Hello all,

Anyone know where to find any quality decorative medieval European swords?

The decoratives are cheaper as they are simpler to make and many have stainless blades which are much easier to maintain. Problem is I don't find any that look nice (close to actual real medieval swords). Most are under 100$ and look like garbage.

I have a couple of real swords already and was just looking for a couple for display only. Am I better off just looking for a real 200-300$ cheapish seord from something like museum replicas? Looking in the 200-400$ range.

For example this one?
https://www.museumreplicas.com/sword-of-tancred

Marto makes some nice looking decorative swords. Most are pretty flashy, so maybe a bit showy for your likes, not to mention they are pricey for display-only swords. In my opinion, you would be better within your price-range sticking with Windlass, Hanwei, Legacy Arms, etc. ...........McM

Steven,

If you think you can manage it, I would go with something like the Albion Squire Line Knightly Sword. Yes, it's $73 over your maximum price of $400. However, a sword like this genuinely represents a quality reproduction piece. The Squire Line Knightly has a nice balance and handling, elegant hilt furniture, and does not cut corners the way the overwhelming majority of swords do in the $200-$400 price range. The nice thing about the Squire Line Knightly is that with a little extra effort to sharpen it, and redoing the leather grip with a cord incised wrap, you've got a sword that looks essentially like a Next Generation Albion but at almost half the price. In the long term, I doubt you will miss the extra $73.00, but you will definitely appreciate the noticeable difference in quality with the Squire Line Knightly.

As for the Tancred sword, the pommel on it is pretty bad. The attempt to mix the florette with a Type I pommel really looks off. Adding to the problem is the fact that no pommels like this would be found on a sword carried by Tancred during the First Crusade. Additionally, the riser that extends from the fuller to the point has no business being on a sword from this era. This is one of the biggest problems with cheaper swords that have fullers and as you may know from looking at antique swords, you simply do not find it.

Going a bit outside of your current price range will give you the opportunity for a much finer sword.

You might even consider Del Tin. They may be outside your price range, but not by much. They are not stainless, but Del Tin coats his steel parts with a protective coating that seems pretty effective.

So I eventually ended up spending a bit more and getting a DarkSword armory Excalibur. I have always wanted a nice replica of this movie (the 1981 Michael Boorman film) sword so figured what the heck.

Lovely piece, by far the nicest sword I own. The only part that was slightly blemished was near the cross guard where it meets the blade there is some grease or discoloration. I polished it and got some of it off, so another polish or two hopefully will fully remove it.

The balance and weight feel really good in the hand, but with the silver wire grip you need a leather glove or it wears on your hand pretty quickly. I didn't get it sharpened since I have 3 small children who are curious. Figured I could sharpen it myself later so haven't done any cutting drills yet.

It came wrapped in plastic wrap which left some marks on the blade but they were removed with an easy polish. Also came with a nice certificate marking this blade #315 out of 500 they are going to make. The blades are hand made in Canada. I got the leather integrated scabbard as well but don't have any photos of it yet.

Here are some photos.

[url][ Linked Image ]IMG_20190320_194450920 by Steven Pearson, on Flickr[/url]

[url][ Linked Image ]IMG_20190320_194608489 by Steven Pearson, on Flickr[/url]

[url][ Linked Image ]IMG_20190320_194328145 by Steven Pearson, on Flickr[/url]

More photos here including the box and wrap it came in.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/164910528@N08/1NX9e6