This is a sword based on 9thC examples, notably one found in the river Witham.

Swords, of this period were single handed with relatively small pommels by later European standards and usually had pattern welded blades and two piece pommels. By the 10thC pattern welding of blades had become less common, though it lived on longer in smaller blades into the 12thC.

The hilt has a polished box wood hilt, with steel top and bottom guards which have been inlaid with alternating copper and silver wires. These swords have the top guard riveted to the tang and once this has been set, the pommel is riveted to the top guard. All up weight is 2.2lbs / 1010g, blade length is 31.5"/ 80cm

I hope you like the result.

Hilt work by Tod/todsstuff, blade work by Owen Bush.

I have asked Owen to chip in with commentary on the blade.

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Hi Tod,

Wow! That is stunning work. The alternating copper and silver wire and inlay work is beautiful, and that blade looks amazing. Congratulations to you and Owen for another awesome artistic collaboration.

Christian Borglum

A beauty. I love the grip.. almost thought it was fossil ivory at first.

Can't wait to see what Owen's edge material is.. looks pretty high layer.

Tod:

What a splendid piece! And thanks for the historical background.

Scott Roush commented:

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I love the grip.. almost thought it was fossil ivory at first

Indeed, I thought it was some type of bone.

Have you and Owen Bush collaborated previously?

Cheers, Jon

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very beautiful work :) i also thought it was a kind of bone or sanded antler :lol: box wood is very nice looking :)

WOW! That sure is pretty! I love the blade and the alternating inlay is excellent. I haven't seen a pommel like that, do you have any photos of originals you used as inspiration?

That's looking great Tod.
Tod has done a number of swords and seax with my pattern welded blades and I am always exited to see the results, this piece is no exception nice job Tod.
The blade is constructed by forge welding all the components ( edge spacer and twisted bar) together to form one piece and then bending that piece in half so that the two twists meet and the edge is now all the way around the core. This gives a slightly different pattern flow from the making a core piece and then welding an edge around it. All the material is 15N20 and en42 (uk spec 1075) . The edge material is 700 layer piled steel but is crammed into a small area so the pattern is especialy dense.

Thanks for the feedback guys.

And yes Owen and I collaborate fairly often, but generally through customers requests, rather than us getting together. Other than historical items we have made everything from swamp racing trucks to giant airguns together.

Tim Lison wrote

Quote:

WOW! That sure is pretty! I love the blade and the alternating inlay is excellent. I haven't seen a pommel like that, do you have any photos of originals you used as inspiration?

Yes. I used this sword and another from Durham as inspiration. p74, 75, 76 from 'Swords of the Viking age' there is another from the Witham, but I can't find the picture right now.

Re-reading the book it states that these were considered to be Saxon, but are now considered to be more likely Viking.

The picture shown is from the Musee de L'Armee in Paris.

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Really wonderful looking blade and hilt. I agree that the wood looks almost like some sort of bone and very attractive.

Holy crap! I am literally drooling. I really wish my financial situation allowed me to get this...

Lovely job Tod.

Paul

Tod and Owen, great work!
This is a beautiful saxon sword. You got the character down in details, shape and proportions. A beauty to behold!

-I do wonder about this remark in "Swords from the Viking Age" that these swords would have had a Scandinavian origin. I think that is a mistake. There are quite a few found in Norway and I have seen several in Swedish collections as well, but I do not think they are Scandinavian. There are swords from various origins that found their way to Scandinavia in the viking period. Souvenirs and/or war booty or good deals in trade?

The aesthetic of these swords is fundamentally different from any other swords that are thought to be of Scandinavian origin. Also their decoration is often trewhiddle style, rather than any of the predominant styles that were used by scandinavian craftsmen. Even the blades are often somewhat different from the typical blades you see on swords that have scandinavian origin. I think it is a mistake to label them as Viking swords: the evidence is in favor of them being anglo saxon, I think.

Great sword!
Thanks for showing :-)

Beautiful work Tod and Owen. I'm not usually a fan of type L's but this one I like.

Totally lovely work, I covet that! Would love to handle it, fancy it wants to move forwards a fair bit.

Thanks very much; really kind words and I do see what you mean Peter.

Tod

Lovely work, quite exiting to see such beautiful pattern welded blades being forged here in Britain (again?).

For Type L lovers, a trip to the Yorkshire Museum in York to see the Gilling West sword is recommended, the rest of the collection pales before it. For information on this sword it is also worth picking up a copy of the original publication in Medieval Archaeology Vol. XXX 1986 (plus it includes scale drawings to help anyone wanting to commission a reproduction).

Interestingly, the Gilling sword has three rods in an alternating twist and straight pattern but also has another three rod core making up the centre of the blade on the reverse side: Perhaps one long three rode core was forged back on itself lengthwise? Having waxed lyrical about the Gilling West sword, here are a few cruddy pictures from google...

Who can't appreciate the Type L?

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