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Martin Wallgren




Location: Bjästa, Sweden
Joined: 01 Mar 2004

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Posts: 620

PostPosted: Sun 27 Feb, 2005 2:07 pm    Post subject: Question to Peter J on Albion type XVa.         Reply with quote

I´ve got a question to Peter J here but I thought the answer could benefit all of us seriously considering to by one (or all) of the four type XVa swords of Albions NG line.

How much will the cross and pommel variations on the models affect the "nature" of the different swords? Will the balance differ and with how much?

As a practitioner of medieval swordfighting I very much like to have a Scent stopper, due to the more ease I move and grapple a pommel like that, but that´s just me. On some swords a Disk could be more artistically pleasing, and other would do fine with a fishtail.

This leads me on to my next question that I direct more to all you scholars out there. In what numbers are diskpommels versus the others found on historical swords? Is there a trend towards Scent stoppers as the Renaissance knocked on the door or is it common with all kind of pommels?

I´m very grateful fore all answers on this!!

Thx...

Swordsman, Archer and Dad
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Peter Johnsson
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Location: Storvreta, Sweden
Joined: 27 Aug 2003
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Posts: 1,757

PostPosted: Sun 27 Feb, 2005 4:33 pm    Post subject: Re: Question to Peter J on Albion type XVa.         Reply with quote

Martin Wallgren wrote:
I´ve got a question to Peter J here but I thought the answer could benefit all of us seriously considering to by one (or all) of the four type XVa swords of Albions NG line.

How much will the cross and pommel variations on the models affect the "nature" of the different swords? Will the balance differ and with how much?

As a practitioner of medieval swordfighting I very much like to have a Scent stopper, due to the more ease I move and grapple a pommel like that, but that´s just me. On some swords a Disk could be more artistically pleasing, and other would do fine with a fishtail.

This leads me on to my next question that I direct more to all you scholars out there. In what numbers are diskpommels versus the others found on historical swords? Is there a trend towards Scent stoppers as the Renaissance knocked on the door or is it common with all kind of pommels?

I´m very grateful fore all answers on this!!

Thx...


Hej Martin,

It seems to be a strong preference among WMA practitioners for the scent stopper type pommels. I can see the reason for this as it is indeed a very ergonomic pommle shape. (It is also the favoured shapeon wooden wasters...)
The wheel pommel is however found on longswords that are of a type that you would expect to be used in the techiques described in the various manuals.
The wheel or disc pommel types can, to my experience, be gripped to good effect and have some benefits that the scent stopper does not have: the disc will give you a stronger feel for the direction of the edge and also allows a powerful purchase.

By the second half of the 14th C the scent stopper types gain in popularity. This happens as narrow and siff longswords become the norm. However, disc/wheel pommels continue in use even in the 16th C.

There will be some slight differences in handling between disc and scent stopper pommels. This has to do with both ergonimical aspects as well as dynamic aspects. The wheel allows for other types of gripping than the scent stopper. Th Wheel has a more central placing of mass, while the scent stopper pushes its mass to the very end of the grip.
The guard will not have so much impact on the heft of the sword, even if it might change the total mass as compared with other swords. Grip length is a bigger factor than pommel shape.
All the XVa swords will have the same grip length.
The weight of all four swords will be very similar (perhaps varying some 20 grams or so and the difference mostly resulting from shape of the cross).
The handling will also be pretty similar, even if the different grips and pommel shapes will perhaps stress slightly different aspects of the character of the blade.
As these swords are still being worked on (I am presently carving the waxes for the Talhoffer and the Agincourt) it is still too early to be more precise about these differences. In general one can expect the scent stopper pommel to stress point controll and wheel pommel to perhaps slightly increase agility in circular sweeping cuts. These differences are very slight however.
Point of balance will problably move less than one cm between the different models. Placing of pivot point will vary more, but not much. One should realise that this blade has a vary agile point already while unmounted. It is possible to write your name with the point of the sword, even if the letters are larger than usual.

I am sorry that I am unable to give more pricise information at this stage. Hope this still helps a bit.
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Martin Wallgren




Location: Bjästa, Sweden
Joined: 01 Mar 2004

Spotlight topics: 2
Posts: 620

PostPosted: Sun 27 Feb, 2005 4:47 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Well, To be honest I have already decided the Ringeck is my sword of choice. But it´s always great to satisfy ones extreme hunger for knowledge. Hope I doesn´t have to wait to long for it. Joachim N and I will hopefully have an opportunity to compare the Talhoffer and the Ringeck after the summer.

Thx for the swift answer.

Swordsman, Archer and Dad
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Joachim Nilsson





Joined: 29 Sep 2003

Posts: 510

PostPosted: Mon 28 Feb, 2005 4:18 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Interestingly enough a good majority -though not all- of the depicted swords in the fechtbücher seem to have the scent stopper, or variants of type T pommels. There are, naturally, exceptions from the rule. But they seem to be few and far apart. At the moment I can think of only one: Codex Vindobonenis (roughly dated to the 1450's if my information is correct). The swords of that one seem to have pommels similar to that of the Next Generation Baron, albeit tapering blades bearing a pronounced central ridge. Now if this lack of variation in the pommels is due to artist's interpretation, lack of imagination etc or what have you -or the type T pommels being the preferred pommel on the swords of the Masters and fechtbücher authors, remains open for discussion and debate.
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