A sword 's crossguard, or cross-guard, is a bar between the blade and hilt intended to protect the wielder's hand and fingers from opponents' weapons, as well as from sliding onto their own blade. Eac
Closeup of a sword, with a box highlighting the crossguard area
A dagger is a fighting knife typically with a very sharp point and usually one or two sharp edges, typically designed or capable of being used as a cutting or thrusting weapon. Daggers have been used
Crossguard
…the horizontal plane, forming an S-shape; this type dates to the end of the medieval period and is transitional to the early modern quillon types. The medieval dagger in the 14th and 15th century also adopted a variant with quillons styled after the hilt of a sword. Quillon-daggers remained popular in the 16th century…
The Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife, a modern-day dagger
A bronze dagger from Lorestan, Iran, 2600–2350 BCE
A Neolithic dagger from the Muséum de Toulouse
Pre-Roman Iberian iron dagger forged between the middle of the 5th and the 3rd century BC