Hand-Forged Knightly Sword, Faceted Pommel

The ordinary sword of the European Middle Ages: a straight double-edged blade, a cross guard, a single-hand grip and a pommel. Nothing more specific than that, which is why the term covers four centuries of weapons from plain soldiers' swords to gilded court pieces. It is also called an arming sword, because it was the sword a man wore as part of being armed rather than a specialist weapon he carried for a purpose.

This one has a 27 inch blade tapering evenly from a broad shoulder to an acute point, a 7.5 inch hilt with a 4.5 inch grip, a cross whose quillons curve toward the blade and finish in small scrolled tips, and a faceted disc pommel. It comes with a leather scabbard on a laced belt rig.

950 grams, and for once we get to report this as straightforwardly good news. A single-handed sword with a 27 inch blade historically ran somewhere between about 1,000 and 1,400 grams. This one comes in at or just under the bottom of that range.

It is the lightest sword we have built in this range and it is the one closest to period mass. Several of our other swords run above their historical comparators and we say so plainly on those pages, which is exactly why it is worth saying here where it does not. What you get is a sword that moves the way a knightly sword should: quick to bring back on line, no dead weight to fight against, and a point you can place rather than swing.

From two points, not one, and that is what the laced rig on the scabbard is doing. A medieval sword belt wraps the scabbard at two places a few inches apart and the belt runs between them at an angle. That angle is the whole design: it holds the hilt forward and up near your hand and lets the point trail back and down behind your leg.

Hang the same sword from a single loop and two things go wrong. It swings, because nothing controls the angle, so it fouls your legs when you walk and knocks into things when you turn. And the hilt sits where you have to reach for it rather than where your hand already is, which on a 34 inch sword is the difference between drawing it and wrestling it out. That is why the rig looks more complicated than a frog: it is doing a job that one strap cannot.

The standard build carries a 27 inch blade and a 7.5 inch hilt with a 4.5 inch grip, 34.5 inches overall. That is a default rather than a fixed specification — every blade we make is forged after the order, so the dimensions are yours to set.

These proportions are already right for the type — a knightly sword sits between roughly 28 and 32 inches of blade and this is at the compact end of that, which makes it easier to live with and no less correct. A longer blade takes it toward the upper end of the range. A longer grip starts to make it a hand-and-a-half, which is a different sword rather than a bigger one.

The curve toward the blade turns a straight bar into something that catches. A blade sliding down your edge toward your hand meets a quillon angled to stop it rather than a flat surface it can skate across, and the scrolled tips finish the shape so nothing runs off the end.

It is a real function and it is also decoration, and both are true at once — curved and scrolled quillons appear on medieval swords precisely because they look better than a plain bar and cost nothing in performance. Our bowie page explains what a guard does in general terms if you want the underlying argument. If you want a plain straight cross instead, or a longer one, either is free.

A timber grip, a polished steel cross with curved and scrolled quillons, and a faceted steel disc pommel. The metal is forged and hand-finished rather than cast, which on a piece with a shape this defined is not a small distinction.

Grip material and colour are both selectable at no extra cost — horn, bone, micarta and leather over timber are all available, and a cord or leather wrap over timber is the most period-plausible option for a sword of this pattern. We will match the scabbard to whatever you choose.

Yes, both edges sharpened and the point finished, ready to use, unless you tell us otherwise. On a blade that tapers evenly for its whole length the edges are taken down together so the point stays on the centre-line.

Unsharpened builds are free for display or for an awkward import. A stage combat build — rebated edge, rounded tip — is also available at the same price and is worth considering on a sword this size if it will be handled by more than one person.

5160 high-carbon spring steel, which we use across the whole range. The blade is forged to shape, quenched, and then tempered back by hand as a separate operation afterwards. Those two steps are distinct and the second is what matters: quenching alone leaves a blade hard and brittle, and tempering trades a little hardness for the toughness a long blade needs to flex through a hard stop rather than crack at it.

5160 is not stainless and is not meant to be. It rusts if left damp, and in exchange it takes and keeps an edge far better than any stainless we could sensibly forge. We do not make pattern-welded or laminated blades at all, by choice.

Close enough to the hand to feel alive, which follows from the weight rather than from anything clever. A disc pommel of this size sits behind the grip as a genuine counterweight, and at 950 grams there is not much mass out in front of it to fight.

We do not publish a single point-of-balance figure, because hand-forged blades vary and a number two inches out is worse than none. Ask before dispatch and we will measure the actual sword we are sending you, from the cross, and send you the figure. Our sword guide explains what the measurement means and why it is worth asking any seller for.

Not of a documented piece, no. The pattern is genuine and the proportions and weight are close to the historical article — closer than most things we make — but the particular guard shape, the scrolled quillon tips and the pommel facets are ours rather than copied from a surviving sword.

If you want something measured from a museum example — a specific Oakeshott type, a particular pommel form, a scabbard with a chape and period suspension — that is a different piece of work and we will quote it against your reference. On a sword this close to right already, it is a small step and a satisfying one.

A brown leather scabbard shaped to the blade, with a laced belt rig at the throat wrapping the scabbard at two points, brass fittings and a buckled belt. The rig is the part worth looking at — see the question above on how a sword hangs.

Colour, lacing, fittings and carry arrangement are all yours to specify. A chape at the tip, a different belt width, or a baldric rather than a waist belt are all available, and a wall mount cut to this outline is a custom forge item we will quote.

Nothing is held in stock. Every blade is forged after the order arrives, which is why the dimensions, the grip, the guard and the scabbard are all free to change — there is no standard version already made. Standard builds dispatch in 2 to 3 business days; genuinely custom work runs 4 to 6 weeks depending on the queue.

It ships sheathed and braced in a rigid carton with the belt rig packed separately so nothing bears on the blade, by DHL or FedEx with tracking, typically 7 to 14 business days from Kathmandu. Import duty and local taxes are the buyer's responsibility and vary by country.