Think Willlliam Wallllace (BraveHeart), who's sword was 5' 7" long.   I could single-handedly defend our Monastery against the *evil* JavaScriptors and *mind-numbing* SlashDot hordes with that blade.

Nice to know that Amelinda's keeping the oil boiling, just in case. {grin}
    i don't eat carrots,
    Don

Update: 5 feet 7 inches is 1.7 meters, for all you monks who use that new-fangled metric-thingy system.