The Parazonium

[Kineas]

This is a brief article on re-building a Windless Steelcrafts Parazonium into a usable piece of kit. Let me start by commenting on what a worthlesse, badly made piece of crap it is out of the box. Windless should be ashamed of themselves.

This is the advertising photo.



This is the quality of wood in the hilt



The hilt is painted with a metal primer (???) and then with layers of a dark varnish. Yikes.

But best of all (Windless calls this a "battle-ready blade")

high carbon steel blade with hardwood and steel grip

The grip is, in fact, a very light wood--something of the consistency of basswood. Here's the tang...



I didn't break that--that's the tang as it came, under the basswood grip. Don't use this even to open a can, folks...

[Kineas]

So, annoyed, I began to rebuild this sows ear, hoping to get a silk purse out of it in the end.

First step was to cut down the blade. I cut it back two u=inches and welded an extension on the tang so that it would go all the way through my new hilt, which I roughed out, turned, and finished to resemeble the very short swords (often called Spartan swords) in Greek art.



That's dogwood, or Cornel wood.

With my hilt roughed out, I turned to my friend Aurora, who's a silversmith,and had her make sheet metal fittings--a pommel of sheet metal as per "OP 29 Angriffeswaffen" (the Olympia finds) and a set of scabbard fittings. I built a wood lined scabbard and covered it with leather, as the one that comes with the knife is hopelessly incorrect, heavy, and badly made. What a surprise...

Here's the knife with the grip fitted but the metalwork yet to do.


I also did some work on the steel cross guard. It was welded on--the lower part of the sandwich. I removed the upper part, broke the weld, and cut the blade back. i now regret not replacing the cross guard with silver, to match the pommel... oh, well.

[Kineas]

A couple of weeks ago, just before our first event, Aurora delivered all the scabbard parts. We assembled everything, I dyed some linen cord red, and here's the finished product.



And out of the scabbard:



And again...



Hope that you all like it! And I hope no one ever buys a Windless Parazonium again!

[Marcus Iulius Chattus]

Hm, the first pics show that this Parazonium isn´t worth even one cent, but you make a really good job in reworking it.
But, is it a copy from a Original? In the book Unter den Goldenen Adlern-Der Waffenschmuck des römischen Imperiums by Ernst Künzl are another kind of Parazonium described, which used a Eagle-headed hilt and is even shown on some Grave-Stelaes from Praetorians and Equites singulares.

[Kineas]

Well, in my other historical hobby,w e only call it a copy when it looks exactly like the original and was made the same way. This is a cast blade in a crappy hilt. I've made it look better, and it will now cut cheese and butter...

I don't know anything about Roman weapons, so I couldn't tell you if it was even a vague, Hollywood like attempt to reproduce a Roman dagger. I made it a Greek short sword because--well, I reenact 6th C, BCE Greek...

[Gaius Octavius Drusus]

Ave et salutatio:

You have done first-class work. I must confess that the way you have re-worked that blade bears a certain resemblance to the Syke-Fairbairn commando dagger...

Vale:

Gaius Octavius Drusus

[PhilusEstilius]

Christian. I like the style that you have made for a scabbard it looks very much like the one shown in the Weapons of the Romans by Michel Feuge're, a bronze one from a statue found at Murrhardt and as has been mentioned earlier it has an eagle type hand grip.
Which I think is very much the style for many officers as this would have been the weapon for that rank, then as you say they look like a short Greek style sword that would have been simply carried in the hand of a high ranking officer in true classical fashion.

[Marcus Iulius Chattus]

Oh, you made a Greek short sword from that Parazonium. I missunderstood you and thought you made a better Roman-Parazonium from this piece of scrap, sorry. Now, it´s on me to say that i don´t know nearly nothing from greek weapons (with the exception of the Kopis/Falcata!)!
@ PhilusEstilus
I know that mentioned sword, i live only 7 miles away from Murrhardt

[PhilusEstilius]

The reason I mention that this particular weapon would have been carried in the hand by an officer, is that the one shown in the Feuge're book shows that the scabbard does not have any rings or other means of suspension.
With the one that I made for the late Douglas Arnold I fitted rings to be able to suspend it from the cuirass that I also made for him as can be seen in this link where the Eagle head handle is sticking out horizontal at his left side.

http://www.northumberland-computers.com ... cur111.jpg

Here also is another link showing how he holds the Parazonium with the left hand.

http://www.northumberland-computers.com ... cur112.jpg

[Kineas]

Nice--like a Marshal's baton with a blade? Is that the idea?

My latin is antique, but in Greek, surely a parazoma is the wrap around the loins... was this a knife originally tucked into the sash? That might obviate the need for rings.

That said, I had no intention of building a parazonium... I built a 6th C BCE hoplite's sword with silver fittings.

I guess I should have posted on the Greek forum, but this heading does say "reconstruction"

[Giannis K. Hoplite]

Kineas,one thing to note is that both rings should have been on the same side. This makes the hilt hung with a slight curve that makes it easier to draw the sword and put it back. It also makes it easier to hold the scabard between your arm and chest when pulling the sword out,if it hungs high enough of course.
Have you really found such blades from the archaic era?
Khaire
Giannis

[Kineas]

Giannis--Perhaps in the 430s, there is such a thing. In the 500s, all the ones I can see have the rings on opposite sides. Otherwise it wears badly. How much have you worn yours? Where do you get rings on the same side in the archaic? Can you show a scabbard fitting?

There's a nice 14 inch blade in Band 29 from Olympia that I'
m interpreting this way.

[M. Demetrius]

My latin is antique

:lol: :lol: Isn't everyone's?? Now where's that + button for best pun of the day?

[Giannis K. Hoplite]

Kineas,i disagree. All the ones i have seen are being hunged from the one side. What happens is that they have four rings,and the are using them as i use mine. They pass the baldric from the rings of the one side,they cross the baldric in the middle prdusing and "X" and tie them on the oposite rings of the other side. This makes the sword hung in an angle,so the hilt is raised away from your body and you can reach it easily even when holding a shield. It also brings the scabard in the perfect position to hold it with your elbow,pressing it to your body while pulling your sword out. This is the reason they are hung so much high on the chest and not to the thigh. I have worn mine enough,always thinking how great a thought it was that they hung them like that.
I nice photo is this one from Delphi museum: http://www.flickr.com/photos/i-deia/3621524416/sizes/o/ i think the finds date to the 460's if not earlier.
In more than one threads in the greek section i have demonstarted how the rings are usually utilised,one of them must be a thread related to kopis/falcata scabard,where i posted not only kopides but also leaf shaped swords and i'm sure some of them are earlier than the 430's and soem perhaps earlier than 500.
The two rings oposite,like yours,cause the scabard to hand straight down,something that is never the case in art.
Khaire
Giannis

[Giannis K. Hoplite]

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This is one of the forums i have posted about the baldric. Scroll down,you'll find many photos.
Khaire
Giannis