Hello all, I recently came across Albion Europe's photo sets on Flickr (wow, what great eye-candy). :lol: :D

I noticed that they have a few photos of the "Knight" with a blued/ blackened hilt. It got me wondering, it seems like I usually see black hilts on much later sword types, like those with complex hilts. Would bluing on a hilt of an older sword like a Type XII such as the Knight have been historically plausible? I'm sure anything would be possible with a sword that had been passed down through the family, but I'm more curious as to when we first started seeing black hilts on medieval swords in their own era.

it dates from at least the late 15th c. You can see many examples in artwork of the period, on both arms and armour. Seems less common before then, but there's no reason it couldn't have been used from the time folks first observed color change in heated steel.

Thanks for the input Sean. Based on that, it seems like it would, indeed, be sort of unlikely on a Type XII sword.

No, it's definitely possible...

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This is the Bath Viking Sword. Metallographic analysis of the sword shows that it has an original deliberately made black patina (ie chemical bluing) done to the entire sword in period, blade and all. It is believed this was likely achieved with Urine or Tannic acid, and may have been done to contrast the bright iron inlays in the blade.

There is another sword from England in the 10th C that has a similar deliberate patination that is mentioned in the literature I have of the Bath Sword, but I can't remember which one. Point being though, they knew how to blacken steel at least as early as the 10th C.

I appreciate the photo and story behind it Robin. That is pretty fascinating that they were doing chemical bluing that far back. I won't be quite as thrown off by some of the older Albion sword types with blackened hilts. From an aesthetics standpoint, I think that blued sword hilts, just like blued guns, look their best when they show signs of wearing on the finish along the edges. It gives them an elegant, and less fake look in my opinion.

Thanks for posting that information Robin. Very interesting.

Hmmmm...an all-blued viking-era sword, with silver or copper inlays and a good grip color would look fantastic. With serious aid from the myArmoury community, I'll bit the bullet and get one made up. For science, you know