[Blaz Berlec]

First I would like to apologize for my poor English. Not using it nearly enough to become fluid in it :( Thanks for the spell check! Now to the buisness...

I have a question about Albion's Next Generation Viking blades:

How is the transition from blade shape to tang shape made? This transition is clearly seen on Gaddhjalt blade, where the fuller is narrower than the tang.

But it seems the transition is a bit different on other Viking blades with fullers almost wider than the tang.

Fuller ends much more abruptly, or it would be seen on the tang even more. And it seems to me that the blades are inset into the cross quite deeply, otherwise the fuller would weaken the tang too much. Below is my guess of the fuller length and shape of the blade inside the cross of Gotland sword. Green lines represent shape of surviving swords (as far as I know), and the red lines the shape that I think Albion blades have. Can we have some info on that, or maybe even a photo of a blade without the cross?

I don't know, blade with fuller that runs under the cross looks hm, great IMHO, but the engineering part of me screams "This is the weakest part of the blade, isn't there anything that can be done to strengthen it?"...

[Jason Dingledine]

Hi Blaz,

The trasition is a bit different than that, but that is very similar to what actually happens. One of the key things to remember with these fullers is that while they are wide, they are also relatively speaking shallow in the absolute depth, compared to swords with thicker blades, and narrower fullers.

Peter designed these blades to copy many of the features he has found on historic swords, and he has had the opportunity to study many of them with the hilt components missing.

Rest assured that the fullers do not under-cut the strength of th tangs at all.

[Eric McHugh]

Hi Blaz,

Like Jason said, the fuller is not quite like you depicted. The end of the fuller is arc'd and inset into the guard but it is well short of eating into the tang. This is a very common feature on Viking swords. You will rarely, if ever, see the fuller running into the tang on a Viking sword. You start seeing it on Late Viking/Post-Viking age swords like the Gaddjhalt. Then, it becomes a common feature in medieval swords. On some of these medieval swords, sometimes the fuller cuts quite far along the tang. But again, this is a very rare thing on a Viking sword. In fact, when you see historic Viking swords, it is striking (at least to me) how few are damaged near the hilt. The tangs and guards (when they are together) are almost always intact. So, as far as strength goes, I would lean on the side of not over-engineering the tangs (no slam to engineers intended ) and going with what we know works. All of these swords are based off of actual examples in Europe (not just a few but hundreds).

Add to all of this the fact that Viking blades are much thinner than people often realize. They are not the brutish crowbars often depicted in movies. Rather, they are well structured butcher knives with fullers (and sometime without fullers). This fits into the Vikings' brand of warfare. They were not about finesse; they were about slashing the enemy to bits...gruesome but true. They made swords this way for hundreds of years for a reason: the design works! These blades, which our blades are based off of, are quite suited for the intended task. As a result, you can be certain that our Viking swords are just as sound.

I hope this helped to assuage any fears you may have. Let me assure you that the blades are sound. By-the-way, thanks for the question; it shows you are paying attention to what we are doing. That is a compliment.

Best,

Eric

[Blaz Berlec]

[Angus Trim]

[Blaz Berlec]

[Nathan Robinson]

[Blaz Berlec]