Cirashala
Doriath
Aug 4 2014, 5:04am
Views: 23027
|
|
I think I know why he does the reverse grip!!!
|
|
|
If you watch that clip of him moving a few times, you can see where his blade (as it comes down) hits him in the leg. His sword is single bladed, and due to the reverse hand grip the blunt side, not the sharp one, bumps against his leg as it comes down 
As another poster mentioned above, this would give him the ability to stab someone coming behind him as well.
I also moved my hand as he does to test a theory, and realized that a shield is held with the left palm facing backward (for a right handed swordsman-meaning toward the body, rather than away from it), and if his sword is doubling as a shield then it makes more sense to hold it that way as well- there's more force and strength there (think bicep curl) and having palm facing inward with your arm at a right angle is also a self defense move (blocks the arm of someone trying to hit you). Most people are stronger with palm inward than palm out, because it twists your radius and ulna (the forearm bones) uncomfortably to have your arm up at a right angle but palm forward if it's near your body (hurt my wrist just doing so, and that was without a sword in my hand). Palm backward, however, keeps the bones straight and is less likely to produce a wrist injury if something heavy came at you and you're trying to stop the blow.
This would keep the blade in front of his body, thus protecting his torso and neck without twisting his wrist. The palm facing inward would better absorb blows coming at him, with more strength applied to keep the blocked weapon from reaching his torso, and thus acting as both a shield and a weapon. It keeps the sharp side of the blade away from his leg and body and towards his opponent. It provides the ability to quickly and efficiently stab someone behind him as he's moving forward with his right hand. It allows him to both attack and defend with both hands also.
Seems to me as though it's a very, very good idea for a skilled duel wielder such as Thranduil to use the reverse grip on the defensive hand (left usually, as most people are right handed) given all the things he can do with it mentioned above 
(This post was edited by Cirashala on Aug 4 2014, 5:05am)
|
