[Dashiell Harrison]

Hi All,

I'm doing research for a novel set in early 13th century Norway and I was wondering if people could give me some advice on appropriate sword types for my protagonist.

I want to give him two swords: one for sword and buckler fighting in a civilian context and one for fighting with a shield in larger scale battles.

Do people have thoughts on what sword-types would be most appropriate or specific historical or reproduction swords that might be good to look at for inspiration? Ideally I'd like them to be fairly distinct from each other so the audience can get a clear picture in their minds of two different swords with two different purposes.

By and large I'm not terribly partial to Type XIV's, but I suppose a Type XII for military combat and a Type XIV for civilian might fit the bill?

Thoughts?

[Stephen Curtin]

Hi Dashiell. From memory type xiv are more of a late 13th century thing. Type xii was suitable for both sword and buckler use in civilian life, and sword and shield use on the battlefield.

Out of curiosity if you were to give your protagonist two different types of sword for civilian and battlefield use, how would you describe the differences to your reader? In my mind the verbal description of a type xii is not all that distinct from a type xiv.

I'm not sure exactly when falchions started to be used (I'm thinking mid 13th century) but a falchion is quite distinct, and easily described as different from a double edged sword.

[Guillaume Vauthier]

Type XIV are definitely late 13th/first half 14th centuries swords, so I guess it would be anachronic in the hands of an early 13th norwegian guy. By the way they seem to have been widespread in western Europe.
Concerning falchions, James Elmslie found that they seem to appear in the first half of the 13th century, but in northern Italy or southern France. I don't know if they were present in scandinavian countries.

Would your "battle sword" be used on feet, or horseback? If this is planned to be a rider sword, you can even choose a type XI for example. Some of them are estimated early 13th century, and they were present in scandinavian countries. Their long and slender blades are for sure recognizable.
A type XII is indeed quite nice for a sword and buckler combo, in my opinion.

[Dashiell Harrison]

You know, I was going to have him do most of his fighting on foot either way, but I actually kind of like the idea of a cavalry sword and an infantry sword. It definitely makes for a clearer difference.