Sword of a Giant ( hormonal)

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by ariel

Jim,
The story of David and Goliath contains some fascinating hints of acromegaly in the latter.

His height was 6 cubits and a span, ~ 280cm ( ~ 9’ 2”) . That’s a mother of all gigantisms!

Now about the tumor:

If the tumor goes sideways, it affects nerves responsible for an eye movement. Thus , the afflicted person cannot move both eyes in a precisely coordinated fashion and develops double vision. And when and if it goes upward, the afflicted loses peripheral vision.

Goliath “ looked about” to find David, because he could see only a narrow field in front of him. For anything else he had to turn his eyes.

And here comes the punchline:

When he, looking sideways, finally located David approaching him with a shepherd’s staff, he said derisively: “Am I a dog that you are coming against me with sticks ( sic!) ?”

The point is , David carried only one stick:-)

Thus, the Bible tells us that Goliath had gigantism, loss of peripheral vision and double vision: he had a very big and invasive pituitary tumor producing GH

Now THAT is interesting! I always found bio-history or medical aspects of historical figures fascinating. Another case of the study of history and arms in tandem. Thank you!

[fernando]

A fascinating episode of Biblical history indeed. Thanks a lot for revealing it.

[mariusgmioc]

Thank you for this very interesting posting!

[Jens Nordlunde]

Thank you Ariel, it is very interesting and you explained it very well.
Maharaja Anup Singh of Bikaner (r. 1669-1698) is said to have had a gigantic brother, Padam(?) Singh, who for this reason had his weapons made especially for him. His sword is said to weigh 27 kg.

[ariel]

I am glad you all liked this little foray into pituitary endocrinology.

Do you want me to extend my quest and start arguing that tiny Katars and small Tulwar handles were specially made for the warriors with GH deficiency ( pituitary dwarfs)? Na-ah:-)

[fernando]

How cruel .

[kronckew]

Originally Posted by ariel

I am glad you all liked this little foray into pituitary endocrinology.
...

Is there no way of stopping or neutralising the GH or even destroying some of the pituitary and/or any associated tumors? Focused neutron bombardment?

27kg would be heavy even for the biggest giant. A large two handed sword from the era weighs in at considerably less. It would be a death sentence for the dielder if actually used as it would be horribly slow. The myth of huge two handed swords being really heavy has been debunked already. 2.7kg +/- a bit maybe...

[ariel]

Sorry, pushed the wrong button and got a duplicate

[kronckew]

Originally Posted by ariel

I am glad you all liked this little foray into pituitary endocrinology.

Do you want me to extend my quest and start arguing that tiny Katars and small Tulwar handles were specially made for the warriors with GH deficiency ( pituitary dwarfs)? Na-ah:-)

Well, Little people could be very powerful royal attendants, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court_dwarf. Can't see why they would not also be armed with custom made arms and armour...they are no different than us, just a bit shorter. An example below of a recognisable one from a well known fiction, along with a painting of a real example from history.

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by kronckew

Well, Little people could be very powerful royal attendants, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court_dwarf. Can't see why they would not also be armed with custom made arms and armour...they are no different than us, just a bit shorter. An example below of a recognisable one from a well known fiction, along with a painting of a real example from history.

Interesting note Wayne, and well placed. We have had some interesting concurrent discussions on other threads concerning a breast plate which seemed unusually small; a katar whose hilt seemed too small for the hand of an average person; and I brought up armor said to be of Joan of Arc, but thought to be too small.

Clearly 'size does matter', and the examination of both seemingly unusual sizes both too small, or notably large, are of interest..

The occasional note of dwarves has come up in some of these discussions, and while this anomaly as we regard it today, may not have been prevalent (or at least notable) in earlier times. As has been noted, the smaller average stature of humans was the case at large, so perhaps figures even in the range of what we consider today 'dwarves', may not have been deemed 'unusual' enough for special notice.

I thought of mentioning Attila the Hun, who has often been noted as having been a dwarf, but am not confident in the popular culture notions which reign in lore. Actually there seems to be little accord in the material concerning the Huns or Attila himself, but there are many references which call them, and him of course, as small in stature.

It does appear that general discussion on these aspects of arms and armor must be observed on the merits of each individual item, in which of course we can only speculate on its details. As Wayne notes, it does seem feasible that arms or armor may have been specifically made for such persons.

I did note however, that most authorities consider that the Huns did not have ability or materials for forging or making weapons, therefore they must have relied on captured or otherwise obtained weaponry. If they were in any way unusually small in stature, this would seem to have presented a problem.