[Fabrice Cognot]

Hi all

(Feel free to punish me, Nathand and all, for posting here something not purely historical - but at least, I hope there's enough historical accuracy in the making methods involved here to kindle your indulgence...)


So.. A Commemorative roundel dagger - this shall be explained below.

Main inspirations were two late XVth-early XVIth daggers, one kept in Florence, the other in Turin, of so-called 'late' "Burgundian" style.

The blade is high carbon steel showing a nice, rich wood pattern (unfortunately, can't see much of that on the pic), with fileworked back matching said inspirations. Roundels are hollow, made of steel, and assembled using methods I documented on several daggers (notably kept at the Museum of London). Handle is ebonised oak, hollowed-out and hand-carved, fit around a brass tube.
And on top of the top roundel there's a bezel holding a semi-precious stone (aluminium oxydes - means the reddish parts are low-quality ruby) in shape of a turtle.

Roundel sides have been acid-etched - and here we get to the bottom of things : the guard sports the emblems of the Royal Houses of Westeros, while the top roundel bears the writing "Dijõ MMXIII granarii libellis" and my own mark.

I can't give you it's dimensions, however, as a mere hours after being finished, it left me for other hands.




Now, why all this ?

Well, last Thursday, on July 3rd, Mr. George R. R. Martin, bookwriter of some success, came to our old and proud (yet small) town of Dijon for a whole afternoon of signing. Let's say we tried to give him a warm welcome - and this dagger was part of it.
Over 4,000 people flocked in the streets of Dijon to get a chance to have his scribble on a book (some of them waiting since 3 am in the street by the library while signing would only begin at 14:00), while my friends and I kept them entertained and educated by showing them the wonders of Historical European Martial Arts.

And here's me handling said dagger to the author - it is known that GRRM took the turtle as his personal emblem.
(I also offered him one of my Raven Friction Folders, and he seemed to really have appreciated it, by the way he kept toying with it for the time he stayed in the bookshop) :




And as tradition has it, he gave me in exchange a coin from his own pocket - with a hooded figure on one side, and "Valar Morghulis - Valar Dohaeris" written on the other.



Unfortunately time ran out on me and I couldn't give it a scabbard.

[Leo Todeschini]

Well done Fabrice, That is a great commission to get and I am sure you did him proud, but the first picture comes up black for me (not sure if it is me or a glitch in your upload) so I can't comment on the dagger!

Tod

[Mark Moore]

Beautiful..........simply beautiful. He...and you...should be very proud. I salute you, sir. ............McM

[Leo Todeschini]

And now I see.

Great work Fabrice, I love the etched rondels not only are they very attractive and period (if that is applicable in this case), but they superbly executed.

Tod

[Tim Lison]

No picture of the coin!?!?!?!? This is a really cool dagger! Although not specifically historical, it seems like it might fall into the "could've been" category... Really great work and a cool story! Did you tell him to finish the next book!?!?

[J. Nicolaysen]

Hi M. Cognot, well done! I always appreciate well done fantasy work like this, and if it is based in actual effectiveness and design, sometimes the top layer of style can be completely fantastic and well done. Besides, the literature and traditions from Beowulf and Roland and Tolkien and Martin are probably what gets most of us into it. A very nice opportunity to give a very good writer a very nice piece. I am sure he will treasure it.

Pretty cool!

I am with Tim Lison, I would like the next book to be done!

[Bruno Giordan]

One a one to ten scale, you get an eleven mark ... Absolutely delicious. I wish to write a succesful novel even more now!

[Einar Drønnesund]

Fab, that is an awesome dagger for an awesome writer. (By an awesome dude)

Beautiful work.

[Jean Thibodeau]

[Owen Bush]

Nice one Fab.
A great piece , I love the turtle.and really good to be able to meet a southpark character in the flesh.
As an aside , I think pieces such as these soaked in history make the best foundation for pieces from fantasy.
After all, in ones mind the imagination will jumble the historic reality in with the mythical ones and that is the soup that doth sustain us.....

[Fabrice Cognot]

Thanks Chaps !



And I think you're spot on, Owen.

[Matthew Stagmer]

Well done! What an awesome adventure!

[Roger Hooper]

I wonder if a rondel dagger will make an appearance in the next book, Winds of Winter?

[Jonathan U.]

That really is some amazing work. It must have been an exciting experience, both the making and the giving. I think works based in reality and functionality and inspired by fantasy are some of the best.