i recently got a large bonus at from my humble place of employment and my girlfriends birthday is coming up, she has expresssed interest in a "viking type sword". i want to get something nice, but i aint gonna blow albion money on this. does anyone know anything about the viking types offered by windlass, gen2, and darksword armory and a comparison of their pro's and con's? the prices are all fairly similar. id prefer pre sharpened since im new and lack equipment and expertise, but its not necessary. ill be picking up a cheness kaze for myself in a few weeks anyway, friend is gonna handmake me a new tsuka (or was it tsuba? the wood core of grip is what im talkign about) so even if it develops a crack i should be fine.


enough rambling, thank you for listening to the nooby.

I own the Gen 2 River Witham Viking, and in my opinion it is a very nice sword for the price. The copper inserts add a decorative element, it has a fairly classic lobed viking design, and the whole thing is solid and well constructed. It also comes sharp. Of course, depending on your girlfriend's arm strength, it might be a little heavy, and at $299 US, it is sneaking pretty close to Albion Squire line pricing. But I think it is an excellent viking sword for the price, looks good, and and will stand up to wear and tear well.

http://www.kultofathena.com/product~item~PC10...+Sword.htm

I bought an almost identical sword from MRL in about 1999. I was very fond of it. It felt almost weightless, which was an odd thing for MRL. Not sure if this is the same one by a different name, but Hanwei has a decent reputation in any event.

What's with this "nobody" business? Only use that trick on a cyclops! We're not fooled at all. ;)

Oh, and the tsuka is the grip of the sword. The tsuba is the guard.

I would consider looking at DelTin, he still makes some nice viking swords.

For a good lineup, see www.viking-shield.com

Let us know what you decide upon.

Robert, looking at the recommendations, I should suggest that:
1) Paul Chen's Hanwei Forge had a number of problems with heat treat on the Godfred Sword as sold by Kult of Athena. There were several incidents of people having their swords break on them. Perhaps these have been corrected in the intervening years, but I remain suspicious.

2) Del Tin swords come without a scabbard and this must be purchased separately or custom made. You may wish to contact Russ Ellis at Triton Works if you go the Del Tin route as Russ makes great scabbards.

3) Finally, you may wish to contact Art Elwell at aelwell45@email.msn.com and ask him if he has any Lutel Viking swords available for immediate shipment. Lutel is a Czech company that makes very nice and very durable swords that come with scabbards and suspensions. Their Viking swords are their numbers 12014, 12015, & 12016 and their site is http://www.lutel.cz/.

Of course, if you have a lot of money to spend and are willing to wait some 30-36 months for your sword, or simply want to drool a bit, take a look at Patrick Barta's gorgeous swords at http://www.templ.net/english/weapons-antiquit...le_age.php

Also www.viking-shield.com deals with some Armour class and Del Tin