Quote:
Originally Posted by Easy 6
Indulge us with that story, that makes Crocodile Dundees knife look like a toothpick
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That is a kriegsmesser aka war knife.
See back in high middle ages Germany, the peasants couldn't walk around in public with a sword* but you could with a knife because a knife is a tool. For protection, the knives got longer as a longer blade protects you better. Eventually, they became the size of sword but were still constructed like a knife even usually blunt on one side. Eventually, the nobility picked them up as the messer and kriegsmesser actually brought new features to sword form like the knuckle and hand guards. Basically, the sword sized knife became so popular as a form of protection that the nobility couldn't ban it rather they rules lawyered it away as a knife and adopted it for their own use because of the features introduced to it.
*Unlike the east, peasants in middle ages Europe were expected and required to have arms as they would be called up in the local militia or as a peasant levy. They were not allowed to go armed in public normally though.