A type of
Japanese two-handed sword. Most common around the period between the 13th and
15th centuries in Japan.
Length: very long! Often around 1.9 metres
Uses: Two main uses...
The nodachi was meant to be used either on horse-back (too big to use on foot) by a very skillful (and probably physically large) user, or by two people running side by side on foot.
This was for one very brutal purpose: To cut the legs off of horses or cleave men in two. It was rather awkward and only really useful for wide arcing swings. The idea was to dismount or disable mounted warriors who held an positional advantage over those on the ground.