Grippable Pomels for hand and a half swords. -- myArmoury.com

Simon Jackson

I am looking for historical examples of this, where they are used as extensions of the grip for two handed use.

Both Aragorns and Gandalf's swords have this in Lotr.

Other detailed information on pommel design and how they relate in shape to the grip would be greatly appreciated too.

Johannes Zenker · Posted: Sun 11 Nov, 2018 1:14 pm Post subject:

Welcome to the forums.

Technically most pommels from the 13th century onward can be gripped fairly comforably, with Viking and brazil nut pommels being probably the only truly impractical shapes to hold on to before the advent of basket bars blocking access to the pommel.

A disc pommel is surprisingly comfortable to grab, although it often is not its primary purpose. Especially those with a protusion and a recess in the middle (cf. http://myArmoury.com/albums/displayimage.php?album=17&pos=4 ) provide a lot of feedback to the user and the index and ringfinger usually nestle nicely into the slopes around the protusion.

While it seems more intuitive to assume that a diamond shaped pommel like this one from Brescia ( http://myArmoury.com/albums/displayimage.php?album=17&pos=222 ) would be more comfortable to grasp, one should consider that the edges of those were often quite pointy and might not make for the most comfortable surfaces. A better example for grabbing would most likely be the middle one in this picture: http://myArmoury.com/albums/displayimage.php?album=17&pos=288

Round and pear shaped pommels are naturally comfortable to grab, and this is very often done by HEMA practitioners at all levels of skill. It is mostly an issue of personal preference. The bottom pair in this picture ( http://myArmoury.com/albums/displayimage.php?album=17&pos=290 ) would be quite comfortable to hold on to. A round pommel does not, however, give any information or much traction towards edge alignment. A fishtail (like this one http://myArmoury.com/images/features/pic_spotxviii15.jpg ) or flattened mushroom/pear pommel like the leftmost in this picture ( http://myArmoury.com/albums/displayimage.php?album=17&pos=296 ) would provide a nice compromise here.

Roger Hooper · Posted: Sun 11 Nov, 2018 4:56 pm Post subject:

The pommel for this Castillon sword, dating from around 1453 is very good - your hand fits comfortably into the curve.

J. Nicolaysen · Posted: Sun 11 Nov, 2018 5:19 pm Post subject:

What Roger and Johannes have said, plus have a read of the Oakshott Pommel typology found here: http://myArmoury.com/feature_oakeshott3.html

Personally I really like T, U, V for gripping more than the wheel and disc types. Maybe type T2 is the closest to the LOTR film swords.

Simon Jackson · Posted: Mon 12 Nov, 2018 10:29 am Post subject:

Thats some good info. Thank you!
I will have a good look at the links tonight Happy

Ps: how do you get pictures to show up in the post, and not just as a link to be downloaded in a seperate window?
Thanks again.

Roger Hooper · Posted: Mon 12 Nov, 2018 5:41 pm Post subject:

Simon Jackson · Posted: Tue 13 Nov, 2018 2:01 am Post subject:

Thank you Mr Hooper.

Sam Barris · Posted: Tue 13 Nov, 2018 4:25 am Post subject:

Michael Beeching · Posted: Tue 13 Nov, 2018 10:13 am Post subject:

I do not own a two-handed or longsword/bastard sword with a disc pommel, but I do own an Arms & Armor Grunwald with a wheel pommel, and I must say that I do not prefer to grip it with a second hand in a conventional sense. Yes, it can help with edge alignment, but I find conventional holds on such pommels to be quite uncomfortable. However, that particular weapon is no doubt a one-handed weapon of war, and two hands need to be used tactfully to be of any comfort if one uses that particular sword in that particular manner - your mileage may vary, of course.

As per scent-stoppers, I must say I really like them. I do not practice wrapping my hand the base of the pommel, so I do not encounter the sharp points as others have complained about. However, having the hand slide into the gap between the grip's termination and the middle of the pommel is very comfortable. My longsword is again made by A&A, and it uses their hex-shaped (6 sided) scent stopper which can be seen on several of their training swords. That shape, as long as it is properly oriented, perfectly fits the hand and locks the edge into alignment. So, as long as you can at least loosely hold onto "Dobringer's" teachings about not gripping the end of the pommel, scent-stoppers are very comfortable in the hand, and in my opinion, the six-sided form is optimal. If you want to grip the end, you probably need a scent with a rounded bottom for maximum control and comfort.

I would not be opposed to trying a fish-tail pommel, or other such diamond-type pommels, but I have not had the opportunity. My assumption is that they are very similar to angular scent-stoppers as I noted above. As long as you are not intent to wrap your hand around the base of the pommel, they should give you good control and comfort, and hopefully not dig into your hand like wheel pommels can if the grip is a bit too long. I should note that my angle comes from someone who is interested in studying "fundamental Liechtenauer," so some of the later material which employs winding by gripping the pommel is a bit distant from me.

Roger Hooper · Posted: Tue 13 Nov, 2018 11:22 am Post subject:

Pommels that have a good curve to them where your hand fits in comfortably --

Simon Jackson · Posted: Wed 14 Nov, 2018 4:01 am Post subject:

I chose an hexagonal grip/pommel profile and this is what I came out with.

A lot of the grips seem very thin in the historical examples. Is this to compensate for wearing gauntlets?

How do the dimensions look, I wanted a little bit extra, but not too much.
(I am designing larp weaponry to be made with modern resins)