Okay, here's something that's been niggling at me for a while. This sword: http://www.myArmoury.com/view.html?features/pic_spotxviii18.jpg#

It's one of my favorites and the inspiration behind the Albion Munich. Here's the question: that extension off the grip that descends over the cross. Is that a rain guard or what? Is it integral with the grip or a separate piece of leather? How is it affixed?

It should be a rain guard and should be made of the same material as the cross guard. It maybe attached between the cross and the handle.

Peter Johnsson would know!
It could be of several different materials, and is probably (?) of a different material from the guard. Some swords had a leather chappe, while others were made of various decorative alloys.
The Peter Johnsson/Albion "Svante" sword has a leather chappe at the juncture of guard and blade.

It's leather and it is to help keep things like rain out of the scabbard. There are some some swords with metal rainguards (like the Type XVa in Glasgow and the Type XV of Estorre Visconti), but a number also survive where it's leather, like the Svante Nilsson Sture sword and the Bayerisches sword (aka the Munich).

You can see more of this sword and read more about it here:

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=4026
http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=4658
http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=4219

Here's a link from that thread Craig linked to showing some nice pictures, inlcuding the one Craig's talking about: http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/cengelha/alb.../my_photos

Here's a resized version of one of his photos.

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Thanks, gentlemen! It rather looks like the rain guard is integrated with, stitched to, or overlapped by the grip leather. Or am I mis-seeing it?

It looks to me like the leather of the rain guard terminates in that band and the leather of the grip secures it in place by being wrapped over it. I could be mistaken.