I realized I had never posted this here before. It is getting close to done for my Sep 20th Wedding date. Its gone through lots of fine tuning, but man will it be special when its done. It started out as:

Matthew Stagmer of Baltimore Knife and Sword and I have entered into a custom project to be documented through development here in this thread. Once completed the final prduct will get a thorough review.

This next piece will be a type XVIIIa based on a sword the MRL copied and called their "Arbedo". See the attachment below for Oakeshott's description of it in Records of the Medieval Sword.

This piece will be the second piece in my collection for the "Swords of the Wagner Operas." I have already done Nothung, the Sword of Siegfried, which is also attached. This sword will be the sword of Tristan. One thing of interest in this design is that I was originally going to modify an Albion Thegn for this sword to place it in the origins of the Tristan story, that is Anglo-Saxon England. Instead after much thought, I decided that to better match the Opera, Tristan's sword needed to be a sword more closely connected to Courtly Romance and Chivalry. Thus I settled on an XVIIIa design.

Now for specs. I don't have accurate measurements of the original, so if anyone knows them, please post that here.

Basic length will be 39-40 inches, with a roughly 32 inch blade. Blade will be over 2 and a half inches thick at base and have a broad point similar to the MRL offering. The pommel will be a wheel pommel with the word "Aragon" engraved on each side.

I am thinking of another theme that needs to be incorporated into the design, but I am at a loss as to how to do it, so suggestions are welcome. In the stories, Tristan and Isolde's grave is supposed to have both a hazel tree and a honeysuckle growing over it. I would like to incorporate that into the sword, but have not decided how yet.

Let me know what you guys think. The schedule should have this piece done near the end of October, so progress shots should be posted in the near future.

I have since dropped the Tristan and Isolde elements to directly incorporate my last name along with my bride. Some of the highlights of the alterations are:

blade was forged under the eclipse last Feb
handle wood will be hazel stabilized in blessed frankicense and hazel oil
pommel and guard were done in wrought iron
crusader relic/replica inset into pommel
family names inscribed on blade...

plus a few more surprises from the Stagmers I have yet to get the full scoop on. Needless to say this will be a special piece, almost a full 12 months in the making. I hope you enjoy reading the full rundown via the SFI thread below, and sorry for not posting this here sooner!

http://forums.swordforum.com/showthread.php?t=83196

Here are a few highlight shots as the blade is shaping up:





Also links to the videos of the forging, first two are the eclipse video, third is the blade shaping.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=29349...&hl=en

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=71842...&hl=en

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=10657...&hl=en

Mike,
After your wedding sword is finished would you post its photos to us?

I certainly will, there should also be some more "in progress" shots coming soon.

That is so very cool. I especially like the fact it was forged during a lunar eclipse. Great fun! Congratulations on your upcoming marriage by the way :)

Wedding is just around the corner, Sep 20th, and the sword is almost entirely done. Here are some more teaser photos. The pommel is fantastic, and you can see the stabilized grip made from hazelwood. Blade shape and length are looking great. Once it gets to me I will get some more photos posted. But BKS really is making something special for me.

---

 Attachment: 41.99 KB



 Attachment: 69.18 KB



 Attachment: 38.02 KB

Wow, that is awesome! I've seen some of Matt's other handiwork and he makes some incredible stuff, but this is awesome. It really has me thinking about getting something similar done.

Congratulations too!

Mike, with your sword now finished, what will you do with it? Will it be presented during your wedding day?

Teaser pics due to bad weather, more tomorrow. Man is it sweet!

Incredible looking. Truly a magnificent sword. I love the embellishment and artistic design work.

Once again,

congratulations!