Congratulations Joel!! What an awesome prize! Enjoy it in good health and long life!

Scott

Congrads dude, that is one sweet looking sword you have won. I look forward to the stats man! :D

Dang, Dang, Dang .... I wanted that sword!
(umm, did I type that out loud?)

Congratulations Joel and thanks to myArmoury.com and Albion for making this contest possible!

Regards,

Mike

Congrats on a great sword, Joel!

Dang, guess I'll have to just go out and buy one... :cool: (in my dreams)

Congratulations Joel!
That is a beauty of a sword and an h**l of an contestprize!

Sheet thy sword and keep it by your side, practice is use in war and be prepared to draw
it so the innocent may live in peace.
;)

Thanks again to all for the congats. I thought I'd share a little info about the original artifact this sword is based upon. This sword is the prestigious weapon that adorns the cover of my favorite sword book, "Swords of the Viking Age" by Ian Pierce and is examined in detail on pages 63-65. For those of you that do not have this wonderful book, this Petersen Type K sword was found in a ditch that drains Ballinderry Bog in Dublin, Ireland. Evidently, the ditch ran through the ruins of a Viking age house. The sword is thought to be from the 9th or 10th century AD. The original bears the "ULFBERHT" and "IXXXI" inscriptions on the blade and a "HILTIPREHT" inscription on the hilt which may indicate that the blade was imported from "Frankish Europe" and hilted in Norway. The pommel and hilt of this sword are encased in silver and elaborately decorated with a "highly-stylized vine pattern" which leads to the assumption that this was no ordinary warrior's sword. This sword along with a number of other very similar Type K swords found in Ireland and Norway, are thought to have been crafted in Norway. As a wealthy, gnarly, old Viking warrior I'll try to do justice to this blade. There's a test cutting session coming up soon.

Joel (Ragnarr) Thompson

Congrats Joel ! pics please!!

WAY TO GO DAD!!!!! Can you pass some of that good luck down this way?!?!?! Send me some pictures via e mail or snail mail...preferably snail mail so I can put them in my scrapbook!!

Brat

P.s. can I have one of those for Christmas? :D

Congrats! I've handled a Clontarf, and it is really nice!

Congratulations on winning such a fine sword Joel. Welcome to the ceiling cutters club.

:idea:

Lessee...is it Plunder, then Pillage...or Pillage...then Plunder?...whichever, you have the steel...now do the deeds...that our ancestors may find you worthy...congrats...great looking sword..but how does it cut?...we await your illumination...David, Son of David

Congratulations Joel! May it be a piece of quality steel that you can pass down to that little Viking on your hip.

All Right!!

Congratulations! Probaly as well, as my ancesters were more on the receiving end of Viking Swords. Enjoy.

John Carstarphen AKA Craggwolf

Congrats Joe you lucky sob :D

I got to handle Joel's new blade last sunday at our test-cutting session on the Eastern Shore of VA. It was a fairly impressive cutter and feels quite good in the hand. Joel demonstrated his theory on how to properly cut with a tight-gripped viking sword and it seemed effective and efficient to employ this type of weapon in that way.He and I both did some good cutting with it. I continue to prefer later "knightly" patterns, but I must admit to being impressed with the Big Guy's new toy(It looks absolutely tiny in his huge paws :lol: )

Shane and I both have pics of the Clontarf. We'll post them shortly. I have to figure out how to get mine out of a foreign computer. Pics online from Wal-mart. Bad idea. Just get the disc.

Joel

I replied to this earlier, but it never showed up. I guess I wasn't holding my head right or something. Here goes again. I've attached a photo of the Clontarf making a nice cut through a carboard carpet tube. I'm using what I believe to be the proper grip on a Viking sword, based on the design of the handle and pommel. A fairly rigid grip keeping the sword at about 90 degrees from the forearm. With this grip, I was able to cut very well as you can see in the picture. I also did the same cut with my Del Tin 2102 Viking blade with the same results. I could cut all the way through the tube if I changed and used a more modern grip as used with later period swords, however the pommel digs into your palm and is very uncomfortable. Especially for extended use.
The Clontarf cuts very nicely. If you just hold the sword in your hand and move it around a bit, you want to say it's a bit blade heavy. But when you swing it, it moves very smoothly. It wants to cut. A very nice piece. Beautiful craftsmanship and functional as well. Top honors in my collection.
More pics of the Clontarf to come. This is just a teaser.


Joel

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