[Patrick Kelly]

Tonight when I arrived home the Reeve was waiting for me. This was a nice surprise since I wasn't expecting it to arrive until early next week. UPS may have gotten it here quickly but they certainly did a number on the box. I haven't seen a box this trashed since one arrived from the Post Office with a broken custom rifle stock inside. Needless to say, I was a bit concerned. Mini-me was also worried and refused to go to bed until I came home and opened the box. Fortunately the sword was unscathed, so it was off to bed for good Squire Mini.

Peter Johnsson recently commented that the Reeve and Bayeux are meant to represent the more nimble end of the Type X spectrum. Now that I have the sword in hand I can see what he means. The Reeve is a very quick and nimble sword. As soon as I can get rid of a pinched nerve in my neck and left shoulder I'm going to don my 11th century gear and spend some time in the backyard with this sword. Right now the hauberk's too uncomfortable. Peter also commented on this sword's fine edge geometry, and it is fine. Of all of the Albion swords I've handled this one best fits the "big butcher knife" description that Eric McHugh has used to describe many of the originals he's handled. This one will absolutely slay the tatami mats and milk jugs for those who indulge in such things. Now all of this talk of "light and nimble", and "fine edge geometry" could easily give the reader the impression that this is a fragile sword, it is not. When Peter described the Reeve in those terms I was a bit concerned about the impressions potential buyers would form from this verbiage. I wouldn't spend an afternoon bashing pole mounted helmets with it but it's far from fragile. If I was an 11th century miles or huscarl I'd be very careful with my unarmoured arms and legs, not to mention a member of the fyrd with nothing but a shield to protect me. This thing could really be nasty if used on those exposed extremities.

One of our members has asked for a comparison of the Reeve and the Knight. The Reeve's edge geometry is a bit finer than the Knight's. The Knight's edge has a bit more belly to it as it slopes to it's terminus. I can see how this who be a needed design element to counter the improving armour of the Type XII's heyday. The Knight also follows it's point into a thrust better than the Reeve, but this is no surprise given the respective design parameters. The interesting thing is that both swords have extremely similar dynamic handling qualities. After spending a few minutes dry handling both swords I really couldn't detect any noticeable difference in that regard. The fact that two dissimilar blade types exhibit such similar characteristics is proof that a lot of time went into developing their mass distribution and overall engineering.

Another interesting comparison involves the Reeve and my custom Type X, the "Big Johnsson". While the BJ possesses truly outstanding handling qualities it is at the upper end of the scale for the Type X. Overall it is a much more massive sword than the Reeve. The Reeve feels as if it's meant for slicing and dicing whereas the BJ feels like it's meant for helm cleaving and shield splitting. It's an interesting comparison of two swords of the same type being designed for somewhat different purposes. Very interesting.

The Reeve really isn't an aesthetically graceful sword. It doesn't have that look sitting on the table. What it looks like is a mean little pitbull of a sword, but when you pick it up it feels like a greyhound.

Neat sword. Review to follow.

[Aaron Schnatterly]

Nice summary, Patrick! Appreciate the effort. Hope the neck & shoulder improve soon.

While I don't have the benefit of BJ to compare the Reeve to, reading your comparison paired with past conversations and photographs helps define these two better. One thing I am looking forward to is a hands-on comparison of the Reeve with a few other Next Gens - Hersir, Templar, Ritter, and Knight. I believe it will be fun to really go back and forth between these other swords and explore their similarities and differences. Your comment on how the Reeve feels characteristically similar to the Knight is a bit of a good surprise. I believe I'm going to like this sword!

[Eric Nower]

[Greg Griggs]

Congrats on the new aquisition Patrick. Sounds like you'll have a bit of fun with this one. The comparison notes are interesting and I know several people have been waiting for a "side-by-side". Looking forward to seeing it in person myself *hint hint*. Oh, and on the pinched nerve thing; if you would quit looking up the technician's skirt while she's giving you the rub-downs after the chiropractor does his thing, it would heal MUCH faster.

I'll pay for that....yes I will.........

[Patrick Kelly]

[Thomas Hoogendam]

So uhm...... pictures??

Seriously though, congratulations on the new sword. I'm very anxious to buy a Reeve myself, but I must resist for now, need to do some real-life shopping first before hobby-shopping can resume agian.

[Brian M]

I'm going to have to wait until next year to lay my hands on one. It will be interesting to do a side-by-side with my other single-handers.

Brian M

[Aaron Schnatterly]

[Jeremy V. Krause]

Hello everyone,

I have just received my Reeve and this is really an interesting sword, and I say "interesting" in a good way.

The sword arrived in great shape with no rust spots. I love the red grip and it is so good to see it has a mottled appearance; this grip gives just that right amount of "pop," to an otherwise severe looking blade. But on to more important things- the blade.

The finish is even and nice over this very broad blade, and it is broad- much more broad than my Norman and Templar. Having never handled or seen the Tritonia in person the blade of the Reeve kind of seems like a younger brother- and IS IT SHARP? It is cool to see that the folks at Albion really seem to shape the edge based on the individual model. THis mades me feel better about my Templar in that I was kind of conserned that it's edge may not be sharp enough. Seeing the Reeve next to my Norman and my Templar puts these three edges into perspective. The Reeve is the sharpest, then the Norman, then the Templar.

Again a great sword and thanks everyone at Albion. My collection of weapons of the period 1050-1150 is looking more complete!

Jeremy

[Steve Grisetti]

Cangratulations to Patrick and Jeremy for your new Reeves!

[Patrick Kelly]

Here's a very quick, and very bad, photo of the Reeve amongst some of it's brethren.
This will give you an idea of it's relative scale.

[C.L. Miller]

A very nice display you have there Patrick. Your Reeve looks great in black, and you've constructed one of the most pleasing wall-mount arrangements I've seen. Nice work and congratulations on a fine new blade!

[Thomas Hoogendam]

[Eric McHugh]

Peter can fill in information where I run astray, but I thought I'd add some comments to this thread because of the remarks about the blade.

This blade was made to fill that niche of broader but somewhat thinner swords. There are numerous examples of these very blades in many collections in Europe. These blades seem to go against our ideas of the equipment of the Norman soldier...at least I had to shift my understanding. It is clear that this type of blades were quite popular and were perhaps more the norm. Based on the number of examples, it is clear that the users liked these "butcher-knife" like swords. The edge is thinner, but not unsupported which allows for a rather sharp edge. John and I tested the edge by attacking a very large, heavy stump. The edge did not fold over nor was it damaged in anyway. With that said, you would not want to go against a hardened target with this weapon: helms are definitely out, but you could ruin some poor footsoldiers day with this sword. It is definitely meant to cut.

The broadness of the blade adds to the strength to the blade so even though it is thinner, it is a formidable weapon. Perhaps this is the compromise, you make the blade wider which makes it less suited for thrusting, but then you are able to make it thinner which makes it better suited to cutting. It is clear that the makers understood these compromises and made blades that emphasizes different characteristics. In any event, this is a rather interesting blade. The feel of it really brings a spark to your eye. You could not go wrong attacking the shield wall with this sword in hand...and of course running up hill is hard, so maybe a lighter sword is in order. :-)

[W. Patrick McGuigan]

Very nice display. What did you use to mount the swords on the wall with?

[Aaron Schnatterly]

[Patrick Kelly]

Thanks for the kind words on the display. I took that photo this morning at about 4:00am after I came in from work. There was only one small lamp on at the other side of the room so it was quite dark. I used a low exposure hence the lack of clarity in the photo. The red wall is actually much darker than that and the yellow is a darker gold, so in reality the walls don't have that ketchup and mustard look to them.

W.P.,

I used cuphooks of various sizes at the pommel/grip juncture. These are individually shaped to fit the grips and painted black so they're as inconspicuous as possible. The blade tips rest on small finishing nails that have been painted red. From a few feet away you can't see them.

As I have said, I find this to be a very interesting sword. Outwardly it doesn't appear to be so. It looks like a pretty straight forward high-medieval sword. However, when you handle it it's obvious that the Reeve is a departure from the perceived norm. It is something of a contradiction to the modern mind that has only had the experience of handling various reproductions of this type. Most others are massive swords that handle in a massive fashion, definitely those splitters and cleavers that Aaron mentioned. While I find the Reeve to be more compact than I had assumed it would be it is still a broad blade dedicated to the cut, yet it does have a very responsive feel to it. You might say it's a large sword that handles like a smaller one.

[Felix Wang]

What Eric said about the use of the Reeve brings to mind the advice of the King's Mirror, posted on the Off-Topic forum thread about sword and shield:

"Fight on sea as on land with an even temper and with proper strokes only; and never waste your weapons by hurling them to no purpose."

That particular sentence refers to spears, but applied to swords as well; a couple of paragraphs earlier the use of unnecessary sword thrusts is condemned. Medieval swordplay was not simply flailing about and hoping to hit something. A good swordsman chose his targets, and made his blows count.

[John Cooksey]

That is a fabulous-looking sword, Patrick. It sounds like a real winner, functionally. Personally, I find the aesthetics of both the Reeve and the Bayeaux to be most appealing, but then, I love simple, elegant functionality. Those two swords have a beauty of line and purpose that is just very . . . . harmonic.
Among the swords that I want to possess, a "simple" Type X is high on the list (right after a really good qama).
I am very tempted by the Bayeaux, as the epitome of functional medieval "generic-ness".
I find myself very drawn to the late Viking/early Medieval weapons, simply because of the extreme range of cultural interaction in this era. The late-era Viking cultures were in constant contact with the Mediterranean, with the Byzantines, and with the Turkic-cultures of the western steppe. This is fascinating to me, and I like the idea of having a sword that could have found its way into all of those historical contexts.

And the Albion work just keeps getting better and better . . .
damn thee, grad school! :-)

[Jeremy V. Krause]

Hello everyone,

In handling the Reeve in comparison with the two type Xa's I own I notice that for me edge alignment seems harder with the Reeve. Is this a typical experience with broader blades when comparing against more narrow ones? I do not have the level of hands on experience compared to my fellow forumites and so I seek your ideas.

In determining proper edge alignment I often rely on that specific "whiring" sound that is identifiably different from the "wh

Jeremyoshing" sound that happens when the edge is not alligned in the strike. This is harder to identify in the Reeve. I should also say that I do all of my dry handling in my apartment which is limiting to say the least and prevets a full "from the shoulder" strike. All movements are more limited cuts using the wrist and forearm. I'm also having some problems adjusting to dealing with the "point" of the pommel as it digs into the base of the side of my palm as I use the "hammer- transitioning-to-a-handshake-grip" strike. Just like anything I guess it just takes practice.

Jeremy