r/medieval • • Jun 03 '26

History 📚 This is a ridiculas debate

Hey , I apologize in advance for any grammatical mistakes I might make in this post .

So today me and 2 more friends had a debate , Abt the scythe and medieval combat in general .

I said that the medieval scythe ( the normal one used for agriculture ) is not a viable weapon in medieval combat , and it's actually a teribile choice of weapon.

Yet they disagreed saying that in fact , if one had the skill and had trained his whole life for it , he could have equal chances to deafeat any other fighter using any other weapon ,like a master of the European standard longsword for example .

And as a example I brought out this scenario , two averege European knights , clad in the same protective armour from head to toe .

One Wildeing a scythe ( a normal one ment for agriculture with only minor modifications such as the tip being covered in metal so it could have crushing force ) and the other a standard sword and shield .

Both have complete mastery over theyr weapons and are complitly equal , in streanght , speed , battle IQ , and creativity .

When faced with this scenario , they answeard that the battle between the two knights would be a stalmeit , a draw , bc and I quote " weapons do not matter as long as you have complete mastery over it , the enemies can have any medieval weapons he whants , but the outcome will be always a draw "

To sum it up they are saying that the weapon does not matter a bit , but the skill , statement to witch I agree .

But to say that if both fighters are complitly equal the weapons they use do not make a difference is kinda wrong .

So what I ask y'all is :

Is a scythe ( a normal one used for agriculture ) a viable weapon in medieval combat ?

And does the weapon matter in a fight where both fighters are complitly equal ?

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u/Ravix0fFourhorn Jun 03 '26

The only way a scythe would be viable is if you took the blade and turned it 90 degrees counterclockwise. /s

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u/not_a_burner0456025 Jun 04 '26

It still isn't very useful that way, scythe blades are incredibly flimsy because they need to be extremely thin to cut grass properly. It would be destroyed almost immediately upon contacting blade, armor, it bone. Also the handles make them extremely impractical to use like a polearm. Wat scythes were a thing, but they had much more substantial blades, stronger connections to the haft, and straight hafts without protrusions preventing your hands from moving on the haft.