Warriors of Renown

[Frostwulf]

I was curious about hearing about tough individual warriors that you guys know of and any sources you can put down about them. I was hoping to keep this in the pre-gun powder age ( spears, axes, swords, bows etc). The 3 ones I can think of are:
1. Miyamoto Musashi : A japanese samurai who lived in the 1600's and is credited with 60 wins in duels. Also has wrote "The Book of Five Rings". Sources: Samurai Warfare and Wikipedia.

2.The Viking that fought on the Stamford bridge: This Viking was larger then Harald Hardraada and was credited with killing 40 men while holding the bridge. Sources: umm cant remember where I read about this

3.William Marshall of Pembroke: Wow! If he wasnt the greatest knight ever I would like to read who was! Sources: Who's who in the middle ages, and Sidney Painter, William Marshal, Knight-Errant, Baron, and Regent of England.

I read in these forums about a Celtic warrior dueling the Romans and thumping on them, I would like to know more about him if someone recalls who he is.

[Zaknafien]

uh, Horatius Cocles

[Watchman]

I always thought that story sounded like a total myth. The Lone Viking of Stamford Bridge is awfully suspiciously similar, too.

[Zaknafien]

he never said they had to be true. but it does show the type of warfare exemplified by primitive cultures. same thing with the horatii and even publius decius mus.

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

I heard the guy on the bridge didn't really kill many guys but rather just kept the English from crossing the bridge.

My addition:
Titus Pullo - He killed entire rooms and alleyways full of armed henchmen. Even bit out a guys tounge in one battle.

JK

[mAIOR]

There's a tale here in Portugal that in the period of the Reconquista 5 knights were ambushed by moors and were killed. But, before they were killed, they took something like 300 moors with them. I remember my folks telling me this story...


Cheers...

[Conradus]

Two other legends: Roland defending the rear of Charlemagne's army
Cuchulain, defending the river crossings into Ulster

[Orb]

I'll add an important chap here:

Emperor Alexius I - credited (by his daughter, admittedly) with fighting off three Norman cavalrymen. Quite a feat, though it doesn't sound like it.

I can remember reading of a battle where a few sikhs serving the Brits were overwhelmed by an enormous number of Afghans, but took many with them (outside the time frame).

[alatar]

Hurin killed 50 trolls efore they took him and he was the last man in the battle when they showed up.

What it's still a legend ?

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

Hagen von Tronje and the Nibelungen. They took thousands of Huns with them before diying at king Attila's court. And Siegfried of course.

[Boyar Son]

Achilles?

Kayanians were hero-kings of persia recorded in the Avesta.

[edyzmedieval]

1. Miyamoto Musashi : A japanese samurai who lived in the 1600's and is credited with 60 wins in duels. Also has wrote "The Book of Five Rings". Sources: Samurai Warfare and Wikipedia.

A true warrior book. I've read excerpts from it long time ago, and it's a true warrior's book. If the guy was good enough, why couldn't he win 60 duels?

[Kralizec]

I recall there was a German machine gunner at Ohama beach who was reputed to have killed and maimed thousends of Allied landing troops. "Renown" is defintely not the right word here, though.

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

There was the Japanese Samurai that sunk a ship with and arrow.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

They think it was a rowboat sized ship and it was a lucky shot in the pitch below the water line.

[Watchman]

While we're at it let's not forget those merry Romance of Three Kingdoms Chinese guys. Poetic license aside, I've seen a pretty solid argument for why at least some of their more impressive kill counts are conditionally credible - namely, especially early on the armies were mostly crap militias and barely-trained peasants, and well-trained and equipped cataphracts (the de facto normative equipement suite for a general and his bodyguard corps those days AFAIK) could obviously not only carve ugly chunks off them but also were each others' main counters...

I've also read that a certain Epirote by the name of Pyrrhos was apparently a pretty bad ass himself, even by the standards of the Heroic Upfront School of Generalship the Alexandrian tradition had such raging hots for. 'Course, frontline heroism eventually got him killed but them's the breaks.

[Laevex]

I agree with watchman on the Three Kingdoms dudes.
Sure I havn't read about them, but I'm pretty sure Lu Bu has killed in excess of 1000 warriors in one battle of Dynasty Warriors.
After all, the air glows red when he fights...

[Frostwulf]

I was trying to go with Real warriors and trying to give sources to verify the accomplishments of these individuals. As far as the Stamford bridge incident I believe it was a history channel show that I recall the count being 40. I tend to believe the story of this "viking" though the number may not be correct. His enemies are the ones who recounted the story in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and typically when you give credit such as this it tends to be true.

Horatius Cocles I dont know enough about other then my main source on these type things (wikipedia). Wikipedia leaves me with the impression of it being just a legend but I do see the parallels with the Stamford bridge incident.

MarcusAureliusAntoninus: thanks for bringing up Titus pullo and Lucius Vorenus, I couldnt remember the names as it had been a long while since I had read Caesar. I appreciate the names and the stories. Ill try to look up the ones that are possible as they have an interest for me. Thanks guys and if there are more Id like to see who else there is.

I almost forgot to mention that watchman brings up a good point as far as who the foes are. If Alexius I did take on 3 norman cavalry thats a feat as compared with someone taking on pitchfork wielding peasants.

[Intranetusa]

I was curious about hearing about tough individual warriors that you guys know of and any sources you can put down about them. I was hoping to keep this in the pre-gun powder age ( spears, axes, swords, bows etc). The 3 ones I can think of are:
1. Miyamoto Musashi : A japanese samurai who lived in the 1600's and is credited with 60 wins in duels. Also has wrote "The Book of Five Rings". Sources: Samurai Warfare and Wikipedia.

2.The Viking that fought on the Stamford bridge: This Viking was larger then Harald Hardraada and was credited with killing 40 men while holding the bridge. Sources: umm cant remember where I read about this

3.William Marshall of Pembroke: Wow! If he wasnt the greatest knight ever I would like to read who was! Sources: Who's who in the middle ages, and Sidney Painter, William Marshal, Knight-Errant, Baron, and Regent of England.

I read in these forums about a Celtic warrior dueling the Romans and thumping on them, I would like to know more about him if someone recalls who he is.

The 1600s is pretty much 300 years into the "gunpowder age."
but the Red Army & German snipers of WW2 are pretty famous...some with several hundred "confirmed" kills each.

[Frostwulf]

The 1600s is pretty much 300 years into the "gunpowder age."
True enough, I should have said it better. I was meaning warriors using pre-gunpowder weapons.

[Enguerrand de Sarnéac]

Stamford Bridge made me think of the Battle of Maldon, and Beorhtnoth, if anyone knows about it. Not nominated for Greatest Warrior Ever, but it made me think of his tragic fate... Anglo-Saxon heroism is such a great thing


Anybody knows? Perhaps a new topic is of order Most Tragic Deaths before the Gunpowder Age Pyrrhos Mollosos, Beorhtnoth of Essex, Julius Caesar, Harold of England (a fucking arrow can you believe it?)...

[Cybvep]

Remember Zawisza Czarny! He was probably one of the best medieval knights that ever lived :) .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zawisza_Czarny

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

But guys like Pyrrhos or Caesar may have never actually killed a single person (personally).

[Boyar Son]

I recall there was a German machine gunner at Ohama beach who was reputed to have killed and maimed thousends of Allied landing troops. "Renown" is defintely not the right word here, though.

No way he could've done that, unless he had like 10,000 ammo and moved around. His machine gun would've overheated....

[Kralizec]

That's why German MG's had changable barrels - the MG42 is one of the finest of its kind, I recall that the German Bundeswehr still uses a modern adaption of it.

[Watchman]

But guys like Pyrrhos or Caesar may have never actually killed a single person (personally).

The Alexandrian school of generalship called for the King to be at the point of a wedge of charging elite cavalry. You make a career like Pyrrhos' within that tradition, and odds are you kill a fair few folks yourself along the way.

The Romans subscribed rather less to the Frontline Heroism school and rather more to the Close Control one, what with their multiple battlelines and the importance of committing reserves at the right time, but I understand that didn't keep their generals from occasionally getting themselves killed in the front ranks - not a few times when trying to claim the Spola Opima. Caesar may have been a bit too shrewd to risk his noggin that way though, but dunno otherwise.

[Kralizec]

Didn't Caesar personally fight in the battle of Alesia, to encourage his men while they waited for the cavalry to arrive?

Of course that's from his own account of the battle, but I doubt there's any other source...

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

No way he could've done that, unless he had like 10,000 ammo and moved around. His machine gun would've overheated....

That's why German MG's had changable barrels - the MG42 is one of the finest of its kind, I recall that the German Bundeswehr still uses a modern adaption of it.

Indeed, the MG42 had a rate of fire that, with its ability for near constant fire would actually warp the barrel with heat. It was therefore designed with easily exchangible barrels. Due the the ease of changing ammo, the only opening an enemy had against a MG42 was when the barrel began to be over heated and had to be changed. Also, the coastal defenses of Normandy were well stocked and I doubt there was any shortage of ammo that June morning.

Though I think a more likely time when even greater number of men were mowed down with machineguns was the Battle of the Somme in World War I. There is a story of one machinegunner (German) actually having to stop and leave his post because he was so sicken by the scene he was creating.

But you are right...

[Soulforged]

My addition:
Titus Pullo - He killed entire rooms and alleyways full of armed henchmen. Even bit out a guys tounge in one battle.

Yeah right!! You don't fool me man!! You took that from "Rome" ....

EDIT: How about "El Cid" Campeador, the main figure of the Reconquista, half man half legend, or so I've been told... I mean he even fought when dead!!!

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Yeah right!! You don't fool me man!! You took that from "Rome" ....

What is it, the first or second episode of the second season, where Titvs Pvllo and Varenvs kill the entire Colegia? How the heck were they supposed to have done that!?!

[Soulforged]

What is it, the first or second episode of the second season, where Titvs Pvllo and Varenvs kill the entire Colegia? How the heck were they supposed to have done that!?!

Lighten up man!! It was just a joke and I was refering only to the name...