[Merv Cannon]

Hi......I have been studying history and artifacts and re-enactment now for over 4 years, but I have had the opportunity to web surf almost every day ( except for 7 mths working in central China ) But, as it is in so many other areas also..." the more I learn, I realise the less I know !" I know about medieval furniture and music and other areas....but Swords...well I have a lot to learn .....so please forgive my ignorance and I hope you dont mind me asking several questions on the one post.......
Firstly......What do they call a "Great Sword" exactly.....I guess old 'Willy Wallace' had a very big one ! Yep....it was even bigger than Mel Gibsons' !! I dont know how he (W.W.) ever even picked the thing up ! I've seen plenty of Zweihanders and what look to me like "Dreihanders" too.......and what's with those great Danish long-swords.....I really love the look of them....are they a "great sword" or are they in their own catagory ?
Secondly....What exactly is a "mortuary' hilt ......I thought the term applies to the big head-choppers....execution swords......I've always thought a 'mortuary sword' was a sword of judgement. ( BTW...does anyone have any pictures of executioners swords ?)
Thirdly.....Were there any all steel scabards in the medieval period or mabye in the tudor period they started making them ?
Forth....I've heard the fechtschule langschwert practise swords (with the little 'wings' below the hilt and a round tip) called ...."Federschwert" (featherswords)....have you heard of this...is this correct ?
Also.....When roughly abouts did they start using taper threads (screw threads) in sword manufacturing....I noticed that the copy of Cromwell's Sword ( I think by 'Armour Class' ) has screws joining the bars to the hilt....dont know if the original had screws. And I guess some makers must have threaded the pommels on at sometime too ?
And......I've seen some effergies of knights with 'Folly Bells' on their harness and ( I think) scabbards occasionally....anyone seen this before ?

Thanks !!! Much appreciated for all input !

[Greyson Brown]

Merv,

I'm with you. The more I learn the more ignorant I feel. I cannot answer all (or even most) of your questions, but:

Great Swords- What I understand from page 42 of Oakeshott's The Sword in the Age of Chivalry is that this term is used to describe large swords of war that were not really two handed swords, which he says were always indentified as being two handed. I read throught there rather quickly, and it is one of those topics on which I am no expert, but I think that is what he is saying.

William Wallace's sword- if you are refering tot he one in the Stirling Museum, I question whether it actually belonged to him. I think most people here wold agree with me on that. Regardless, there is a thread on it here if you want more information.

Steel scabbards- I'm not aware of any, but maybe someone else here knows more. I think I can safely say that they were not at all common, even if examples can be found.

I'm not familiar with the term "Folly Bells." What are you refering to here? Do you have any pictures? This might prove to be just one more of those areas of ignorance education has brought to light.

Sorry I couldn't answer more of your questions. Hopefully someone else can (I'm sure William Goodwin or a few others can shed some light on Mortuary Sword question.)

-Grey

P.S. Almost forgot; pictures of Executioner's Swords- These are all from the Kriminal Museum in Rothenburg, Germany. Sorry for the quality; I'm no great shakes as a photographer (ironic given that my granfather and uncle were photographers, my dad works for Kodak, my brother wants to make movies, and I'm an Imagery Analyst), and glass doesn't help me much.

[Chad Arnow]

Great swords are large swords that seem to fall in between what many consider bastard swords (by today's definition) and true two handers. Great swords would seem to pre-date the common usage of both bastard swords and true two-handers by most people's research. The sword attributed to William may have a blade from his era, but the hilt (especially the guard) is almost certainly later. For info on High Middle Ages great swords, please see our spotlight articles on Oakeshott Types XII (sub-type XIIa) and XIII.

Mortuary swords are not executioners' swords. They are a style of complex hilt popular around the English Civil War. For some more info on this type and some good pics, please see our review of Armour Class's version. As for screws being used, they were. A quick search of our Albums section shows many antiques with screws. One of the search results is a pic of the original Cromwell sword, which has screws. So, they were in use at least by the mid-17th century.

As for steel scabbards, I've seen no medieval examples. There are much earlier scabbards made of iron (Celtic La Tene period) and much later ones (regimental swords we're all familiar with), but I've come across no all-metal sword scabbards from the High Middle Ages or Renaissance.

[Merv Cannon]

Hey...thanks guys ! Here's a link on 'folly-bells'....... http://www.virtue.to/articles/bells.html Our club members are very strict on authenticity and reference....our chief has bells on his belt & he checks everything and approves....one of our guys even has folly bells on his spear cover !......I guess medieval people liked little bells here and there...I'll try and find the pics on the Knights effergies wearing folly bells on his harness/sword belt.
And thanks Greyson for the cool Execution sword shots. And I notice theres even a little mini-falchion like chopper ! Very easy to transport to the next execution !

[Merv Cannon]

Well...for the reflections in museum-glass all you need is a " Polarising filter " ...like 'Polaroid' sunglasses.... It'll completely eliminate all reflections and also increase the general colour saturation. ( Its what makes the sky very dark blue in the postcard shots....and then you think..."gee, my skys never look like that") Its also one of the only lighting solutions that cant be easily fixed up on 'Photoshop' or some other software. Some of my associates always shoot through one ..... Never leave home without one !

[Chad Arnow]

Merv,
Now that I think about it, I've seen some effigies with bells on belts. I'll look around this weekend for pics.

[Wolfgang Armbruster]

[William Goodwin]

Well, Chad beat me to the punch on the Mortuary question's.

If you may have furthur questions about Mortuary's, please feel free to PM me, more than happy to discuss
Mortuary's at any time.

Cheers,

Bill

[Greyson Brown]

Merv,

Those Folly Bells are intesting. I don't know that I would sew them on my clothes, but I find it fascinating that I have seen at least a few pictures that have them and I have never paid any attention. I told you that more education makes me feel ignorant; now you see why.

Which sword are you thinking of as falchion like? The bottom one in the first picture, and the only one in the last picture might both be described that way by some. I can tell you that "llttle" does not at all fit the botttom sword in the first picture! If your were thinking of the one in the last picture, yeah, it strikes me as being very handy. I almost wish I liked executioner's swords, so that I could commision a replica of that one. I do need to mention, though, that the card on that one describes it as a Sword of Justice. I think that is the same as an executioner's sword, but it might be something slightly more symbolic (perhaps an administrative sword designed to remind people of the executioner, and thus the consequences of lying in front of this judge, etc.?)

-Grey

P.S. As for the polarizing filter: that makes sense (and I guess I can trust a fellow named "Cannon" when it come to cameras), but mine doesn't have one built in, and it is not the kind of camera that is well adapted to add-on lenses. I probably wouldn't think to carry the lense around, even if I owned it, so I'll just have to learn how to use my camera a little better. I do appreciate the comment, though. If I buy a new camera in the future, that is something that I will look for/ take into consideration.

[Greyson Brown]

Somehow I didn't manage to get a full shot of this sword. Not quite sure how that happened, but this one does not have any surprises (that I noticed) on it, so the blade is basicly the same as the others.

-Grey

P.S. I have tried to take photos of every piece of metal work/ arms related art that I have encountered in my museum visits. If there is something you want to see, let me know.

[Chad Arnow]

[Andrew Fox]

[Greyson Brown]

The one that I posted with the knuckle bow, etc. is fairly small. I didn't take any measurements, but I think it was about 30 inches over all. Defintely no more than that. It strikes me more of a ceremonial/ admistrative piece, rather than something that was intended to be used. Still, I think it could be used in a pinch, and I don't want to be the one one on whom that theory is tested.

-Grey

[Craig Peters]

Merv,

The following photos depict an antique Swiss federschwert:





You can read more about it here:

http://www.thearma.org/spotlight/swiss-swords.html

[Mike Pospichal]

Sorry, I can't add any more information on the swords, but just a note on the use of polarizing filters. Yes, they will get rid of the glare that can show up on glass, but you will also need to adjust your exposure(will be taken care of with newer cameras) so especially indoors, either flash or a tripod will be bonus/necessary depending on available light.

[Merv Cannon]

Thanks again everyone.......
So can I upload into an album ? Im just a basic member.....not that I mind upgrading......I'm learning more here in such a short time than in months of my solo - surfing ! I've got quite a lot of everything on file.....I guess I'm a true collector at heart....cant afford the real thing, but I sure can collect the pics and data ! I just checked my sword file......got some great pics.......I browse sort of dark ages to Culloden with some exceptions.....not just swords but armour, weapons and all the rest . I try and catagorise everything........since joining in these forums I've created many new catagories that I didnt know about and that is a real buzz for me ( ok.....I'm wierd ! )
I had a good day yesterday......went to this recycling place and got perfect shield bosses for $1.20 each ! Actually better than the 'real' one I paid $25 for. They sell industrial 'waste' material and donated gefunked stock ( is that a German word?)
Also got 'perfect' Viking shields......ie. pine boards laminated at right angles using bent over nails at the perfect average Viking shield width of 85cm and of the same average thickness.......they were used to make drums to wind cable around ! Also some smaller ones of 'Targe' size.
Also some Vamplates for joust-lances and a 'buckler' for $5........this is what Industries used to just dump ( and still do) . So, mabye there's someting like that where y'all live ?
On the photography side.....a 'polarising filter' is just that....a little filter that screws on the front of the lens. Many digitals come with a clear filter already screwed on to protect the real lens inside. If you saw what it did, youd make sure it was always in your camera kit.
BTW.....if anyone needs help with photography ( of anything) leave me a message and I'll be glad to help.....photography mostly just needs knowlege, not heaps of equipment !
BTW....This is a link to our ( Brisbane) annual fair........ http://www.abbeytournament.com/index.htm ...we get over 15,000 people through the gates per day ! We are also getting more and more international jousting compeditors too....one guy came all the way over from Poland !! And this the Museum associated with the Annual Tournament event......http://www.abbeymuseum.asn.au/
Now, back to 'swords' .......

[Nathan Robinson]