I find it interesting to analyze Poul Anderson's accounts of combat. Anderson's Time Patrol series concludes with "Death And The Knight," which in turn concludes with a section headed:
PARIS, WEDNESDAY, 11 OCTOBER 1307
In Time Patrol (New York, 2006), this section comprises exactly seven pages of text, beginning on p. 758 and ending on p. 765. Two of these pages, 761-762, describe a sword fight.
Manse Everard leads four Patrol colleagues in a night-time attack on a house of the Knights Templar in order to rescue their fellow Patrol agent, Hugh Marlow, held prisoner by the Knights. Firing a hardwood missile from a specially designed mortar, the Patrolmen break down the door, creating the impression that a band of uncommonly strong marauders has used a battering ram.
Expecting only the prisoner, two guards and a scullion, Everard is alarmed to find that a Knight, Fulk de Buchy, has stayed over and recalled the household staff, several men and boys, unwelcome witnesses to the attack. Everard's men tackle two halberdiers while Fulk attacks Everard. The Patrolmen's weapons conceal sonic stun guns which must however be used surreptitiously in order to avoid any semblance of miracle or magic. Everard could be killed here. Could he? None of his twentieth century colleagues would knowingly send him to his death but, as time travelers, how can they avoid sometimes knowing the time and place of a colleague's death while still speaking to him?
Everard blocks Fulk's longsword with his falchion and prepares to deliver an unheard of uppercut but Fulk glides aside and now fights with a glaive. Everard counters with karate moves. Martial arts enable him to "...hit the floor in full control..." (p. 762) and to strike upwards with his falchion, mortally wounding Fulk, while his companions stun the pikemen. The household staff flee. Everard's men grab well-made loot both to simulate a hasty robbery and to preserve some artifacts for future museums. They rescue Marlow, who takes time to regret the death of his lover, Fulk. The Time Patrol series ends with:
"'Let's go,' Everard said, and led them away." (p. 765)
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