Dragons using martial weapons over natural?

[Pharos]

Greetings everyone.

I am curious on how a dragon would fare if he decided to wield a martial weapon, i.e like a giant sword, battle axe etc. Would have trouble wielding the weapon as he a much different anatomy compared to humanoids, would he even be able to grasp the weapon properly? If he could learn to wield it effectively on ground could he also learn how to use it in aerial combat?
The reason I ask is because I was thinking of designing a dragon who has always had a immense love of swords, so much so that he has taken preferance in wielding a sword in combat over using his claws.

 

[Ringlerun]

Its up to how you design your dragon. If your dragon is going to be bipedal instead of a quadruped then it is feasible that your dragon could use a weapon instead of claws. But again it would depend on how large your going to make your dragon. The reason i mention this is for the square-cube law for the sword.

A longsword is on average 48inches long and weighs 4lbs. To double the length of the sword to 96 inches its weight increases by 8 times to 32ibs. Given the standard dragon size of 30 feet (minus tail) and wielding a sword half its length say 192 inches (16feet) its weight would be 256lbs Thats alot of metal to start flailing around. Then again you can just say its all magical and weights nothing.

 

[Umbran]

The reason i mention this is for the square-cube law for the sword.

If you're going to worry about square-cube laws, then flying dragons are already giving you conniptions.

 

[Ringlerun]

If you're going to worry about square-cube laws, then flying dragons are already giving you conniptions.

Nah Dragons are magic

I would have conniptions if i had to work out wing loading or drag co-efficiency

 

[Derren]

The only martial weapons I could imagine dragons to use are gauntlets or things like tail maces and only because those things can be enchanted. Or a magical staff for the range.

And of course bombs (magical or crudely made chemical ones). Heck, even dropping boulders and burning trees would allow a dragon to attack a city without any danger to itself as bows or spells simply can't reach him.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Nah Dragons are magic

I would have conniptions if i had to work out wing loading or drag co-efficiency

So you don't know the airspeed velocity of an unladen dragon?

 

[Derren]

So you don't know the airspeed velocity of an unladen dragon?

Chromatic or Metallic?

 

[Ringlerun]

So you don't know the airspeed velocity of an unladen dragon?

Nope the maths is beyond me.