[John Cooksey]

Have any of y'all ever seen an image of an Eastern European, Central Asian, or Chinese ring-hilt in which the tang of the blade goes through the ring, in the same fashion as one of the famous Irish ring-hilts?

I have been scouring the internet and a few books for ring-hilt images, and so far my analysis of the "Eastern" and early ring hilts includes these methods of ring attachment:
1. Cast onto the blade
2. set into a a folded/welded loop in the tang
3. integral with the blade (appears to be a late development, with the possible exception)of the "Roman ring swords"

Sometimes it is very difficult to discern the method ring attachment, especially if the grip covering is still extant.

I have a nice, long, hand-forged blank that is going to need a pommel, and the focus of this piece is the 6th through 8th centuries AD.

[Joel Chesser]

This is far from my area of knowledge, but I did look through Swords and Hilt Weapons published by Barnes and Noble, and all the images they showed seemed to be either cast or integral with the tang. I saw and read nothing that would indicate the pommel working like the Irish ring hilt.

[John Cooksey]