[Foong Chen Hong]

I wanted to ask someone to make a 13 century falchions for me, but I need to know more about them. Does anyone have info to share like how long are they, how heavy/light are they, what type of scabbard they use compare to their late brothers in 15 century?

Thank you.

[Markus Nußbaumer]

Hello,

the first one I do recognise, it is housed in the Reichsstadtmuseum Rothenburg ob der Tauber, which I had the fortune to visit only a few months ago. They give the overall length with 70.7 cm, blade length with 53.8 cm, blade width with 6.4 cm.
The museum dates the piece around 1300.
Copper inlay in pommel and blade
I have got some more pictures, if you are interested.

Best wishes,

Mark

[Foong Chen Hong]

Sure, every bit info count.

[Kai Lawson]

The patinated bottom falchion in Castlerock museum is a fascinating piece, and seeing it in person made me think that it would be effective and agile, but perhaps not the fastest sword ever. The blade is very broad but fairly thin, and the overall length helps keep the weapon handy. The hilt furniture is also fairly thin, and there is a thin-lined elegance to the weapon not seen in the side-on picture.
Chad Arnow (not Mr. Arnow!) may have some pictures from the visit. Alas, I had a teeny phone, and no pictures of the falchion, I'm afraid

[Elric Rabenfels]

Well I know James G. Elmslie is an expert regarding falchions of all kinds - he studied them -extensively-.

Sadly, he's not on here, but you can contact him via his e-mail: j.elmslie@btinternet.com
Or on Skype, I could give you his contacts. And there is a bonus: He does not only study falchions, but also makes them.

If there is something you would like to know about falchions, he is your man of choice.

[James Moore]

Well, the watermark at the bottom of the second of those images should say where you need to go for information, even if he hadn't already been mentioned: James Elmslie is smith who's been doing research into a typology for medieval falchions, messer and similar single-edged swords for some time, and has given lectures on the subject. I know he's happy to talk about them in detail.
(By which I mean, if you're lucky, he'll stop talking eventually.)

I've met him several times, and he's said he's working on production of exact replicas of the surviving falchions for research purposes, to better understand how they handle, because most of the surviving ones are so badly corroded.

Also, from what I've heard said, there are problems with some of the falchions out there possibly being fakes. The ones in that first picture might include some from the 19th century (the bottom of that first image shows two falchions overlaid over each other, to show that there are so many similarities.).

he's also published this image on another forum, which shows more falchions with their dimensions: http://elmslie.co.uk/research/Falchion_linework_revised.jpg

hope that is of use

[Danny Grigg]

Found this website about the "Reichsstadtmuseum Rothenburg" Falchion / Malchus.

http://db.historische-waffenkunde.de/12-falch...4__jh_.htm

English translation from the website

2008-G-2 - Falchion, Anfang 14. Jh.

Category
hilted weapon - Sword

Keywords
sword, falchion, malchus, simple crossguard, disc pommel, metal inlay, cross

Date (whole objekt/hilt)
1300

Total length
705 mm

cross length
132 mm

Weight
1275 g

Preservation
good - restored/conservated

Verbal description
The Falchion has a single-edged, asymmetric blade with short back edge. The surface is littered with signs of corrosion, however, bright polished, suggesting a restoration. Noticed some nicks in the blade, which have been ground heavily. The crossguard is straight and square in cross section. The grip is made of metal and is divided by a clamp in the middle. The pommel is of an octagonal form with damascenes on both sides.

Vorhandene Daten
measuring data
recording mark/inscription
9 pictures