Johan, Shahril, my apologies for the delay in replying but I have been away for a while.

I am afraid that the hilt won't be ready for a while, Dave Roper has other commissions that he has to complete but he will start on it soon. I will keep you informed -- I am very grateful for your encouragement.

Johan, there are pictures of my Sutton Hoo kit elsewhere in the forum, although not with Vince's sword blade but here's one taken recently.


Paul

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The sword looks fantastic, and I'm certain that when it's finally finished it'll definitely be the centerpiece of your ensemble along with your helmet!

A quick question about the shield; aside from the decorative metal fittings, what is the likelihood that it was painted or embossed? Of course there's no way now to really tell, but I'm intrigued by the possibility that it would've been more thoroughly decorated. As it is now, just the metal fittings seem a little sparse, but until you find out more of course I understand the need to maintain the appearance as we can best verify it...

Also, am I mistaken or does your comrade's spear seem to be derived from a pilum? I'm just noticing the thin metal shaft below the head, and of course the late-Roman style of helmet he's wearing contributes to the impression.

Anyway, thanks very much for posting this!

Really nice blade Paul. I'm really looking forward to seeing it with it's fittings.

Interesting that you chose to have it done without fuller. Indeed there are many migration age swords without fuller. Yet this is almost never reproduced properly. But with a blade this massive, I do hope that the handling will be ok.

Jeffrey Faulk wrote:

Also, am I mistaken or does your comrade's spear seem to be derived from a pilum?

It's an Angon. A derivative of the pilum, but with a barbed head. Quite popular in the migration age, although thought to be a bit of a status symbol due to the amount of metal used.

Jeffrey,
It is quite possible that the leather of the shield was decorated in some way - the Angles loved to fill up space with design and it may well have been painted different colours or tooled in some way. We know that it had leather on both faces because some was left under the boss; unfortunately, all other organic remains had disappeared.

Paul,
The blade is heavier than my other SH sword but I am sure that once it is hilted it will be good to handle. Will let you know in due course.

Paul

Hi Paul,

Any updates on this project?

Hi Matt,
I am told that the hilt will be built very soon. I await the results eagerly.

Paul

Oh how very exciting!!!! :D I'm sure it will be magnificent when it's finished.

Paul,
Looking good there,I'm sure Mr R will do it justice, I reckon its going to be a real tooth rattling beast. Does it have a distal taper ? or is it pretty uniform in thickness for the majority of its length?

Wait a minute, just had a weird de ja vu, I didn't look at the date of this thread, have I already seen this in the flesh Paul?

My memory is not what it used to be!

Ich bin ein dorf trottel!

Cheers Paul,
see ya soon.

B

You have seen the blade several times Bruce -- but it has been with Mr Roper for quite a while now.

Paul

Hi Paul,
phew cheers for that, thought I was losing it for a moment.

What threw me was I hadn't seen photo's of it,

I think think its the early onset of dementia.

Still, looks nice second time around also.,

BTW, have you told the folks on here, your desire to be buried with your old one?

B

just out of interest what is the weight of the new blade? How does it compare to your old one?

Damien,
The new blade is broader than the old and heavier, although I can't tell you the weights exactly at the moment. The complete Barta sword weighs around 2 pounds 2 ounces - about a kilo. The blade, as far as I know was never weighed on its own and was part of the complete sword by the time that I received it.

I have a recorded weight for the new blade somewhere, I think that it is around 2 and a half pounds, maybe a little more. However, the new blade is made to the same specifications as the original and doesn't have a fuller. We looked very carefully at the original at the British Museum -- they took it out of the case -- and it has no indication of a fuller at all. This adds to the weight a bit.

Anyway, I await the finished result with great anticipation.

Stephen, I hope that you may have to wait a little while!


Paul