Worshiping a weapon, raising it to the rank of god and wizard at the same time, knighting, passing a pair under the swords to be lowered during marriage - all this is a medieval understanding of the sword as a symbol of honor and glory. Swords then had their own names and were used only for their intended purpose. The cults and rituals of weapons as before and now are characteristic of the most diverse peoples who inhabited all continents from antiquity to the invention of firearms. For many centuries, swords, sabers, swords, knives, etc. dominated the earth.
Garda - part of a blade melee weapon
The appearance of the element goes back centuries. In ancient Rome, swords already had a modern form, and those who owned them knew what a guard was. The gunsmiths tried to forge it in various shapes. Decoration of swords began with a hilt: guards and tops with a head.
What is a guard? Each blade weapon consists of the blade itself and the handle. And the partition between them, protecting the hand from the enemy’s blade, and then from getting blood on the wrist, was a guard. This is a metal convex shield on the handle of a blade weapon such as a sword or a handle on the handle of a saber. Garda (in French garde) literally means "protection." At first, it was performed simply in the form of a flat bar between the blade and the handle, then in the form of a small disk. From the 16th century they began to be made round and convex, then they begin to close the wrist in whole or in part. The guard can expand at the place of the descent of the handle with the blade or branch: in two at the broadsword or in gratings at the saber.
Further, the look and decor of the element was modified indefinitely, acquiring the most bizarre forms.
Guard typology
The guard, together with the top (the end of the handle), is the hilt of the blade weapon. The latter can be open when the fingers are protected only by a cross (protecting against slipping hands on the blade) or closed. In a closed hilt, one or more arches connect the top to the base of the handle for finger safety. If the arms are less than the length of the handle, the hilt is called half-open. Indoor or semi-open, it is called complex or advanced.
The developed hilt of a cold weapon includes a guard, a top with a rounded end (called a "head" or "apple"). The head serves as a counterbalance at the same time, improves the overall balance (it is usually made of heavy metal such as lead), and also keeps the hand from slipping when under the influence of centrifugal force the weapon “escapes” from the hands. Precious stones were sometimes inserted into apples. And what is a guard then, if not decoration? In form, these elements are very diverse: from the crosshairs, the petal and the beak to the basket (at broadsword) or even more complicated at pappenheimer and schiavona.
Guards are used both with long-blade weapons and with daggers and knives. Only special knives, throwing for example, do not have it.
Guards as works of art
Many famous museums of the world boast magnificent collections of edged weapons. This is the Armory of the Moscow Kremlin, and the exposition of the Louvre Museum (France), and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (USA), as well as the Tokyo National Museum, the Prince of Wales Museum in Mumbai (India), the Royal Museum in Toronto (Canada) and many more. Almost all of these weapons collections demonstrate how diverse the shapes and decor of guards can be, as well as the arms and scabbards of various blades.
Edged weapons today
Such blades today adorn not only museums, but also private collections. Every self-respecting hunter at the first financial opportunity will acquire the best and most expensive weapons, and his children and male grandchildren will try to replenish the collection with beautiful exhibits, not reliable ones. Collections can be located on the wall, can occupy entire rooms. You can hang a carpet on the wall, and crossed swords or sabers on it. The weapon becomes a toy for adult men. What is garda today? Decoration of a fashionable toy for men.
A little bit about the name
As you call a ship, it will sail, the saying goes. If LLC “Garda” bears the name associated with the weapon, then in the end the victory is theirs! Surely a security company with the name "Garda" reviews will have positive! However, the sword, and other edged weapons, like everything that is connected with it, is a mysterious, symbolic and dangerous thing. That is why good housewives hide knives for the night to hell.