Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of
Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and
Speaker 1: this is the Artifact, a short form series from Stuff
Speaker 1: to Blow Your Mind, focusing in on particular objects, ideas,
Speaker 1: and moments in time. Weary, scornfully bad Billy one time
Speaker 1: that he didn't even know what a blood gutter was.
Speaker 1: Billy guessed it was the drain in the bottom of
Speaker 1: the iron maiden, but that was wrong. A blood gutter,
Speaker 1: Billy learned, was the shallow groove in the side of
Speaker 1: the blade of a sword or bayonet. That's an excerpt
Speaker 1: from Kurt Vonnegut's classic ninety nine novel slaughter House Five,
Speaker 1: in which the character Billy Pilgrim endures a lesson in
Speaker 1: weapon design from the sadistic Ronald Weary. If you're like me,
Speaker 1: a high school read of this classic novel may have
Speaker 1: introduced you to the concept of a blood gutter, often
Speaker 1: said to either allow a wound to bleed more or
Speaker 1: to allow easier extraction from the victim. In my own case,
Speaker 1: I think that my memory tends to combine two different
Speaker 1: sections of the novel, Wearies ramblings about blood gutters and
Speaker 1: a later ramble about triangular blades, but the long groove
Speaker 1: you find in many blades has nothing to do with
Speaker 1: blood or the physics of stabbing someone. The fuller, as
Speaker 1: it is more properly called, is purely structural. As Nick
Speaker 1: Evangelista points out in the Encyclopedia of the Sword, the
Speaker 1: groove or grooves cut into the face of a blade
Speaker 1: simply serve to make it lighter. You use less metal,
Speaker 1: as much as thirty five percent less to make a
Speaker 1: blade that's just as durable and well stappable. And yet
Speaker 1: the Ronald wearies of the world continue to mislabel fullers
Speaker 1: as blood grooves or blood gutters, terms which are not
Speaker 1: only incorrect in terms of function, but also, according to
Speaker 1: Pope and Steven's in Arms and Armor of Knights and
Speaker 1: Landsnecks in the Netherlands Army Museum quote betrays a rather
Speaker 1: too romantic and bloodthirsty view. How fitting then that Vonnegutt
Speaker 1: mentions it in the same breath as the Iron Maiden,
Speaker 1: a torture instrument of mostly fantasy that most historians believe
Speaker 1: was never actually used. Tune into additional editions of the
Speaker 1: artifact each week. As always, you can email us at
Speaker 1: contact at Stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. Stuff
Speaker 1: to Blow your Mind is production of I heart Radio.
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