[J. Nicolaysen]

I posted a question about this on facebook, but not too many responses yet so I thought I'd try here also.

I'm trying to make a list, preferably with photos as well, of all the Albion First Generation swords. Here's what I have so far. Some photos in the links of reviews below.

Celtic La Tene http://myArmoury.com/review_alb_latene.html
Migration Type D http://myArmoury.com/review_alb_mig.html
Rouen http://myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.1715.html
Crecy http://myArmoury.com/swor_alb_crec.html
Spatha https://sbg-sword-forum.forums.net/thread/5314/albion-first-roman-spatha-review
Norman http://myArmoury.com/albums/displayimage.php?pos=-6648
Crusader
Stamford
Acre
Kragehul Bog


Not sure if the Gladii count since I didn't see the logo I associate with First Generation on them, but Patrick Kelly does call them First Gen.
http://myArmoury.com/review_alb_gladii.html

There was also an Urnfield bronze sword but I can't find photos of that and not sure it's First Gen either

Anyways, if you have photos of these or know of some I missed, please post them here.

Thanks!

[Mark Millman]

Dear J. Nicolaysen,

Albion offered, if I recall correctly, three bronze swords. You mention the Urnfield Sword; and there were also two Type G Mycenaean swords. Matt Amt, who posts here from time to time, shows them on his Bronze-Age re-enacting Weapons page, about halfway down the page. He gives several views of the swords, both as they came from Albion and as he altered them for greater accuracy. I'm not sure whether they count as part of the First Generation line, as they were made for Albion by International Steelcrafts in India rather than in-house by Albion. More specifically, Albion provided wooden models from which International Steelcrafts made molds and did the bronze casting. They're Albion designs, so I suppose they probably do count as First Gen swords if the chronology is right.

I used to have an Urnfield myself, but I may have given it to a friend around a decade ago. If I didn't give it away and can find it I'll try to get you some photos.

I hope this proves helpful.

Best,

Mark Millman

[Arne G.]

There was also an Anglo Saxon Invader(?) and a Norse Raider(?), the latter of which was a single edged blade. Scrounged some pix here:

[Arne G.]

There was also an earlier version of the La Tene sword, which had a much more interesting hilt than the later version. It is the middle sword in picture:

[J. Nicolaysen]

Thanks guys! This is a great start. I'd seen Matthew's page before but I didn't know the other bronze swords were of the same manufacturing time period for Albion. And Arne, great find on those, never heard or saw them before!

Well, I'm sure there might be a few more models out there, or at least better photos of some of the ones I posted but this really helps.

[Nathan Robinson]

Remember, this line of swords was not originally called "First Generation." They were retroactively named that after Albion came out with the "Next Generation" line. Pretty sure they were simply known as "Albion Mark" swords and some as "Albion Mark Hand Forged" swords.

Here is an Albion "Crecy" and "Riding Sword".

[Nathan Robinson]

Here is a photo of the Albion Acre sword.

[Nathan Robinson]

Here is the Albion Crusader sword.

[Nathan Robinson]

Maybe seeing these images is more helpful.

[Nathan Robinson]

And here are some more images of the older Albions.

[J. Nicolaysen]

Hey Nathan, that is really awesome! I appreciate all of that.

I actually didn't know that the First Gen was named retroactively, but that makes perfect sense. At the time I was more interested in Japanese swords, so the industry-impacting reveal of the Next Gen was pretty peripheral to me. Still there are probably four or five models of the "first gen" I wish I could snag.

Great resource for posterity, thanks again

[John Dunn]

I like the orleans

Wish I could find one.

[Jeremy V. Krause]

It's cool to see how much better the swords of the Next Generation look than the Albion Mark swords.

Sword design and authenticity has really moved forward in the past 15 years.

[Luka Borscak]

[Roger Hooper]

The First Gens were designed by Randall Graham,right?

Here is a thread about one of the bronze swords - http://myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=154...n+odysseus

[David Wilson]

I need to post pics of some of my early Albions. Most of them actually have Angus Trim-made blades. My Kragehul sword is very early production, with a single-fuller blade by Angus Trim and white bone hilt inserts instead of wood. My early La Tene is with the spiraled bone grip, like the other one pictured, and my spatha has a different grip as well. I also have two early gladii -- a Pompeii and Fulham -- with Angus Trim blades and an early Mainz with an Albion-made blade.

[J. Nicolaysen]

Wow, I've finally had time to go to the Internet Wayback Machine and see this page from 2004. The first gen page has a lot of models on it I've never seen before including a katana blank and a cutlass thingie. In addition to most of those above. However Nathan's pics are far better than the thumbnails. https://web.archive.org/web/20040910060403/http://albion-swords.com/swords/albion/swords-albion-mark-firstgen.htm

I would love to have an Orleans, a Kragehul Bog, an Urnfield and an Agincourt. The Rouen and Crecy look good too.

[Tim Lison]

The Kragehul Bog sword was my first sword. It was really well done. I still miss it a little...

[David Wilson]

Here's a pic of my very early Kragehul Bog sword...

[David Wilson]

And here is the spatha...