@Dranix -- I don't think you're right.
The "bastard sword" in D&D is a "hand and a half". Historically (according to SPI, see below), the bastard sword was a long rapier (or "estoc"). If used two handed, the second hand was on the blunt part of the blade close to the hilt (the estoc was primarily a thrusting weapon designed to bunch through or between plates of armor). Note that Wikipedia gives a different account of the estoc, and conflates longsword, bastard sword, and hand and a half.
According to Wikipedia the weapon pictured above is a Swiss longsword. Wikipedia is not super reliable, but it's certainly more reliable than D&D. The D&D "longsword" is pretty much something that never existed. It's either a knight's broadsword (2.5lb) or a barbarian warsword. Historically (again, according to Wikipedia) a longsword is a bastard sword is a hand and a half.
Way back when I played RPGs there was a game called DragonQuest (by SPI) which had a completely different set of weapons from every other game (including RuneQuest) on the market at the time. The odd thing about DragonQuest is it was designed by
wargame designers who would start every project by doing
historical research. Imagine that. DragonQuest didn't have a longsword or bastard sword in it.
P.S. every vaguely credible photograph I can find of a "longsword" shows an extended grip. I haven't swung around a 4' long metal sword, but I'm guessing it's kind of strenuous, and an extended grip makes sense (even though swords weighed a LOT less than fantasy role-players think they did).
Also note that D&D made a lot of senseless distinctions. E.g. the longsword was a one-handed sword, as was a broadsword. In the game, broadswords did more damage to human opponents than a longsword but less against large opponents. Go figure. The worst case was polearms, where D&D included many weapons with different names which were, historically, cosmetic variations of the same thing.