Parrying dagger

As the name implies they were designed to parry, or defend, more effectively than a simple dagger form, typically incorporating a wider guard, and often some other defensive features to better protect the hand as well.

Parrying daggers were often made en suite, or similar in terms of construction and decorative technique, to the sword with which they were paired as a companion weapon.

The first section, near the hilt, comprises the ricasso (unsharpened portion) which is flat-sided and slightly beveled at the edges with one or two small holes at its forward end.

In some examples there are two arms running parallel to the sides of the ricasso with spaces inbetween, designed to catch the opponent's blade in a manner similar to the curved quillons of a dagger.

One Italian example dated around 1600 can be found in the Wallace Collection in London and has a hilt consisting of a pair of straight quillons and a ring guard.

[9] Late Renaissance rapiers and smallswords may not be as robust as the cutting swords of earlier times, however, and have indeed been known to break on occasion, so the claim may have more veracity in relation to the typical civilian weapons of this period.

The term is also applied in modern times to the various devices (such as hooks or spikes) found on some bucklers which served the same purpose as the parrying dagger to entrap an opponent's blade.

When a mechanism near the hilt is released the two side blades open under spring pressure to form the "trident", flying apart until they are stopped by the ends of the curved quillons.

In fact, the use of the off-hand as a defensive measure is often prohibited by the rules of many sport fighting styles that are common in the Western world today.

[12] Simultaneous use of two weapons is also frequently featured in fiction, particularly in video games, literature, and other media from the fantasy genre, where it is commonly dubbed "dual wielding".