[Craig Johnson]

Evenin Folks

As several have beat me to it

Here is our overdue announcement of a new limited edition piece from A&A!

Our new item is the ...

Schweizerdegen a neat little sword style often attributed to the Swiss. It is a very wide ranging style with many variations. The piece really comes alive in your hand, the wide pommel section allowing one to use the swords design to enhance your ability to maneuver the short edge of the sword.

Our shop has been quite busy of late and we did not get a chance to do our usual holiday prep. We where quite happy to finally get this item out and look forward to some fun things in the new year!

We hope this sword is just the thing for some folks who are looking for a nice sword for their belt!

Happy Holidays to All

The gang at A&A

[Craig Johnson]

I thought it might be interesting to show some of the inspiration for this piece. While the individual examples that survive in museums where part of the equation the art of the period was what initially created the desire to make one of these swords. The very first time it occurred to me to make such a sword was watching antiques road show many years ago. There was an item that a woman had brought in that was a pocket book from the early 16th century,if I remember correctly. It was filled with illustrations and sketches of very high caliber. The one that stuck with me was an individual with one of these swords hanging in front and the sword being much longer than I would have though comfortable to wear in such a position.

While I have done a bit of searching online I have never been able to track down that image. I have however continued to see the sword type illustrated in many pieces of art (a couple are linked below) and the sword type always seemed like a very popular sword with the soldiers and common man of the period.

Luzerner Schilling chronicle of the Swiss Confederation





End result is once we had made up the sword I found it very much a handy and effective sword and one that really is often overlooked in the wider world of European swords.

Best
Craig

[J.D. Crawford]

Nice choice Craig! This is a fascinating group of weapons, particularly since they seem to fill that grey zone between dagger and sword. It's a bit past my period of interest but I got onto these after seeing a drawing in Nicolle's Arms and Armor of the Crusading Era, which depicted a weapon with blade around two feet long. This started a search which lead to these weapons, which apparently could have run anywhere from dagger length to sword length, right?. But the other ones I've seen had a sharp taper, like a long Baselard, whereas you've chosen to go with a blade with a more cut-oriented profile. Any specific motivation for this? -JD

[Mark T]

[Lafayette C Curtis]

You know, I wouldn't be surprised if some of those people willingly tolerated a little discomfort for the sheer phallic reinforcement effect. Makes you feel like (much) more of a man.