I always assume that C.S. Lewis knows what he’s talking about when he puts something in a book. So this item I found when I read Till We Have Faces1 must be a kind of easter egg, avant la lettre.
In Chapter 19, the Queen is fighting a duel with the King of Phars, which ends this way: “I gave the straight thrust and then, all in one motion, wheeled my sword round and cut him deeply in the inner leg where no surgery will stop the bleeding.”
I’ve heard of this move before. It’s named after Guy de Chabot, seigneur of Jarnac, who used it in a duel against La Châtaignerie in 1547.2 It was legal, but the discourse in the fencing community (as we’d say now) regarded it as only marginally ethical. Captain Sir Alfred Hutton says3, “In later times an idea got abroad that there was something unfair about this hamstringing cut, and the term coup de Jarnac came to be applied … metaphorically to any underhand attack of what kind soever.”
This may be another subtle indicator that the Queen’s character is not 100% admirable.
Image from Cohen, p. 127
Edited to add: I just noticed that in the illustration de Jarnac’s hand is pronated, so he’s cutting with the part of the weapon called the “false edge”. Subtle reinforcement that there’s something dishonorable going on.
tom hillman
I am trying to vizualize this move, using the illustration provided. So, thrust towards the body, then swinging the blade outward into a downward arc under his raised guard?
Joe
Yes, the illustration isn’t helpful. It only works if both people are same-handed. Suppose they’re both left-handed. The defender’s right leg, under the shield, is forward. The attacker feints with the point in the high line, thumb up. When the defender’s shield comes up, the attacker pronates his hand, causing a clockwise motion of the point. The attacker continues that motion from the shoulder, bringing his left foot forward and slashing down behind the defender’s right knee.
Brenton Dickieson
Pretty great. Are broad sword ethics different? Or fights to the death?
Joe
I don’t think so, but it’s a grey area: La Châtaignerie refused medical attention after the duel, and he died from that more than from his wounds.