Greatsword

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The greatsword requires two hands to wield. It is the largest type of sword, considerably longer and heavier than a bastard sword or a longsword.

Appearances in the Novels

Greatsword.jpg

There are several famous greatswords forged of Valyrian steel. These include Ice, Heartsbane and Brightroar.

The champions of the Northern mountain clans wield huge two-handed greatswords.[1] Greatjon Umber is also described as using one.[2] Household troops of the Dreadfort wield greatswords along with other weaponry.[3]

Speculation about size

The Valyrian greatsword Ice is described as taller than an adolescent Robb Stark.[4] Based on this, an "educated guess" is that the sword is about 1.65 meters long (or 5 feet and 5 inches). However, as Valyrian steel is considerably lighter than common steel, Valyrian greatswords are likely larger in general.

A good estimate for the size of a typical greatsword would be 1.5 meters (about 5 feet). The size of the sword depends on the person wielding it though, so swords wielded by exceptionally large men may even exceed 1.8 meters (roughly 6 feet).

References and Notes