Posts: 228 Location: England
Tue 05 Feb, 2008 4:05 am
Thanks again for the positive responses, and to Jared for the heads up on the wax, I'll go easy :)
I think you're right about the POB. Given that these were predominantly cutting swords to be used with a
shield, and there wasn't really a lot of metal available for the pommels other than what was needed to hold it all together, then I think a fair bit of blade presence is to be expected. As for the whale-bone, Paul had some to spare and I rather liked the idea. I think he originally wanted to go with buffalo horn, which would have been impressive, but we couldn't get hold of any so the whale-bone it is. Personally I rather like it. And of course it shows that there were other materials that could be used instead of wood.
Hugh, I think it is the constantly evolving nature of these swords that makes them so interesting, as we touched on in another thread recently, with the way swords in Northern Europe moved from Roman to Germanic/Scandinavian to eventually arrive at this, which is arguably the archetypal Migration Era sword type. I'm hoping to get a scabbard done in the same pattern as the Sutton Hoo one, but in keeping with the general concept it should be toned down some, without all the gold or semi-precious stones. This could be a while though as I already have two other swords out having scabbards done and I've only got so much money :(
Cheers,
Darrin.
ps, yes it is sharp. I know that Paul is mainly known for his re-enactment kit, but I think he does a fair bit of custom stuff when asked. As I understand it, he is getting a new web-site done sometime soon, to better reflect this.