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Jeremy V. Krause
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 Posted: Wed 15 Apr, 2020 8:21 am Post subject: Dating on the Albion Reeve |
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Hi everyone,
Albion doesn't list a dating for their Next Generation Reeve sword.
Do you guys think this would be dated around 1050 c.e. or a bit earlier? If earlier do you feel a sword like this would have likely been pattern-welded? Just curious.
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Jonathan Blair
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| Posted: Wed 15 Apr, 2020 9:56 am Post subject: |
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According to myArmoury.com's review of the Reeve http://myArmoury.com/review_alb_reeve.html:
| Quote: | | The Reeve by Albion Armorers is an example of a late period Viking sword that would have been in use in the 10th or 11th century in England and many parts of Northern Europe. |
and
| Quote: | | The Reeve has an Oakeshott Type A pommel, commonly referred to as the "Brazil nut" variety, which saw use in the late 10th century and remained popular until the middle of the 12th. |
From Evolution in the construction of medieval sword blades http://myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=376...ern+welded | Sean Manning wrote: | Here is a key sentence: "after about 800, pattern welded blades slowly disappeared and were replaced by all-steel swords. After about 1000 AD only all-steel swords were made" (but in the Napoleonic Wars soldiers were bending their hangers into hooks to fish bodies out of rivers and loot them, I suspect that some cheap swords were still pretty low carbon in the late middle ages)
Here are some different constructions and the periods Alan Williams has found them in:
one piece of hardened steel: 10th century, 15th-17th century (7 out of 48 swords tested)
several pieces of hardened steel: 10th century, 13th-15th century (7 out of 48 swords tested)
iron core with hardened steel edges: 10th century to 17th century (28 out of 48 swords tested)
undetermined core with soft steel edges: 10th century to 13th century, 15th century (5 out of 48 swords tested)
None of the low-tech furnaces produces beautiful, homogeneous pieces of steel, all exactly the same, like we get when we visit a sheet metal shop. They produce messy lumps with different properties which need to be combined with each other, and inside a given piece there are often spots with different composition and properties. The art of the smith was looking at these unique pieces, getting a feel for what each of them was like, and either choosing an appropriate one or combining several to get the overall properties he or she wanted. They might have a favourite method, but sometimes that was not the right method for the materials available and they had to adapt. A swordsmith in rural Norway would have different materials than a swordsmith in Brescia, and a smith making cheap blades this week would use different materials than a smith making expensive blades this week. If you want to know more, you will need books and websites like the ones I suggested. |
So, figure AD 975 - 1100 for the Reeve.
"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword." - The Lord Jesus Christ, from The Gospel According to Saint Matthew, chapter x, verse 34, Authorized Version of 1611
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Jeremy V. Krause
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| Posted: Thu 16 Apr, 2020 6:34 am Post subject: |
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Thanks Jonathan,
That's pretty much exactly what I wanted to know.
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Jonathan Blair
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| Posted: Thu 16 Apr, 2020 8:38 am Post subject: |
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You're welcome
"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword." - The Lord Jesus Christ, from The Gospel According to Saint Matthew, chapter x, verse 34, Authorized Version of 1611
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