The revised silhouette:

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This is interesting. Swabian(?) ca. 1465. More of these very long grips, and in the same period. Worn with the pommel at the level of the upper chest! Applying these proportions to my own body would yield a weapon of approximately 50" overall.

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Most examples I've seen are somwhere between 50" to 55" long so your asumption seems very accurate Sean!

I called the museum today and they gave me permision to post the pictures here! As you can see the grips are maybe not as long as on some of the swords earlier in the thread but they are still a lot longer than usual hand and a half swords. I don't know anything about them at all since I accidentally found the box they were in while looking for other things. They are still ying in the same order as I found them. One of the swords hava a more "normal" grip. Next time I'm at the archives I'll dig further into their swords and see if I can find more...

What do you think about age of the swords below? My guess is from late 13th century to mid/late 14th century.

Anyways, premission to post these images comes from Gotlands Museum, Fornsalen here in Visby, Sweden.

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Bigger picture here: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2778/4295198358_a7a89ca52f_o.jpg

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Bigger picture here: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4029/4294454447_1c20eaac12_o.jpg

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Bigger picture here: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2679/4294454475_fd74f4a070_o.jpg

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Bigger picture here: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2763/4294454507_b0819b6fce_o.jpg

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Bigger picture here: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4013/4295198454_f7eb03f569_o.jpg

Very interesting swords, Eric! My guess would be more towards 14th century - after all, there seems to be increase in longr blades in 14th century, compared to 13th. Then again, Gotland had been a rather prominent trading place at that period so would not be surprising to find the most "advanced" equipment avaliable at this time frame to be found there, earlier than most other places in the area.

I remember seeing these swords during a study visit to Visby many years ago.
I would also agree they are of 14th C date. The one with latten/bronze pommel could be very early 14th C (or late 13th C?).

It is interesting to note that the reference for very long grips is an early trend in scandinavia.
There certainly seems to be more long gripped swords preserved here than in other regions.

I would suspect there are international influences and parallels. Looking at altar pieces that were exported from northern germany to sweden, there are plenty of long gripped swords depicted there.
The type XVIIIe that is so famously present in the danish (and swedish) material does seem to have some popularity in Italy as well at the same time. Possibly also in other regions.
I attach an image (not sure of origin, but it seems to be dated to mid/late 15th C).

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Apart from more "fancy" work on the hilt this painting shows a sword that is very close to the type common in Denmark

Intriguing, Peter! What is the aproximate length of the blades of the swords on the pictures you posted?

I'm rich! Thanks for the ongoing flood of information and images!

-Artis: the length varies just like on other swords of this type. They can be from 85 to 95 cm long. Or longer in some cases.
It is the same kind of variation you find elsewhere with these blade types: XIIa, XIIIa and XVII. Some are really big, others are of a length that can be seen on long single hand swords.

-Sean: Only glad to add to the mix! It will be interesting to see what you make of your project.

I want to "officially" open this thread for discussion of all modern projects related to this family of swords.

Eric, you mentioned a project of your own. Please share as much of that here as you wish. I'd love to see it. :)

How could I forget theese from Göteborgs Stadsmuseum, Sweden? The first two are about the same type as most before. The third however have the quite unusual "pretzel" shaped quillon.

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More info here: http://carlotta.gotlib.goteborg.se/pls/carlot...idn=101077

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Length: 129 cm, blade 97 cm, grip 32 cm
More info here: http://carlotta.gotlib.goteborg.se/pls/carlot...idn=430994

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More info: http://carlotta.gotlib.goteborg.se/pls/carlot...sidn=38291

This topic has been promoted into a Spotlight Topic.

Eric, those are nice ones from Göteborg Museum!

They are representative in that the have some of the common features you see again and again with these late 15th and early 16th C swords:

Pommel is a small scent stopper of very distinctive shape (most are very much the same: a bit drawn out and small in size) or a flattened sphere (sometimes just round or else with octagonal section when seen from the rivet).

The guard is downward curving, pretzel shaped or C shaped (sometimes both downward curving and C shaped: I think I know at least four swords with this type of cross)

One those from mid 15th to early 16th C date, the blade is often broad at the base, but has a distinctive taper to a sharp point. They can be of diamond section, hexagonal section or lenticular section (although these were probably type XXII to begin with but has had all distinctive features rusted away). Blade types are often broad based and pointy versions of XVIa, XIIa or XXII.

Those with long blades of 90 cm or more seldom have grips that are a third of total length, instead close to a quarter of total length or there about.

Grips are of sturdy section. Often bound with iron wire in repeated sections. This wire is sometimes the only part of the grip that survives.

I think this cross is very beautiful and elegant. It'd be harder for me to make, but I prefer it to the more robust forms with dragon-head terminals. I have a pommel that might work for this, too, but if the "mandarin" pommel is appropriate with this cross, I think that would be a very attractive combination.

Eric, it sounds like our projects will be similar. My plan is to make a grip like those in my draft designs--slightly barreled in the lower half. I think a relatively straight taper would look nice, too. The robustness will depend to a great degree on the thickness of the cross.

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Semi off topic, but Sean, what are you doing the draft designs on? some sort of cad program, or creative photshoping?
Love the project by the way, looks like a very interesting/attractive sword will come out of it.