Hi Everyone,

I love swords of the 12th. C., (especially type XIs) and when I can swing it I like getting swords that are made using traditional materials and construction. I looked at makers and settled on Jeff Helmes. He has produced some beautiful swords over the years and though his recent work has been leaning more towards the migration era I knew that he had made some fantastic high medieval pieces in the past. Jeff also didn't have a multi-year waiting period; he was excited about the project, so everything came together.

Next, I had to decide on a sword to reproduce. In general I prefer swords based off of period originals. Sometimes we have the benefit of the smith handling an original but more often they have to depend on pictures and descriptions. I wanted a sword from the period 1100-1200 CE. with a very good picture of the inlay so that it could be produced as close to the original as possible. Most pieces we see in books just state what the inlay is or says but we don't get a good picture of it. For me having a sword recreated without the inlay or guessing how the inlay looked just isn't acceptable for a high end custom job.

So having these requirements put together I arrived at XI.3 in Records, also called the Søborg sword. We have good pictures of the sword and very clear drawings of the inlay.

This sword will be composed of shear steel with a lower carbon content core and higher content edge. The hilt components will be in wrought iron. The inlay will be executed in silver like the original.

I will be posting updates as they come along but for now. . . . .

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Here is the blade rough ground.

Stay tuned!

And here is a shot of the inlay going in.

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Jeremy,
Looking good! I’m looking forward to seeing this one develop.

I saw the inlay work on Jeff's Facebook page earlier today. Congratulations on commissioning this great piece! I second Chad and am looking forward to seeing this as it is finished.

Excellent choice Jeremy! It's good to see Jeff back in the medieval game. I look forward to seeing this develop.

Here are more update pictures. Everything is looking good to me!

These pictures are after heat treat. The inlay really stands out here.

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And I gather these shots are after the blade has been cleaned up a bit more.

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This is looking amazing. I like how there is some texture in the steel visible in the pictures after heat treat.

Often one has to choose between hand-made/organic looking versus clean and symmetric. With Jeff you get both.

Here is the blade after more polishing. . .

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Sexy...and remarkably little damage after chopping that tree into kindling. :)

"It's not what the sword does to the tree, its what the tree does to the sword" -FIF

I'm swimming in drool. I love this sword. Jeff does such nice work, I can't wait to see the finished piece.

And here's the latest update of the rough hilt.

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Looks like the makings of the best-ever version of the best-ever XI.

That's looking FANTASTIC!!!!!

That's really cool. Love the progress in pictures.

Here are some photos Jeff sent me. It looks like we just need to get the scabbard done now.

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Yeah baby! You know, I'm kind of midway between you and Jeff. Rather than going through all the trouble of shipping it across the border, Jeff could ship it to me, and I could hold it for you until you're ready to pick it up. Like in the summer some time. :)

Hey, thanks guys! This has been a fun and challenging project. I was telling Jeremy that I was amazed that a sword that was so long, can feel so nice in the hand.