[Levente M.]

I was browsing Albion's site yesterday and found an article in the faq section about sword customization. It shows different sword grips, like waisted, tapered, half-wired etc. and I've been wondering what sword grips were popular in what periods? Did they for example make swords with waisted grips in the 13the as well as the 15the century? When was wired grip popular?
So, do we have any data about the dates of different styles of grips?

[Chad Arnow]

Some info on grips can be found in our article on Ewart Oakeshott. More can be found by looking at what appears on the dozens of swords pictured in our Spotlight series.

[Craig Johnson]

Hi Levente

This is quite a big topic. I would do as Chad suggests as the info on this site is very good. The concept of certain grips being regulated to certain time periods is something we apply to the historical examples we are aware of. The general ideas are covered by the typologies of the the medieval sword. This sites overviews are excellent for these as a starter. When you get into specific swords it can get trickier. One does not always have the full story on what is the original grip on many historical examples.

The use of wire for example is something that ebbs and flows over time as far as when it was used and how it was used. One should not assume that it is a broad category Europe wide but rather the context of the sword will dictate if the sword was done this way in its working life and what status it may have had in the hierarchy of sword production.

Best
Craig