[Robin Ericsson]

My first sword and my first post.

I've been lurking around at this forum for quite some time now, ever since I started taking interest in pre-modern arms. And now when I've received my very first sword I guess I've got a topic worth posting.
After some serious thinking, browsing, googling, lurking, reading and viewing I finally after many months realised - "I need a sword". And the sword I decided for after much thought was Albions "Berserkr". The looks of it just struck me. 'Fierce' would be the word I'd choose to describe it if I'm only allowed to use one. That was true before seeing and holding it for real, now I'd use the same word but in capital letters.

However I'll try using more than one word to describe the 'real thing'. The first thing that really surprised me was the size. It feels and looks much bigger than the impression I got from looking at photographs of it. Truly, photographs renders a pale reflection of this sword.
The second thing to surprise me was the weight. 1.2kg (2lbs) doesn't look like much in numbers but in reality it obviously transfers into some very effective weight in swords. It makes the sword seem to beg for a big falling swing. And after granting it a few while listening to the soothing whining noise the air makes when cleaved, my inexperience becomes painfully obvious. The lower end of my hand is sore due to the narrow grip and my shoulder begs for mercy. With that said I'm lifting heavy weights 4 times a week. Which makes me believe a guy on a different board who claimed to often swing swords of 10-15lbs was full of it.
In contraction to it's simple looks it's 'feel' is anything but simple. On some historic battlefield, would I run into someone carrying this and looks like he knows how to use it, I would go run into someone else. I can almost feel the steel hacking into my bones when looking at it. As I said, 'fierce' with capital letters.

As for balance I don't know if I can give a correct observation due to me not having anything to compare with. But my description would be; it seems light as a feather commencing the swing but heavy as an axe when being brought into the swing. Not suddenly though so it becomes unstable, rather it feels like the weight transfers from my arm out to the sword in harmony with the swing making the point of impact very terrifying indeed. In short, I start out with speed and along the way the weight is added to the formula.

When holding the sword horisontally and looking down the blade there's a slight 'bending'. This surprised me as the sword itself makes a very stiff impression.

When all is considered, I'm more than satisfied with my purchase. It's all that I expected plus a little more.

I would like some general hints on swings and grip with this kind of sword though. I remember scrolling through a thread dedicated to how one is intended to grip a viking sword but I don't seem to find it again.
Also if there's any additional basic hints about general care of swords please feel free to share.
And lastly I'm planning a shield and maybe a helm purchase. So if you could pinpoint me to dealers selling this kind of quality stuff I would be grateful.

[J. Padgett]

First of all nice blade, and welcome to the forum!

When you swing the sword have you tried "slipping the pommel?" I have an Albion Gotland, and not only does this make downwards cuts even scarier for whatever is on the receiving end, but it saves my wrist a lot of stress.

Basically slipping the pommel is letting it slide past the base of your hand instead of being stopped by your wrist as the sword extends along the same line as your arm. For this to work you need to grip the sword almost as if your were going to shake someone's hand.

I asked about this same thing when I first received my Gotland, and while I'm by no means an expert it seems to work very well.

Also swinging viking swords is a lot of work compared to some other kinds of blades since they are wicked cutters, and have a lot of blade presence. I have an Atrim longsword for instance that I can actually swing more easily with one hand than my Gotland even though the Atrim is a good foot longer at least.

One last thing about slipping the pommel. Make sure you oil, or wax the steel of the pommel to protect against rust because this technique insures it has a lot of contact with your hand.

[Allen G.]

Hello & welcome, Robin,

The Berserkr is a beautiful and unique blade, I know what you mean about the perfect balance of weight so that the sword can flick around quickly but at the same time have enough tip weight to let gravity do its job on a chop.

For shields/helmets I'm sure you've already seen Albions viking age offerings, Armor.com offers a viking era helmet. A basic sword care tip? hmm basically keep it oiled with high quality sword/gun oil and dont keep it sheathed for too long, but you probably already know that too.

But the main reason i replied to you, did you mean this thread?

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t...king+sword

[Robin Ericsson]

[Max von Bargen]

[Lancelot Chan]

What I found in training students were that no matter how muscular they were, almost all of them have problems swinging a sword at first. So I realized that the muscles used in bringing a sword in motion properly weren't trained much in other form of popular exercises. The best exercise to practice those particular muscles was to swing the sword.

[Joe Fults]