Look, probably it is Russian sword

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Nicola,

This is an interesting sword!
Please tell where it was found, if you can.
There are features on the hilt and blade that makes me think of celtic or roman inlfuences.

Perjhaps it *is* a celtic or roman sword?!?

The guard and grip looks to be organic material. The guard looks to be firbrous in the direction of the blade and it seems to me there is a crescent or bell shaped cut out or curve in the guard as it meets the blade (like seen on some late celtic swords). Is there also a hint of phallic "kidney shaped" swellings in the guard, like that of the "guard " of a ballock dagger? If so, this is also a feature you can see on roman and celtic swords.
The grip seems to show some transverse lines just close to the guard (some kind of textile wrap?) but this is rather unclear. Could this be a washer or some remains of decorative lines?
The pommel is also very interesting. It seems to be a rather thck and fat lens shape, like that of a early/high medieval sword (possibly with a bulging, somewhat angular outline?). It is not clear if the pommel is metallic or organic.

If it is not a very ealry sword, then it is an interesting survivor of these ancient shapes.

I might be reading far too much into these pictures.

Very interesting!
Please tell us more!
Do you have more pictures that shows some more details of the hilt?

Hmm... I'm leaning towards Chinese origin. But I'm no expert.

Hope this spurs some thought though.
-Alex

My first thought when seeing it was that's a Roman gladius or spatha. :)

Can you show a side view of it to,
it's look's like the pommel are in two parts,
really nice sword that one and beautiful to. :cool:

If it was found in Kareliya, then it's probably Finnish.
As Hisham already pointed out, it really looks a bit like a roman piece.
We could be deceived by the rust though. The romans never came this far. So I guess it's some kind of Finnish dagger / short sword.

Any info on how old this sword actually is?

I think it about 13-14 century. It is long 63 sm.Russian-Finnish sword

I don't think the wood (and that is what it looks like to me) around the base of the blade is a guard. In the larger picture, I think I can see a short metal guard directly above the wooden part; I'd say the organic material is rather the remains of a scabbard.

Kareliya is one bit of land Finland lost to Soviet Union in the Winter War. It's just North-East of the Baltic Sea.

No Chinese anywhere close by. :)

couldnt be roman. they had wooden hilts and pommels. and wood doesnt rust

I'm voting for the missing narrow crossguard, though I had to stare at the pic till I went crosseyed to figure that out. :wtf:

What looks like woodgrain may either be the top of a scabbard, or just heavy scratches. Of course wood doesn't rust, but it can collect rust just like any other porous material. not having the sword in hand, who can say for sure?

I suspect that's a type G pommel, though the grip looks really short, as on viking swords discussed in the Viking Grip thread.

I don't normally get into swords that are that decayed (can't swing em ;) ) but this one is mysterious, like it wants its story to be told. Great pics.

Maybe a comparison with other Finnish swords could help us. Does anyone know what they looked like? Any survivors?
Since the Finnish weren't vikings the swords probably had a different design than their western neighbors.
I'm no expert in this field, so I could be totally wrong :P

This sword is for sale?