Long sword

This is a common teaching of the long sword.

If you would behold the art,
see that you go left and strike with the right,
and left with right
is how you fence strongly.

Whoever goes chasing after hews
may rejoice little in his art.
Hew in close, whatever you will:
no changer-through (wechslär) will reach your shield.
To head, to body,
do not shun the snap-hits (zegt = Zeckrühr).
With the whole body
fence whatever you desire to drive with strength.

Hear what is bad:
do not fight above from the left if you are right[-handed],
and if you are left[-handed],
on the right you limp badly.

Vor and Nach — these two things
are the single wellspring of all art.
Weak and strong;
Indes — mark that word therewith:
so may you learn
to work and to ward with art.
If you frighten easily,
never learn any fencing.

Copenhagen (1459): reworks the opening ("Hie lert der talhofer…" — "here Talhoffer teaches a common lesson in the long sword from the Zettel"), reads "fight not wide, with the whole body…", and drops the Weak/Strong/Indes couplet down to "your weak and your strong — mark your work evenly by them."

Notes:

• "Sich linck gen…" — read as sieh ("see [that you] go from the left and hew with the right"): the lead-side/strike-side pairing. The couplet after it inverts the advice for left-handers.
• This row carries the whole doctrinal frame of the system in six words: vor, nach, swech, sterck, indes — before, after, weak, strong, "in-the-instant." Everything later in the Zettel is application. See Tactical grouping §1-3.
• The "shield" (schilt) against the changer-through is your own close, direct attack — not a physical shield.

Learn five hews
from the right hand against the weapon (wer dy were).
Then we vow
that in arts you will gladly be rewarded.

Copenhagen (1459) replaces the promise with its most famous variant:

The hews are five, and they are called five vowels (funff focal);
learn them rightly and mark them well,
and from them comes to us the true foundation
that is known to few fencers.

Note: "wer dy were" is a crux — "against him who defends," or "whatever the weapon may be." Both readings agree on the substance: the five Meisterhäue ([LS 4], [LS 7]-[LS 10]) are thrown from the right side and defeat defenses. The Copenhagen's "five vowels" is a mnemonic conceit: as five vowels underlie all words, five hews underlie all fencing.

This is the text.

Zornhau, Krump, Twer,
has Schieler with Scheitler;
Alber wards (vorsetzt);
Nachreisen, Überlaufen set off hews (häw setzt);

Durchwechsel, Zuck,
Durchlauf, Abschneid, press hands (hende druck);
hang (heng), wind (wind), against the openings (plösen):
strike, catch, sweep, thrust with shoves.

Note: this is the table of contents of the system, compressed into two quatrains: the five hews (Zorn-, Krump-, Twer-, Schiel-, Scheitelhau), then the twelve further chief pieces (Vier Leger and Vier Versetzen hide inside "Alber vorsetzt"), ending in the close-play verbs. The glossators counted seventeen Hauptstücke from exactly these lines — enumerated in Technical grouping §2. The Copenhagen titles this row "the division of the art… the nearest way to strike or thrust to the man," which is a fair summary of the whole list.

The Zornhau (wrath-hew).

Whoever hews at you from above,
the Zornhau's point threatens him.
If he becomes aware of it,
take off above (nym oben ab) without danger.
Be strong in return;
wind, thrust. If he sees it, take it down.
Mark this precisely:
hew, thrust, posture (leger) — soft or hard,
Indes, and Vor and Nach;
and let your Krieg (war) not be hasty.

What the Krieg aims at above,
below it is shamed.
In all winding
learn to find hew, thrust, cut.
Also you shall, together with it,
test hew, thrust, or cut
in every meeting (treffen),
if you want to fool the masters.

Gotha (1448) splits the second half under its own red rubric "This is the Krieg," making explicit that the "war" (the winding fight at close quarters) is its own topic.

Notes:

• The Rome cell contains a scribal slip: "wind stich sicht leger waich oder hers nÿm es nyder" — the words "leger waich oder" are an eye-skip anticipation of the following couplet, marked here in red. Read: "wind stich, sicht ers, nym es nyder."
• The Zornhau paragraph is the model paragraph of the Zettel: strike-and-point (the threat), the enemy's answer, your continuation (take off above / wind), and then the decision doctrine (soft-hard, Indes, Vor/Nach) that governs every later piece. The "three wounders" (hew, thrust, cut) appear here for the first time.
• "Krieg" means the winding contest at the sword once points and hilts are close; "sey nicht gach" — do not rush it: the loser of the Krieg is the one who forces it blindly ("what the Krieg aims above, below it is shamed" = whoever winds high without feeling gets struck low).

The four openings (plossen).

Know the four openings;
aim [at them], so you strike surely,
without any danger,
without doubt of how he acts.

Note: the four openings are the four quarters of the man (above/below the belt, left/right of the centerline). The instruction is a targeting doctrine: attack quarters, not swords — "without doubt of how he acts" frees the attacker from reading feints. See Tactical grouping §4.

Breaking the four openings.

If you want to avenge yourself,
break the four openings with art:
above, double (duplir);
below, rightly mutate (mutir).
I say to you truly:
no man protects himself without danger.
If you have understood this,
he can scarcely come to blows.

Copenhagen (1459) interpolates courage-verses: "stand fast and be not lax, and be frightened of no man; stand and look at him earnestly…"

Note: Duplieren (doubling the strike behind his blade, above) and Mutieren (transmuting the bind into a thrust to the lower opening) are the two "breakings" that convert a stalemated bind into hits on opposite quarters. The final couplet is repeated verbatim at the Sprechfenster ([LS 22]) — the two moments in the system where the enemy is held in a bind he cannot safely leave.

The Krumphau (crooked hew).

Krump up nimbly;
throw your point upon the hands.
Krump [on him] who sets aside well;
with stepping it hinders many a hew.
Hew krump to the flats
of the masters, if you want to weaken them.
When it clashes above (wenn es glizst oben),
stand off — that I will praise.
Krump not, short-hew (kurz haw);
show the Durchwechsel with it.
Krump [on him] who irritates you:
the noble Krieg will confuse him,
so that, in truth, he does not know
where he may be without danger.

Notes:

• Four distinct uses in one paragraph: (1) the crooked strike onto the hands with the point; (2) as a counter to parriers, with the step; (3) onto the flat against the Ochs-masters; (4) the feint — "krump not": show the crooked line, then change through short.
• "Der edel kriegk" — the noble war: the winding continuation is praised as noble precisely where it disorients ("he does not know where he is without danger" — the reversal of [LS 5]'s promise to you).

The Twerhau (thwart-hew).

The Twer takes away
whatever comes from the day (vom tag).
Twer with the strong;
mark your work with it.
Twer to the Pflug,
to the Ochs join hard.
What twers itself well
with springing endangers the head.

Whoever leads the Feler (failer),
from below he touches at his will.
The Verkehrer (inverter) compels;
the runner-through also wrestles.
The elbow —
take it surely; spring into his balance (wage).

Feler twofold;
if it hits, make the cut with it.
Twofold it onward;
step in left, and be not lax.

Notes:

• The Twer beats everything "from the day" (from above) because its horizontal blade takes the descending line while the head slips off-line with the spring; then it cycles between the four quarters ("to the Pflug, to the Ochs" = low and high on both sides).
• Inside the Twer paragraph the Zettel hides three deception-tools: Feler (a shown hit that fails on purpose and lands below), Verkehrer (turning the hand/blade over to compel the arm, entering to the elbow and wrestling), and the doubled Feler with the cut. These belong tactically with [LS 17] Zucken — see Tactical grouping §5.
• Gotha reads "durch lauff var auff mit ringenn" — "run through, drive up with wrestling" — where Rome has "the runner-through also wrestles"; same doctrine.

The Schielhau (squinting-hew).

The Schieler breaks in
whatever a buffalo (püffel) strikes or thrusts.
Whoever threatens to change through,
the Schieler robs him of it.
Schiel [when] he shortens on you:
changing-through defeats him.
Schiel to the point,
and take the throat without fear.
Schiel to the upper
head, [if] you want to batter the hands.

Gotha (1448) drops the "changing-through defeats him" line and ends "schiel to the ears, if you would [strike] by the ears" (czu den oeer) — a corruption or an independent memory of the verse.

Notes:

• The "buffalo" is the strength-fencer; the Schielhau — struck with the short edge, squinting the gaze — breaks both his strike and his thrust, and simultaneously punishes changers-through.
• "Schil kürtzt er dich an" — when he fences short (point withdrawn, threatening no line), squint at him and change through freely; the paragraph gives one answer for each of the two bad habits (too strong, too short).

The Scheitelhau (parting/crown-hew).

The Scheitler
is a danger to the face,
with its turn
a great danger to the breast.
What comes from him,
the Kron (crown) takes off.
Cut through the Kron:
so you break it hard and fair.
Press the strokes;
with cuts pull them away.

Note: the highest hew and its own counter-cycle in four lines: the vertical Scheitelhau reaches over low guards (its natural prey is Alber); the defender lifts the Kron (hilt high, blade horizontal) to catch it; the striker answers by slicing under the Kron's arms and pressing/slicing away. The whole exchange is the textbook case of [LS 14] Überlaufen and [LS 19]-[LS 20] cutting doctrine meeting in one place.

The four guards (leger).

Hold to four guards alone,
and flee the common ones.
Ochs, Pflug, Alber,
vom Tag — let them not be unworthy to you.

Note: Ox (point hanging at the face from above), Plow (point at the face from below), Fool (point at the ground), From-the-Day (raised to strike). The Zettel's minimalism is doctrinal: four positions, defined by where the point threatens, against the "common" multiplicity of named wards in rival schools. Compare Fiore's twelve poste — see the cross-tradition note in Manuscript comparison.

The four Versetzen (settings-aside).

Four are the Versetzen
that sorely hurt the four guards.
Beware of [mere] parrying (vor fursetzen hüett dich):
if it happens, it sorely troubles you.
If you have been parried,
and however that has come about,
hear what I counsel you:
wrench off (reiß ab), hew quickly with speed.
Set on at the four ends;
stay upon them, learn, if you want to finish.

Notes:

• Double doctrine in one paragraph. First: the four Versetzen are not blocks but the four hews that break the four guards (Krump breaks Ochs, Twer breaks vom Tag, Schiel breaks Pflug, Scheitel breaks Alber — the glossators' standard mapping). Second: passive parrying is condemned; if you are parried, immediately wrench off and strike, or set the point on ("the four ends" = the four openings).
• "Setz an" introduces the Ansetzen — planting the point — which the mounted and armored sections make central ([D 3], [D 9]).

Nachreisen (travelling-after).

Learn the travelling-after,
twofold, or cut into the weapon.
Two outer intents (zway ewssere mynne):
begin your work after it,
and test the movements (gefert),
whether they are soft or hard.
Learn the feeling (fulen):
the word Indes cuts sharply.
Travel after twofold;
if it hits, make the old cut (alten schnit) with it.

Notes:

• Nachreisen is the exploitation of the enemy's tempo: strike into his preparation, follow his miss, occupy his line of recovery. "Twofold" = it exists above and below (or before and after his blow).
• This row welds together the system's sensory doctrine: Fühlen (feeling pressure in the bind) and Indes (acting in the instant of feeling) are one thing — "the word Indes cuts sharply" because the decision is the cut. The "old cut" is the master-counter of graspers and over-reachers, the slice onto the arms.
• "zway ewssere mynne" is the hardest crux in the Zettel (literally "two outer loves/takings"); the gloss tradition applies it to the two outer follow-ups when he fights out of the bind. Left untranslated-smooth deliberately.

Überlaufen (overrunning).

Whoever aims below,
overrun him: he will be shamed.
When it flashes above (wenn es klitzst oben),
be strong — that I do praise.
Do your work,
or press hard, twofold.

Note: reach beats reach-down: against low attacks do not follow him low — strike over the top where your blade arrives first (hanging point). Geometry, not speed. Pairs with [LS 10]'s Kron cycle from the other side.

Absetzen (setting-aside).

Learn the setting-aside,
to hurt hew and thrust with art:
whoever thrusts at you,
your point hits, and his breaks.
From both sides:
hit every time, if you want to step.

Note: the single-time counter — parry and thrust are one motion (wind into Ochs/Pflug so his steel slides off while your point stays in his face). The purest expression of "your point hits and his breaks."

Durchwechseln (changing-through).

Learn the changing-through,
from both sides; thrust with intent (mit sere).
Whoever binds on you,
the changing-through finds him quickly.

Note: dive the point under his blade as he seeks the bind, arrive on the other side. The predator of blade-hunters — and prey of the Schielhau [LS 9] and of "hew in close" [LS 1]; the Zettel arms both sides of every duel.

Zucken (twitching).

Step close in the bind:
the twitching gives good finds.
Twitch — if he meets [it], twitch more.
Find work — that hurts him.
Twitch in all meetings,
if you want to fool the masters.

Note: the bind-side twin of the Feler: snap the blade off the bind to bait his parry into empty air, re-enter elsewhere; iterate ("twitch more") until a quarter opens. "In all meetings" — Zucken is not one technique but an operator that applies to every bind.

Durchlaufen (running-through).

Run through, let hang;
grip with the pommel, if you want to wrestle.
Whoever comes at you with strength,
run through — mark it therewith.

Gotha (1448) garbles the last line into "durch wechslñ damit merck" ("changing-through mark it therewith") — a copying error that swaps two chief pieces; Rome's "durchlauff" is the correct reading.

Note: when he crowds and lifts, let your sword hang behind your back, duck through under his arms into body-wrestling. The bridge between the sword-art and Ringen — the duel sections develop it ([D 10], [D 12]).

Abschneiden (cutting-off).

Cut off the hard ones,
from below in both actions.
Four are the cuts:
two below, two above.

Note: against force, don't compete — slice. The four cuts lie on the arms (two over, two under); the under-cuts stop the strong man's onset mid-body.

Hende drucken (pressing of hands).

Turn your edge;
to the flats, press the hands.

Copenhagen (1459) expands with hilt-work: "turn your cut into the Twer nimbly, and go in on the man; shove with the hilt handsomely — if you would not resound, you have two fallings-in."

Note: the conversion cut: from the under-slice, turn the long edge over his wrists and press — his sword is jailed. One couplet in the Rome; the glosses (and the Copenhagen already) treat it as the gateway to winding on the arms.

Zwei hengen (two hangings).

Two hangings arise
from one hand from the ground:
in every action —
hew, thrust, guard — soft or hard.

Copenhagen (1459) prefixes: "whoever would be too strong for you, hang, fall in upon him above."

Note: the hanging point (Ochs above, Pflug below) exists on each side — two per hand, four total; from them every winding is reached, and in them the soft/hard question of [LS 4] is asked and answered continuously.

Sprechfenster (speaking-window).

Make the speaking-window;
stand cheerfully, look upon his affair.
Strike him so that he staggers (das er schnobe);
whoever draws off before you,
I say to you truly:
no man protects himself without danger.
If you have understood this,
he can scarcely come to blows.

Note: the long-point bind held on purpose — point in his face, blade on blade — as an observation post: "stand cheerfully and look at what he does." Whatever he does (pull away, strike around, stay), his first motion is your tempo. The repeated couplet from [LS 6] seals the pair: bind-domination above, target-domination below.

This is the conclusion of the Zettel.

Whoever conducts well and breaks rightly
and finally makes all right,
and breaks each particular
into three wounders (dreÿ wunder);
whoever hangs rightly well
and brings winding with it,
and considers the eight windings
with rightful weighing —
and each one
of those windings I hold as threefold —
so they are twenty
and four; count them singly,
from both sides.
Learn eight windings with stepping,
and test the actions (gefert)
for no more than soft or hard.

Note: the arithmetic of the whole close-play: 2 hangings × 2 sides × 2 lines = 8 windings; each delivering the three wounders (hew, thrust, cut) = 24 techniques; and the only sensory input the count requires is the binary of [LS 1]: soft or hard. The Zettel ends by folding all its particulars back into Fühlen and Indes.

Not part of the Zettel — the scribes' closing lines, present only in part of the tradition:

• Copenhagen (1459): "Says Hans Talhoffer: God release us from all hardship" (spricht hannß talhofer / got lauß unnß aller schwer).
• Munich Ⅱ / Augsburg Ⅰ (1523, Jörg Wilhalm): "Thus ends Master Liechtenauer's art of the long sword."
• Wolfenbüttel Ⅱ (ca. 1588): "Thus ends Master Liechtenauer's art of the long sword."
• Krakow (1535-40): "End of the text of the fencing-Zettel."
• Wolfenbüttel Ⅰ (ca. 1465-80): "Etc. and the end."

Note: the colophons are the clearest witness that the sixteenth-century copies regard the poem as a closed, authored text — "Master Liechtenauer's art" — where the fifteenth-century service copies (Rome, Gotha) simply run it into their glosses and figures.