Steven,
congradulations on the spectacular piece!

It is very unusual (?) to find Maltese crosses on a Viking sword. Of course Christianity had made great strides in Scandinavia by the 11th century. Did Finland convert later than the other Norse countries? Certainly Prussia on the south side of the Baltic stayed pagan well into the Middle Ages. Maybe the Maltese cross had another connotation on this sword, though the fish in the fuller is another indication that the original was the sword of a Christian.

And that sure is a gorgeous sword.

The fish in the fuller is Vince's maker's mark. He puts the "E" and the fish on all the blades he makes.

Not sure about whether the area which is now Finland converted in that time or not.

Hi Roger

That Christian fishy is Vince's makers mark .... not something the original had on it !

But we can say it was remade by a Christian *g* , Mac

Edit: Oops ....You beat me to it ,Stephen ;-)

Hi Steve,

Stephen S. Han wrote:

Alex, I think the sword storks have been good to us recently. I won't be picking up the Viking at Vegas; Vince did not have time to finish the scabbard, so I'll just have to scare my secretary again by having it shipped to my office. I WILL pick up the dirk, however.

Sounds awesome. Mine'll be done roughly around mid-February, depending on
Vince's schedule. I'm hearing that you're going to try and make it to the Atlanta
blade show again in June? I'm thinking about blocking off some vacation time
and heading on down, since I wouldn't mind seeing Atlanta again in general,
and the blade show in particular. There's no shortage of things to do in that
town.

Alex

Hey Steve .....

Is this Viking going to be your 4th VE sword ?
I gotta know if you've joined 'ol Mac in the exclusive Show Low 4+ Club *g*
{ also is this your 3rd pattern welded VE sword ? .... Now that alone will get you a seat at the head table ;-}

I should braggat-ly mention I own 5 VE's of sword length *g*

I know you have the awesome Turcael & Galway pieces ......

[ Linked Image ]

......... and I'm pretty sure you snagged the D'Arcy .......

[ Linked Image ]

Wonderful pieces all , Mac

Gee Stephen and Mac, you're making me feel Evans deprived.

Afterall, I only have one full grown Evans, and two little ones.

Then again I do have a Big Johnsson, in fact, I think it's safe to say that I have the biggest Johnsson in the whole USA.

So be careful. Don't make me whip it out!

Outstanding news Nathan, it sounds like I'm going to need to do more then make the Blade Show just a single day event this year. Perhaps make a weekend of it. If we can get Thomas and Patrick to come as well that would be truly outstanding.

We are going to have a booth this year at Atlanta. I am really looking forward meeting some of you face to face. :D

I'm hoping to make the Atlanta show this year ...... with any luck I'll be there !
( perhaps I should wear my Hieland '45 outfit so everyone can spot me in the crowd ;-)

Mac

* In recent correspondence with Vince he remarked the following about those "In-progress" photos :
"The pictures that I sent you were before I assembled the hilt. You can tell by the unpeened pommel pins
under the upper guard. The sword is together now and has a nice feel". - Vince

That does it!

My wife and her parents have been talking about going to San Francisco this summer. I'm going to try to talk them into Atlanta instead.

What are the dates on that again?