I wish I were just a little more savvy with my knowledge of historical weapons or I wouldn't have to ask this...

How historical are those metal rings that you see mid-grip on some swords? The look cool, but is there any artwork or replicas that depict these? I am specifically looking at this in context of XVIII's, though references to other blades are welcome too.

Just in case I lack clarity, you can see an example of such a "grip ring" on these two swords.

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t...ght=xviiia


http://www.christianfletcher.com/Christian_Fl...watch.html

As far as I'm aware, it's just a way of guiding each hand to it's proper place on two handed swords. Kind of like the little bumps on the "F" and "J" keys on a keyboard. It gives a frame of reference for proper grip by feel so the user doesn't have to look down and check.

Hi Eric, I'm not exactly sure how common this feature was but it was used historically. For example, check out the German branch sword made by A & A which is based on an original medieval riding sword http://www.arms-n-armor.com/sword078.html hope this helps.