> They'd have spear consisting of a pointy metal tip on a wooden stick, because that's cheap and works great.
"Cheap" wasn't always the major factor. Some spears were cheap, but others were pretty darned expensive. In wars -- where trained people fought in groups and formations -- spears just worked better than swords.
The Greek phalanx, the Roman pilum, the lances of the medieval period, early modern pike-and-shot, etc. all showed the effectiveness of a long sharp, pointy stick.
Swords have many niches, like closed-quarters combat in cities, terrain (e.g. forest or mountain battles), etc., but the spear almost always dominated for mainstream war.
Also poleswords and poleaxes. Often with a pointy end too.
Many weapons had the ornaments detachable or had a replaceable hilt for war, especially when it comes to jewels. So that ornamental weapon could be used in both conditions, since they were really good weapons oftentimes too.
"Cheap" wasn't always the major factor. Some spears were cheap, but others were pretty darned expensive. In wars -- where trained people fought in groups and formations -- spears just worked better than swords.
The Greek phalanx, the Roman pilum, the lances of the medieval period, early modern pike-and-shot, etc. all showed the effectiveness of a long sharp, pointy stick.
Swords have many niches, like closed-quarters combat in cities, terrain (e.g. forest or mountain battles), etc., but the spear almost always dominated for mainstream war.