Wipe blood from sword

by Aaron
(Orillia)

QUESTION: Why do soilders wipe the blood from their sword after battle? For example, Peter in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.

ANSWER: Hi Aaron,

Well - blood is highly corrossive to steel and will cause it to rust in record time if not wiped off completely and the sword reoiled.. Apparently it is quite hard to get off completely, many old antique swords that have seen useage have a dark stain from it...

Best,

- Paul

Comments for Wipe blood from sword

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cleanliness
by: BAMiron

we were just watching a samurai movie the other day and the reason i mention it is because in the movie several of the samurai sort of snapped the sword to shake off any blood that hadn't run off the blade after a violent encounter.
it was also interesting that they produced a small cloth from somewhere and wiped the sword as well before re-scabbarding.........this particular movie was pre WWII and was a variation of the 47 ronin story, as were many from that era......while many of the samurai movies of a later date often show the snap, we don't see the more realistic cloth wiping as well in movies of a later date.
what with our common knowledge of the Japanese cultural obsession with cleanliness, even in more ancient times, i think it just makes historical sense that any samurai would take great and immediate pains to remove anything that might damage his blade as soon as possible.
i don't have enough personal knowledge about european sword habits to make a judgement about them in that respect but i do suspect that they probably, in ancient times, were probably more concerned about the condition of their weapons more so than their personal hygiene, this according to books and other sources i have read regarding the new world explorers........for quite a long time bathing was considered quite dangerous in europe due to weather, the lack of central heating and hot water baths........and possibly soap, and towels, maybe toilet paper and probably clean underwear, etc.

Another explanation
by: Anonymous

Other possible explanation would be that if you put a bloody sword into the scabbard, then the blood would dry there and "glue" your sword into the scabbard. Outcome would be a dead knight/samurai.

culture
by: Anonymous

Chiburi is the act of shaking blood from the blade. Noto is the resheathing of the sword.

Read more: Japanese Sword Stances & Techniques | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/info_8212184_japanese-sword-stances-techniques.html#ixzz2ITrcu8ND

Wipe blood from so
by: TitanWolf

Hi Aaron,

Well - blood is highly corrossive to steel and will cause it to rust in record time if not wiped off completely and the sword reoiled.. Apparently it is quite hard to get off completely, many old antique swords that have seen useage have a dark stain from it...

TitanWolf

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