: Are these people going down the well-trodden road to silly-swordery? Fantasy swords in film and illustration are, in general, dire. Historical swords were the shape they were because they were efficient for their purpose. A man holding a sword had two lives in his hands, his own and his opponent's, swords had to work well.

: Most of the swords produced for fantasy films would have been grossly unbalanced, weak in the blade due to odd shaping, and the hilts would have seriously damaged the wrists of anyone foolish enough to wield one.

I applaud Martin greatly- swinging one on a regular basis myself, a viking broadsword that is, those are hard enough to use without add-ons.
NT