Good evening everyone,

I'm on the verge of purchasing my first Albion, a Gaddhjalt (90% sure, but haven't ruled out the Senlac and Reeve quite yet) and was wondering if any Gaddhjalt owners had pictures of their swords dressed in any color besides black or brown. I don't believe that black was a common dye in the viking period (correct me if I am mistaken) so will probably avoid a black grip. For some reason it seems that some swords work better with some colors, while others look better in other colors. If anybody does happen to have pictures available I would absolutely love to see them. I already sent an email to Mike at Albion, and unfortunately he didn't have any available.

I've been trying to convince myself for the past few days that I wanted a Reeve (because of the price) but I just don't think I can pass up that intimidatingly huge blade on the Gaddhjalt. It's just so darn imposing. The Senlac made this decision tough too. I see the Senlac as a pretty intimidating blade as well, while being just a bit "handier" then the Gaddhjalt (again correct me if I am wrong). The deciding factor here became the more unique brazil nut pommel vs. the more conventional wheel. Anybody who would like to chime in on behalf of any of these three swords please do, I would love the input.

Happy New Year,

Kenton

Kenton,
Unfortunately, all the pics in our albums and in the review are with a black grip. Even the antiqued one in Steve Maly's collection has a black grip. I did a Google image search and didn't return any non-black ones. A search of the forums yielded no pics, though Steve Fabert mentioned he had one with, I believe an oxblood grip. Maybe he'll chime in.

I am certainly no expert on dyes, and to be honest, I don't remember what I am basing my judgement on. I remember reading a few months ago when I was working on some viking age clothing that true black was a color to avoid in that time period. I believe they said it was very uncommon and expensive, now that I think about it, not that it was totally non existent. If this is true, perhaps since a sword in and of itself is an expensive item, a more expensive dye would not be out of the question. I suppose there is a great difference between using an expensive dye on a small bit of leather, and using an expensive dye on an average working mans trousers. To be honest, I'm not sure of the authority of this source either, I believe it was on a living history groups web site, not published in a book. In short, I know next to nothing on the subject, but am quite interested. Hopefully somebody here does know of some documented scholarly evidence pointing one way or the other.

Best wishes,

Kenton

Though not dyed by Albion, here is a chocolate brown grip.

Sorry for the bad photo.

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Thanks for the picture Nathan. Also I managed to find this one in red. http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t...alt+joseph These at least give me an idea, thanks again. If I can only decide on a grip color I should be making that long awaited call tomorrow!

i know in 15thc reenactment we dont use black cause of the dye. real dyed black is more like a dark grey after jsut a lil while. richer blacks were way to expensive.

I suppose it doesn't help Nathan much, but I have also read that medieval period black dyes (no personal knowledge of earlier migration era stuff) were not particularly 'black', but much more washed out; this from a second-hand discussion gleened from the firestryker forums some time ago, will see if I can remember exactly where.

On a personal experience note, I believe that dyeing leather might in fact be easier to accomplish a real black than dyeing linen.

Well, it's been awhile since I've read about this sort of thing, but my own thoughts are that black was a common color for dying. It was generally not a neutral black, but rather a dark shade of another color. Tannis and other materials, including human urine, was used to darken colors. Iron was used to create black as well. Too much of it would cause fabrics to break down, but leather is much more tolerant of this. I vaguely remember that Oak was used somehow to create black and that pools of blackened liquid can often be found naturally forming near Oak trees from a chemical reaction of the breakdown of the bark and/or leaves. I likely have the details wrong, but this is off the top of my head at nearly 3am.

Yeah, I use vinegar with iron dissolved in it for a black dye on veg tanned leather. Works like a champ.

To quell my excited mind, I will tell you all that I did finally make the long awaited call to Albion today, ordering a Gaddhjalt. After much thought I finally decided to try it out in magenta. I am super excited, can't wait to have that baby in my grubby little mits!

Thanks for all the input thus far, I would still like to hear anything anybody has to add on period appropriate grip colors.

:)

Kenton

http://www.rotten.com/library/medicine/bodily...ical-uses/

seems we were both correct. i had never heard of urine to darken something before. learn something kewl everyday

ah now i see what you mean (rereading my post) i didnt mean absolute, i never do that ;) the post is to say "i thought human urine is used to bleech, not to darken." i have such horrible spelling and typing. sorry about that.