aspirant closer to the goal of henosis, or spiritual reunion with God. Describing how to summon the dukes of Hell, even Lucifer, for the purpose of resisting the temptation of their vices, and binding their influence in the aspirant's life.
This book told a system of holy magic through a six-month purification, then after the conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel, one would summon the four Great Kings of Hell (Lucifer, Leviathan, Satan, Belial), and make them sign an oath. This Oath (after gaining the power of the supernal realm), would grant the Adept power over the Infernal Realm and aid the Adept in discovering the "True and Sacred Wisdom" in the form of magic squares.

In popular culture

Main article: Goetic demons in popular culture

See also

• Grimoire
• List of magical terms and traditions
• The Lesser Key of Solomon
• Works of Aleister Crowley

Notes

1. "LSJ". Perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2013-10-18.
2. "LSJ". Perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2013-10-18.
3. K. Müller, Fragmenta historicorum Graecorum Paris: Didot, 1841-1870, fr. 7, Ἀριστεροὶ μὲν, ὥς φησι Φερεκύδης, οἱ γόητες αὐτῶν· οἱ δὲ ἀναλύοντες, δεξιοὶ, ὡς Ἑλλάνικος.
4. Stephen Skinner & David Rankine, The Goetia of Dr. Rudd Golden Hoard Press, 2007, pp. 47-50
5. The Secrets of the Magical Grimoires, By: Aaron Leitch Chapter 1
6. "Sacred Magic of Abramelin: The Second Book: The Seventeenth Chapter. What We Should Answer Unto the Interrogations of the Spirits, and How We Should Resist Their Demands". Sacred-texts.com. Retrieved 2013-10-18.

References

• E. J. Langford Garstin, Theurgy or The Hermetic Practice: A Treatise on Spiritual Alchemy. Berwick: Ibis Press, 2004. (Published posthumously)
• Aleister Crowley (ed.), Samuel Liddell Mathers (trans.), The Goetia: The Lesser Key of Solomon the King. York Beach, ME : Samuel Weiser (1995) ISBN 0-87728-847-X.
• Stephen Skinner, & David Rankine, The Goetia of Dr Rudd: The Angels and Demons of Liber Malorum Spirituum Seu Goetia (Sourceworks of Ceremonial Magic). Golden Hoard Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-9547639-2-3

Demon List with Descriptions

• Demon list with descriptions 

Source:  http://www.enochian.org/daemons.shtml

Chimera

Chimera (mythology)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

For other uses of the term "Chimera", see Chimera (disambiguation).

The Chimera on a red-figure Apulian plate, ca 350–340 BC (Musée du Louvre)

The Chimera (also Chimaera or Chimæra) (pron.: /kɨˈmɪərə/ or /kaɪˈmɪərə/; Greek: Χίμαιρα, Khimaira, from χίμαρος, khimaros, "she-goat") was, according to Greek mythology, a monstrous fire-breathing female creature of Lycia in Asia Minor, composed of the parts of three animals: a lion, a serpent and a goat. Usually depicted as a lion, with the head of a goat arising from its back, and a tail that ended in a snake's head,^[1] the Chimera was one of the offspring of Typhon and Echidna and a sibling of such monsters as Cerberus and the Lernaean Hydra. The term chimera has come to describe any mythical or fictional animal with parts taken from various animals.

Contents 1 Description 2 Classical sources 3 Hypothesis about origin 4 Use for Chinese mythological creatures 5 See also 6 Notes 7 References

Description

Homer's brief description in the Iliad^[2] is the earliest surviving literary reference: "a thing of immortal make, not human, lion-fronted and snake behind, a goat in the middle,^[3] and snorting out the breath of the terrible flame of bright fire".^[4] Elsewhere in the Iliad, Homer attributes the rearing of Chimera to Amisodorus.^[5] Hesiod's Theogony follows the Homeric description: he makes the Chimera the issue of Echidna: "She was the mother of Chimaera who breathed raging fire, a creature fearful, great, swift-footed and strong, who had three heads, one of a grim-eyed lion; in her hinderpart, a dragon; and in her middle, a goat, breathing forth a fearful blast of blazing fire. Her did Pegasus and noble Bellerophon slay"^[6] The author of the Bibliotheca concurs:^[7] descriptions agree that she breathed fire. The Chimera is generally considered to have been female (see the quotation from Hesiod above) despite the mane adorning its lion's head, the inclusion of a close mane often was depicted on lionesses, but the ears always were visible (that does not occur with depictions of male lions). Sighting the Chimera was an omen of storms, shipwrecks, and natural disasters (particularly volcanoes).

"Chimera of Arezzo": an Etruscan bronze

While there are different genealogies, in one version the Chimera mated with her brother Orthrus and mothered the Sphinx and the Nemean lion (others have Orthrus and their mother, Echidna, mating; most attribute all to Typhon and Echidna).
The Chimera finally was defeated by Bellerophon, with the help of Pegasus, at the command of King Iobates of Lycia. Since Pegasus could fly, Bellerophon shot the Chimera from the air, safe from her heads and breath.^[8] A scholiast to Homer adds that he finished her off by equipping his spear with a lump of lead that melted when exposed to the Chimera's fiery breath and consequently killed her, an image drawn from metalworking.^[9]

Gold reel, possibly an ear-stud, with winged Pegasus (outer band) and the Chimera (inner band), Magna Graecia or Etruria, fourth century BC (Louvre)

The Chimera was situated in foreign Lycia,^[10] but her representation in the arts was wholly Greek.^[11] An autonomous tradition, one that did not rely on the written word, was represented in the visual repertory of the Greek vase-painters. The Chimera first appears at an early stage in the proto-Corinthian pottery-painters' repertory, providing some of the earliest identifiable mythological scenes that can be recognized in Greek art. The Corinthian type is fixed, after some early hesitation, in the 670s BC; the variations in the pictorial representations suggest to Marilyn Low Schmitt^[12] a multiple origin. The fascination with the monstrous devolved by the end of the seventh century into a decorative Chimera-motif in Corinth,^[13] while the motif of Bellerophon on Pegasus took on a separate existence alone. A separate Attic tradition, where the goats breathe fire and the animal's rear is serpent-like, begins with such confidence that Marilyn Low Schmitt^[14] is convinced there must be unrecognized earlier local prototypes. Two vase-painters employed the motif so consistently they are given the pseudonyms the Bellerophon Painter and the Chimaera Painter. A fire-breathing lioness was one of the earliest of solar and war deities in Ancient Egypt (representations from 3000 years prior to the Greek) and influences are feasible.
In Etruscan civilization, the Chimera appears in the "Orientalizing" period that precedes Etruscan Archaic art; that is to say, very early indeed. The Chimera appears in Etruscan wall-paintings of the fourth century BC.

Pebble mosaic depicting Bellerophon killing the Chimera, from Rhodes archaeological museum

Robert Graves suggests,^[15] "The Chimera was, apparently, a calendar-symbol of the tripartite year, of which the seasonal emblems were lion, goat, and serpent."
In Medieval art, though the Chimera of Antiquity was forgotten, chimerical figures appear as embodiments of the deceptive, even Satanic forces of raw nature. Provided with a human face and a scaly tail, as in Dante's vision of Geryon in Inferno xvii.7–17, 25–27, hybrid monsters, more akin to the Manticore of Pliny's Natural History (viii.90), provided iconic representations of hypocrisy and fraud well into the seventeenth century, through an emblemmatic representation in Cesare Ripa's Iconologia.^[16]

Classical sources

The myths of the Chimera can be found in Pseudo-Apollodorus' Bibliotheca (book 1), Homer's Iliad (book 6); Hyginus' Fabulae 57 and 151; Ovid's Metamorphoses (book VI 339; IX 648); and Hesiod's Theogony 319ff.
Virgil, in the Aeneid (book 5) employs Chimaera for the name of Gyas' gigantic ship in the ship-race, with possible allegorical significance in contemporary Roman politics.^[17]

Hypothesis about origin

The eternal fires of Chimera in Lycia where the myth takes place

Main article: Mount Chimaera

Pliny the Elder cited Ctesias and quoted Photius identifying the Chimera with an area of permanent gas vents which still can be found today by hikers on the Lycian Way in southwest Turkey. Called in Turkish Yanartaş (flaming rock), it consists of some two dozen vents in the ground, grouped in two patches on the hillside above the Temple of Hephaestus about 3 km north of Çıralı, near ancient Olympos, in Lycia. The vents emit burning methane thought to be of metamorphic origin, which in ancient times were landmarks by which sailors could navigate.
The Neo-Hittite Chimera from Carchemish, dated to 850–750 BC, which is now housed in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations^[18] no doubt served as a basis for the Greek legend. It differs from the Greek version in that while there are three heads, none of them is that of a goat, only a main human head, a lion's head facing forward and placed on the chest of the lion's body, and a snake's head placed at the end of the tail.

Use for Chinese mythological creatures

Some western scholars of Chinese art, starting with Victor Segalen, use the word "chimera" generically to refer to winged quadrupeds, such as bixie, tianlu, and even qilin.^[19]

See also

Look up chimera in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Chimera in popular culture
• Griffin
• Hybrid (mythology)
• Nue
• Pixiu
• Simurgh
• Ziz
• Zu (mythology)

Notes

1. ^ Peck, "Chimaera".
2. ^ Homer, Iliad 6.179–182
3. ^ "The creature was a goat; a young goat that had seen but one winter was called chimaira in Greek". (Kerenyi 1959:82).
4. ^ In Richmond Lattimore's translation.
5. ^ Homer, Iliad, 16.328–329
6. ^ Hesiod Theogony 319–325 in Hugh Evelyn-White's translation.
7. ^ Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2.3.1: "it had the fore part of a lion, the tail of a dragon, and its third head, the middle one, was rough which it belched fire. And it devastated the country and harried the cattle; for it was a single creature with the power of three beasts. It is said, too, that this Chimera was bred by Amisodarus, as Homer also affirms,3 and that it was begotten by Typhon on Echidna, as Hesiod relates".
8. ^ Pindar: Olympian Odes, 13.84–90; Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2.3.2; Hesiod, Theogony 319 ff.
9. ^ Graves, section 75, note
10. ^ Homer, Iliad 16.328–329, links her breeding to the Trojan ally Amisodarus of Lycia, as a plague for men.
11. ^ Anne Roes "The Representation of the Chimaera" The Journal of Hellenic Studies 54.1 (1934), pp. 21–25, adduces Ancient Near Eastern conventions of winged animals who wings end in animal heads.
12. ^ This outline of Chimera motifs follows Marilyn Low Schmitt, "Bellerophon and the Chimaera in Archaic Greek Art" American Journal of Archaeology 70.4 (October 1966), pp. 341–347.
13. ^ Later coins struck at Sicyon, near Corinth, bear the chimera-motif. (Schmitt 1966:344 note.
14. ^ Schmitt 1966.
15. ^ Graves 1960:sect.34.2.
16. ^ John F. Moffitt, "An Exemplary Humanist Hybrid: Vasari's 'Fraude' with Reference to Bronzino's 'Sphinx'" Renaissance Quarterly 49.2 (Summer 1996), pp. 303–333, traces the chimeric image of Fraud backwards from Bronzino.
17. ^ W.S.M. Nicoll, "Chasing Chimaeras" The Classical Quarterly New Series, 35.1 (1985), pp. 134–139.
18. ^ fr:Fichier:Museum of Anatolian Civilizations080.jpg
19. ^ Barry Till (1980), "Some Observations on Stone Winged Chimeras at Ancient Chinese Tomb Sites", Artibus Asiae 42 (4): 261–281, JSTOR 3250032

References

• Graves, Robert, (1955) 1960. The Greek Myths (Baltimore: Penguin), section 75.b, pp 252–56
• Kerenyi, Karl, 1959. The Heroes of the Greeks. (London and New York:Thames and Hudson)
• Peck, Harry Thurston, 1898. Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities: "Chimaera"

Research Reference for Monstropedia Everna
Source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimera_%28mythology%29

Longbow vs Crossbow

The purpose of this video was to demonstrate the comparative speed of shot between the English longbow, and the hand-spanned crossbow.

As you can see in the video, the crossbow wasn't as slow to shoot as many people make out, but please keep in mind that the hand-spanned crossbow is a very quick weapon to span and shoot, much quicker that the other types of crossbow in use during the middle ages.

Due to the heavy construction of the crossbow's steel prod, or bow, and the short draw length along the crossbow's tiller, the crossbow was a very inefficient weapon. Although the crossbow in the video has a draw weight of around 130 lb, compared to the longbow's 110 lb, our crossbow could only manage a maximum range of some 90 yards, compared to the longbow's 250 yards. To compensate, medieval crossbows were often many times the draw weight of the bow used here, and thus required the use of a belt and hook, Goats Foot or Windlass to draw. This made them much slower than the longbow. Due to this slow re-loading crossbowmen often sheltered behind Pavises, or large shields, while re-loading on an open battlefield. These shortcomings were not an issue, however, when the crossbow was used to defend walled towns or castles, a situation where the crossbow excelled.

If you wish to see the longbow compared with the more powerful, but slower, windlass crossbow, then watch the new series of Warriors on the History Channel. In episode 5, on the English Knight, you can see Martin and I going head to head, pitting a 110 lb yew longbow against an 850lb windlass crossbow, while Terry Schappert counts the amount of arrows and bolts we manage to loose in 1 minute. It makes for a very interesting comparison with this video! (The episode was screened in the US on April 2nd, and comes to the UK in the Autumn, but it is available to watch on the History Channel website too).

Source:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HagCuGXJgUs

Longsword - Wikipedia Research

Longsword

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longsword

Jump to: navigation, search

For other uses, see Longsword (disambiguation).

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2010)

Longsword
Swiss longsword, 15th or early 16th century (Morges museum)
Type	Sword
Service history
In service	ca. 1350 - 1550
Specifications
Weight	avg. 1.4 kg (3.1 lb)
Length	avg. 105–120 cm (41–47 in)
Blade length	avg. 90–92 cm (35–36 in)
Width	4.14cm-3.1cm then sharp point
Blade type	Double-edged, straight bladed
Hilt type	Two-handed cruciform, with pommel

The Longsword is a type of European sword used during the late medieval period, approximately 1350 to 1550 (with early and late use reaching into the 13th and 17th centuries, respectively). Longswords have long cruciform hilts with grips over 10 to 15 cm length (providing room for two hands). Straight double-edged blades are often over 1 m to 1.2 m (40" to 48") length, and weigh typically between 1.2 and 2.4 kg (2½ to 5 lb), with light specimens just below 1 kg (2.2 lb), and heavy specimens just above 2 kg (4½ lb).^[1]

The longsword is commonly held in combat with both hands, though some may be used single-handed. Longswords are used for hewing, slicing, and stabbing. The specific offensive purpose of an individual longsword is derived from its physical shape. All parts of the sword are used for offensive purposes, including the pommel and crossguard.

With regard to the Medieval Period, the Oakeshott typology [1] mentions the sword subtypes XIIa and XIIIa from the latter part of the High Middle Ages, c. 1250-1350, as the forerunners of the later longswords. Calling these two subtypes 'great swords', it lists their hand-and-half grip (with enough room for the off-hand to hold the pommel securely) and relatively large blade (roughly 36 inches), for the most part longer and broader than contemporary arming swords. Later, in the Late Middle Ages, c. 1350-1550, various longsword subtypes emerge with their hand-and-half grip:

average blade length about 32 inches: subtype XVIa (early 14c)

average blade length about 34 inches: subtype XVIIIc (mid 15c to early 16c)

average blade length roughly 34 inches with averages about 30 to 38 inches: type XX (14c and 15c), subtypes XXa (14c and 15c),

average blade length about 35 inches: subtype XVa (end of 13c to early 16c), XVIIa (mid 14c to early 15c)

average blade length roughly 39 inches with averages about 36 to 42 inches: subtypes XVIIIa (mid 14c to early 15c), XVIIIb (early 15c to mid 16c), XVIIId (mid 15c to early 16c), XVIIIe (mid 15c to early 16c).

Notably, this last subtype XVIIIe sometimes exhibits a proper two-handed grip. While all of the above subtypes of the Late Middle Age can count as 'longswords', the Oakeshott typology does not go on to list the properly two-handed longswords of the Renaissance Age, whose blades are truly huge, such as the Scottish claymore (blade length roughly 42 inches) and the German zweihänder (blade length roughly 53 inches).

Thus generalizations about the 'longsword' can vary wildly, depending on whether the Late Medieval hand-and-halfers or the Renaissance two-handers, or both, are taken into account.

Contemporary terminology includes the Dutch grootzwaard, German Langschwert, Spanish espadón or mandoble, Italian spadone or spada longa (lunga) and Portuguese montante. The French épée bâtarde references the bastard sword, a type of longsword. English Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts refer to the longsword as the two hand sword. The terms "hand-and-a-half sword", "greatsword", and "bastard sword" are used colloquially to refer to longswords in general.

Contents [hide] 1 History 2 Form 3 Combat 3.1 Bloßfechten 3.2 Harnischfechten 4 See also 5 References 6 External links 7 Further reading

[edit] History

The evolution of the sword before and after the development of the longsword was not entirely linear. Swords of an older type may have coexisted with newer variants for quite some time, making it difficult to trace a single path of sword evolution. Instead, the course of sword development is layered with some swords evolving from a previous type of sword, acting as its able contemporary, and eventually being abandoned while the original design continued in use for some time afterward. Similarly, variants of a particular type of sword may have come about not to replace it, but to simply coexist with it until a new evolution brought a close to both older types of weapons. Such situations present both the path of sword development as a whole and the encompassed rise and fall of the longsword as chronologically nebulous and confused by broad definitions, both modern and contemporary.

The relatively comprehensive Oakeshott typology was created by historian and illustrator Ewart Oakeshott as a way to define and catalogue swords based on physical form, though a rough sense of chronology is apparent. This typology does not set forth a prototypical definition for the longsword, however. Instead, it separates the broad field of weaponry into many exclusive types based on their predominant physical characteristics including blade shape and hilt configuration. The typology also focuses on the smaller, and in some cases contemporary,^[2] single-handed swords like the arming sword.

The longsword, with its longer grip and blade, appears to have become popular during the 14th century and remained in common use, as shown through period art and tale, from 1250 to 1550.^[3] The longsword was a powerful and versatile weapon, but was not considered the only weapon needed for learning the arts of war. Johannes Lichtenauer, an influential Fechtbuch (combat manual) author, writes that young knights should learn to "wrestle well, (and) skilfully wield spear, sword, and dagger in a manly way."^[4] It is apparent that even to a master swordsman, other weapons and techniques are of great importance for battle. For close personal infantry combat, however, the longsword was prized for its versatility and killing capability.^[5]

It is in the Types XIIa and XIIIa that the first early variants of the longsword arise as simply longer versions of the single-handed sword. There are rare archeological findings of swords of this type from as early as the late 12th century.^[6] Boasting both increased grip length and increased blade lengths, these weapons would have been powerful hewing swords, perhaps developed to further combat the prevalence of mail^[7] and plate armour. These weapons also firmly fit the modern colloquial term "hand-and-a-half sword", as Oakeshott notes, because they do not provide a full two-hand grip as do some early extant specimens and the 16th century Bidenhänder. Hand and a half swords were so called because they could be either a one or two handed sword.

[edit] Form

A basic anatomy of the Renaissance longsword.

While nearly every longsword is in some way different from one another, most contain a few essential parts. The blade of the sword forms the cutting portion of the weapon and is usually double-edged. Blades came in a variety of shapes and sizes. Broad and thin blades are more effective for cutting-oriented longswords while thick tapering blades are found on varieties more effective at thrusting. However, all longswords were effective at cutting, slicing and thrusting and variations in form made only minor alterations in use. The hilt comprises the portion of the sword that is not the blade. Like the blade, hilts evolved and changed over time in response to fashion and as the swords were designed for different specific purposes.

Different blade cross-sections. At the top, variants of the diamond shape. At the bottom, variants of the lenticular shape.

The blade of the medieval longsword is straight and predominantly double edged. The construction of the blade is relatively thin, with strength provided by careful blade geometry. Over time, as is evidenced in the Oakeshott typology and other similar systems, the blades of longswords become slightly longer, thicker in cross-section, less wide, and considerably more pointed. This design change is largely attributed to the use of plate armour as an effective defense, more or less nullifying the ability of a sword cut to break through the armour system. Instead of cutting, long swords were then used more to thrust against opponents in plate armour, requiring a more acute point and a more rigid blade. However, the cutting capability of the longsword was never entirely removed, as in some later rapiers, but was supplanted in importance by thrusting capability.

Blades differ considerably in cross-section, as well as in length and width. The two most basic forms of blade cross-section are the lenticular and diamond. Lenticular blades are shaped like thin doubly convex lenses, providing adequate thickness for strength in the center of the weapon while maintaining a thin enough edge geometry to allow a proper cutting edge to be ground. The diamond shaped blade slopes directly up from the edges, without the curved elements of the lenticular blade. The central ridge produced by this angular geometry is known as a riser, the thickest portion of the blade that provides ample rigidity. These basic designs are supplemented by additional forging techniques that incorporated slightly different variations of these cross-sections.

The most common among these variations is the use of fullers and hollow-ground blades. While both of these elements concern themselves with the removal of material from the blade, they differ primarily in location and final result. Fullers are grooves or channels that are removed from the blade, in longswords, usually running along the center of the blade and originating at or slightly before the hilt. The removal of this material allows the smith to significantly lighten the weapon without compromising the strength to the same extent,^{[citation needed]} much as in the engineering of steel I-beams. Though colloquially called "blood-grooves", fullers were not designed, nor do they function, to allow blood to flow out of a wound more easily, nor to run off the sword. Fullers differ in number and thickness on swords, with some incredibly broad fullers spanning nearly the entire width of the weapon while smaller more numerous fullers are usually thinner. The length of fullers also displays variation - on some cutting blades the fuller may run nearly the entire length of the weapon, while the fuller stops one-third or half-way down other blades. Hollow-ground blades have concave portions of steel removed from each side of the riser, thinning the edge geometry while keeping a thickened area at the center to provide strength for the blade.

A variety of hilt styles exist for longswords, with the style of pommel and quillion (crossguard) changing over time to accommodate different blade properties and to fit emerging stylistic trends.

[edit] Combat

1440s illustration of one- and two-handed use of the longsword. Note the sword being used one-handed is drawn shorter and may also be intended as a large knightly sword (CPG 339 fol. 135r).

Example of two handed use vs. half-sword, dating to ca. 1418 (CPG 359, fol. 46v).

For more details on this topic, see Historical fencing.

Combat with the longsword was not so barbaric and crude as is often portrayed. Codified systems of fighting existed, with a variety of styles and teachers each providing a slightly different take on the art. The longsword was a quick, effective, and versatile weapon capable of deadly thrusts, slices, and cuts.^[8] The blade was generally used with both hands on the hilt, one resting close to or on the pommel. However, in some circumstances, the weapon may be used only with one hand. In a depiction of a duel, individuals may be seen wielding sharply pointed longswords in one hand, leaving the other hand open to manipulate the large dueling shield.^[9] Another variation of use comes from the use of armour. Half-swording was a manner of using both hands, one on the hilt and one on the blade, to better control the weapon in thrusts and jabs. This versatility was unique, as multiple works hold that the longsword provided the foundations for learning a variety of other weapons including spears, staves, and polearms.^[8][10] Use of the longsword in attack was not limited only to use of the blade, however, as several Fechtbücher explain and depict use of the pommel and cross as offensive weapons.^[11] The cross has been shown to be used as a hook for tripping or knocking an opponent off balance.^[8]

What is known of combat with the longsword comes from artistic depictions of battle from manuscripts and the Fechtbuch of Medieval and Renaissance Masters. Therein the basics of combat were described and, in some cases, depicted. The German school of swordsmanship includes the earliest known longsword Fechtbuch, a manual from approximately 1389 mistakenly accredited to Hanko Döbringer.^[12] This manual, unfortunately for modern scholars, was written in obscure verse. It was through students of Liechtenauer, like Sigmund Ringeck, who transcribed the work into more understandable prose^[13] that the system became notably more codified and understandable.^[14] Others provided similar work, some with a wide array of images to accompany the text.^[15]

The Italian school of swordsmanship was the other primary school of longsword use. The 1410 manuscript by Fiore dei Liberi presents a variety of uses for the longsword. Like the German manuals, the weapon is most commonly depicted and taught with both hands on the hilt. However, a section on one-handed use is among the volume and demonstrates the techniques and advantages, such as sudden additional reach, of single-handed longsword play.^[16] The manual also presents half-sword techniques as an integral part of armoured combat.

Both schools declined in the late 16th century, with the later Italian masters forgoing the longsword and focusing primarily on rapier fencing. The last known German manual to include longsword teaching was that of Jakob Sutor, published in 1612. In Italy, spadone, or longsword, instruction lingered on in spite of the popularity of the rapier, at least into the mid-17th century (Alfieri's Lo Spadone of 1653), with a late treatise of the "two handed sword" by one Giuseppe Colombani, a dentist in Venice dating to 1711. A tradition of teaching based on this has survived in contemporary French and Italian stick fighting. (See, for instance, Giuseppe Cerri's Trattato teorico e pratico della scherma di bastone of 1854.) However, there can be no doubt that the heyday of the longsword on the battlefield was over by 1500.

[edit] Bloßfechten

Unarmoured longsword fencers (plate 25 of the 1467 manual of Hans Talhoffer)

Bloßfechten or "bare fighting" is the technique of fighting without significant protective armour such as plate, mail or a brigandine.^[17] Vulnerable targets like the head and upper torso are totally unprotected except for normal clothing during Bloßfechten. The lack of significant torso and limb protection leads to the use of a large amount of cutting and slicing techniques in addition to thrusts. These techniques could be nearly instantly fatal or incapacitating, as a thrust to the skull, heart, or major blood vessel would cause massive trauma. Similarly, strong strikes could cut through skin and bone, effectively amputating limbs. The hands and forearms are a frequent target of some cuts and slices in a defensive or offensive maneuver, serving both to disable an opponent and align the swordsman and his weapon for the next attack.

[edit] Harnischfechten

Page of the Codex Wallerstein showing a half-sword thrust against a two handed sword's Mordstreich (Plate 214)

Harnischfechten, or "armoured fighting", depicts fighting in protective gear, most specifically plate armour.^[17] The increased defensive capability of a man clad in "full harnisse" (a full suit of plate armour) caused the use of the sword to be drastically changed. While slashing attacks were still moderately effective against infantry wearing half-plate armor, cutting and slicing attacks against an opponent wearing plate armour were almost entirely ineffective in providing any sort of slashing wound as the sword simply could not cut through the steel.^[18] Instead, the energy of the cut becomes essentially pure concussive energy. The later hardened plate armours, complete with ridges and roping, actually posed quite a threat against the careless attacker. It is considered possible for strong blows of the sword against plate armour to actually damage the blade of the sword, potentially rendering it much less effective at cutting and producing only a concussive effect against the armoured opponent.

To overcome this problem, swords began to be used primarily for thrusting. The weapon was used in the half-sword, with one or both hands on the blade. This increased the accuracy and strength of thrusts and provided more leverage for Ringen am Schwert or "Wrestling at/with the sword". This technique combines the use of the sword with wrestling, providing opportunities to trip, disarm, break, or throw an opponent and place them in a less offensively and defensively capable position. During half-swording, the entirety of the sword works as a weapon, including the pommel and crossguard which function as a mace as shown in the Mordstreich.^[18]

[edit] See also

• Historical European Martial Arts
• Oakeshott typology
• Ricasso
• Side-sword
• Claymore
• Waster
• Jian
• Katana
• Tachi
• Training