[Malcolm A]

Hello. I am hoping one / some of you can help with identifying a sword type used in the film Kingdon of Heaven.
I know that some of the arms used are not historically accurate but I was wondeing about the sword type used by Alexander Siddiq's character, Nasir. [It also looked like the one his servant used in his fateful fight with Balian]
I haven't found any / many sites that deal with swords used by the Muslims / Saracens during that time period so I havent found a match to it.
It looks a bit like that shown in the Smarakandia site and listed as a Mongol Sword:
http://www.samarkandia.com/en/produit-2_29.php
"I dont know if the swords they supply are replicas or just show pieces."
Any factual information, esp sizes, weight, handling characteristics, that can be supplied would be greatly appreciated.

[Chris Lee]

Hi,

I am relatively new to the worlds of swords and weapons but I think I can answer a few of your questions.

A sword like the one you are asking about is actually being sold by MRL (Windlass) as part of their "Kingdom of Heaven" collection. It's called the "Sword of Saladin". I am not sure if that is the one you were refering to but it is linked to the movie.

Here is a link to a product description from a Canadian distributor that I have visited (I do live in Canada).

http://www.reliks.com/merchant.ihtml?pid=2070&step=4

(Please note: I am not affiliated at all with the merchant mentioned and only used this link to show the sword I was refering to).

While I have not seen or held this particular sword, I have seen and held some of the others in the collection. They are very nice and seem well made and well balanced (although my experience is limited so don't take my word for it). I realize that Windlass has had some issues in the past but they seem to be putting out some better pieces lately.

I also caught an interview on a local TV station recently with the weapons master from the the movie (he was in town to promote the film and DVD release). He mentioned that they did not produce truly historically accurate pieces for the film and that they made some adjustments for "creative" reasons. He specifically mentioned that the sword made for Liam Neilson was made longer that any historical sword because the actor is rather tall and a true sword would look too small on film. So I guess we can all take the accuracy of the weapons in the MRL collection with a grain of salt.

I hope this helps but....
I am sure there are others here who can tell you more of about this sword....

Peace
Chris Lee
Aurora, Ontario
Canada

[Hisham Gaballa]

There aren't many books that deal with Islamic swords from that period, not in print (or in English)anyway. Most Islamic swords used in the Middle-East at that time were straight double-edged swords, although curved sabres were becoming more common.

These pics are from Unsal Yucel's "Islamic Swords and Swordsmiths".



Curved sabres apparently didn't become the most common type of Islamic sword until the late 13th-early 14th century.


Swords with a bifurcated tip are very rare, and are probably only ceremonial. the Prophet Muhammad is reputed to have used a sword of this type called "Dhu-l-Feqqar"

[Bob Burns]

Hi Malcom, here is a link to the sword your interested in, it's $189.50 and I am close to this distributor if you'd like me to take a look at it on my next visit. It is not far at all from me.

http://www.kultofathena.com/product~item~5008...aladin.htm

It is in stock, it was there Wednesday.

Bob

[Anton de Vries]

[Nathan Robinson]

I handled the Windlass sword at the Atlanta Blade show and found it to be unwieldly, heavy, and poorly balanced. It also had some weird plastic grip material that wasn't attractive at all. Although it was somewhat visually appealing, all things considered, I thought it was an absolutely horrible sword even for half its asking price.

I just checked the stats on MRL's site and they list it at 2 pounds, 10 ounches. I'm shocked. It felt like 4 pounds.

[Patrick Kelly]

I handled the Windlass version at the Atlanta Blade Show too. My opinion echos Nathan's.

[Hisham Gaballa]

[Mark O'Bannon]

Hello,
I've read a little bit about Islamic swords and here are the names and pics of a few of them:

Sayf / Saif
General term for a sword.

Nimjah / Nimcha
Heavy bladed short sword, probably curved, which later developed into nimshah short sword of morocco.

Shamshir
General term for sword, normally of early straight type. The curved type came from Persia.

Yatagan
A 16th century Turkish sword.

One of my main ref books is: "Arms and Armour of the Crusading Era 1050-1350 Islam, Eastern Europe and Asia" by David Nicolle

From what I could tell, most of the weapons of the Kingdom of Heaven movie were pretty accurate..., but I'm not as smart as the guys here so maybe I'm wrong.

[Malcolm A]

Hi guys! Many many thanks for your valued inputs and responses; all are most welcome.
The pictures are great and very informative; wish I could own some of them!
The last one, of a recurved sword, was the most surpising/welcome in so far as I once saw other such swords in the castle at Bodrum, Turkey, but which I remember as being slimmer and longer.
Anyway, once again thanks to all you for your time and input.
Cheers

[Bob Burns]

I agree with Nathan and Patrick, I most certainly would not spend my money on this sword either and I agree with everything Nathan said.

Bob