Log-a-log's Sword

[LT Sandpaw]

I was rereading Marlfox the other day and I came to the part where *SpoilerAlert* Dippler receives the shrew chieftain name Log-a-log along with late chieftain's sword. According to shrew law, if Log-a-log is murdered by a shrew, the shrew that avenges the deceased chieftain takes on the title. What I found particularly interesting about that scene though is how Dippler gets the Log-a-log rapier. The sword was essentially passed on to him.

So what if that sword was the same one that has been in use since the original Log-a-log from Mattimeo dies? That would be a cool little historic fact, but there is something else that is intriguing.

They throw the thing like a javelin.

In Mattimeo Log-a-log hurls his sword and kills Stonefleck. A few seasons later in the Log-a-log in the Long Patrol chunks what I think is the same weapon and splits the leaf nearly winning that ribbon, ya'll remember that right? So the shrew rapier that the Log-a-logs' use might very well be designed to be thrown. And while I could be incorrect, you don't usually make a sword to throw it. So it could be a unique feature to the chief's weapon. And from what I can remember this happens several times throughout the books, though I can't place any more direct instances.

While it wouldn't be all that important to the story it is a bit of interesting lore. What do ya'll think?

[Ashleg]

Very interesting, actually. Even though I've never thought about it beforehand.

[Captain Tammo]

Neat thread! What made you pick up on this?

I think Brian just liked the idea of a confident, but last-resort kind of tactic in which the chieftain throws his weapon at the foe. And describing its path as that of a javelin shows the reader how it traveled in the air. However, shrews are tiny so I wouldn't be surprised if they were able to throw their rapiers

[The Skarzs]

What's wrong with just ending them rightly with the pommel?



In order for a sword to be a throwable weapon, the blade would need to be pretty heavy, like a greatsword. A rapier's balance point is very near the handle, as that type of weapon exploits nimbleness to penetrate defenses with quick slashes and stabs, not deep cuts. And when the balance point of something is so close to the hand, it doesn't throw well. . .

It would be interesting if that sword were the same one used by Log-a-logs for generations. That would go with the common theme of Redwall's weapons.

[Lady Ashenwyte]

It's very likely that the original Log-a-log's sword has been lost, and that new ones have been forged to replace it.

@Skarzs: Books cannot contain the destructive power of a pommel.

[Kitsune]

I would not put it past the Gousim to have salvaged a rapier made for a much bigger creature and to have used it as the honorary cheif's sword. They would be forced to throw it like a spear then.

[LT Sandpaw]

I know these are just drawings, and probably don't reflect actual story facts, but they help with my theory.

So this is a picture of your standard shrews shooting some bows, but notice their rapiers, they've got basket hilts, which would make them difficult to throw accurately, much less with deadly force.



And this is a picture of Log-a-log from the book The Long Patrol. He is one of the shrew chieftains who actually threw his blade like a javelin.



Notice how the sword has a rather small cross hilt. Theoretically that would make it a little easier to throw, if the blade was slightly heavier, and the hilt lighter; it wouldn't be very accurate, and it'd have to be a close target but it would be entirely possible with some practice.

That's just a wild theory though, but it would be very interesting lore if the sword has been passed down from generation to generation, dictated by Guosim law.

[Hickory]

Yeah, but hasn't it been destroyed? Fairly sure that it happened in Marlfox.

Also, in the same book, (have it on my lap) Fenno threw his own rapier. Perhaps they're all made the same... Or, they're based off of the original rapier.

[Ashleg]

Whoever said the rapier had to be a certain style to be thrown?
Even if they're not made for throwing they can physically be thrown, and the shrews probably practice to use them that way.

[Wylder Treejumper]

If I'm right, even Log-a-Log missed when he threw his rapier- although he was throwing at a tiny spot, so impressive nonetheless. Still, if you get to know your sword well enough, you can probably handle it even in ways it wasn't mean to be used. You don't see Guosim throwing rapiers much, and in any case throwing away what is probably your only weapon is not that great of a strategy anyways. I would say they were probably not built for throwing, but Log-a-Log knows his blade well enough to throw it and Fenno just got lucky.

[The Skarzs]

You could throw swords if the balance is right. I saw a video of a guy throwing a long blade a bit like how one would throw a knife just so we could see the rotation a little better. You wouldn't be able to throw it very far, methinks, because of the weight, but using the no-spin throw (basically for short-range throwing), it would be effective enough. Also, the weight would help at that distance because of how much inertia it would keep.
I've seen some Medieval pictures showing two people holding a sword and a spear in pretty much the same style, so it's possible that it was a viable technique to throw them like spears, if the swords were long enough.

As for Log a Log's sword, it's pretty small, so it would probably be thrown as a knife instead of a spear.
The weight of the tip doesn't have much to do with throwing as much as the overall balance of the sword itself. Doing the no-spin throw still requires some rotation around an axis, and if that axis is more centered, the easier it will be to throw.

[Dannflor]

Interesting theory!!!

[sunflashtheace]

Wow. I've never really thought about it that much. But I geuss it really is like a javelin/rapier or just a very small easy to throw rapier.