Weapons

Then King Pelles caught in his hand a grim weapon and smote eagerly at Balin; but Balin put the sword betwixt his head and the stroke, and therewith his sword burst in sunder. And when Balin was weaponless he ran into a chamber for to seek some weapon, and so from chamber to chamber, and no weapon he could find, and always King Pelles after him. And at the last he entered into a chamber that was marvellously well dight and richly, and a bed arrayed with cloth of gold, the richest that might be thought, and one lying therein, and thereby stood a table of clean gold with four pillars of silver that bare up the table, and upon the table stood a marvellous spear strangely wrought.

—Malory, Le Morte d’Arthur, book II, chapter 15

Going into battle, knights normally carry spears in their right hands, shields in their left, swords hilted at their left sides, daggers at their right, and a second one-handed melee weapon attached to their saddles. While travelling on the road or hunting in peaceable lands, knights are usually unarmored or wearing only an aketon or a gambeson. They still carry their swords on their left, and a dagger on their right. An extra sword and other weapons are packed on a sumpter, with the armor and shield borne by the war horse, led by the squire.

Knights use a variety of weapons in combat, but these each fall under one of nine Weapon Skills. Five of these are used in melee (Charge, Hafted, Spear, Sword, Two-Handed Hafted), one when brawling (Brawling), and three in missile combat (Bow, Crossbow, Thrown Weapon). Each weapon has its own advantages and disadvantages. An experienced knight should have multiple Weapon Skills and carry multiple weapons for different types of combat.

The following sections describe the melee, improvised, and missile weapons available to characters.

Handedness

All knights and other combatants learn to fight with their right hand. Even people with natural left-handedness are trained this way. The reason is that they must often fight in close formation with others, and a single left-handed user destroys the advantage of the formation.