06-22-2008, 04:38 AM
Brennivs,
Thanks for the tips on the other end. I think I've found a supplier who has cabrochons up to 38mm. Have no idea of the thickness. My blade is just under 1.75" inches wide, about 29" long: the tang is excessively long and I will cut it back and thread it for a cap over the stone. There is a similar fancy metal cap shown in Ospray's "Sarmatians" book.
You are correct that the Sarmatians were more than one tribe. But so were the Alans. They were a huge federation under a cultic core that believed in "Alanus," the progenitor. Ammianus Marcellinus, who fought against them and knew their culture, noted that they were many tribes, but since they all lived and fought in the same manner, they were "all known as the Alani." I have no idea how many Alanic tribes there were, but the Aorsi were a large contingent, and of course the Roxolani were the first to hit Europe.
I am an admirer of Ammianus. He was "real," a former Roman officer under the Apostate, fighting both in Pannonia and the East; and he refers to rivers "rushing hard by" and "gaining booty"-- not your fluffy historian who sat around eating grapes (aka Strabo). Ammianus made the distinction between "Sarmatian" tribes upon the Hungarian steppe, and the "Alani" who lived upon the Black Sea littoral and also far into Asia. ("both parts of the world.") To him, there was a distinction between the Sarmatians and the Alani. I figured out from Herwig Wolfram, that the Taifali were Alans attached to the Gothic Tyrfingi. And the Tyrfingi were literally "people of the sword." The sword was "Tyrfing," also mentioned in the northern legend the Hervar Saga. And I believe that Tyrfing was brought to Britain by the Equites Taifali, or to their probable leader Theudebald "diademned prince the legate." I believe the sword could have been Excalibur, "from the Kalybes."
This first Alanic sword is but a practice, something I can use as a reenactor in Legio III's Pannonian cohort. Eventually, I would like to design a reproduction of Tyrfing/Excalibur, which according to the Dream of Rowenbury had mirrored dragons probably holding the "pearl," the ball of fire also found on the Equites Taifali Iuniore's target shields. I believe the sword was an "antique," exactly as mentioned by Herodotus when he discusses the Scythian sword ceremony. The mirrored dragons motif on the hilt must have been similar to the akinakes found at Filippovka, and another at the Issyk kurgan. Both are dated to about 300 BC, the height of Alanic culture, but the style could have been made until the first century BC, especially in the design of a fancy ritual sword that would never have been used in battle.
Another style of Alanic sword, other than the ringed pommel, seems to be almost heart-shaped at the pommel, the entire sword constructed from a single billet of iron/steel. It was found at a kurgan in the Krasnor region at the Zubov farm, somewhere around the first century. Most of these fancy models appear to be votives, or even more likely, "borrowed" items for the deceased, generally found in the entryway, not in the inner chamber. The entry also had votive stags, the "borrowed mounts." The legend goes that the warrior would ride back to "Dreamland" (the Indo-European homeland?) and bring back "good things." This is the premise of transmigration, of returning, as we see in the comparable legend of Arthur, the once and future king.
A great book, cheap for its quality, is "The Golden Deer," containing many color plates of Sarmatian/Scythian artifacts including gold embellished ritual swords and Grail cups with the Bear on them. The book shows horse gear, belt plates, and a lot of goodies that can help reenactors visualize the seeds of an Alano-Gothic culture that eventually redefined the Roman cavalry and gave us the enduring Arthurian legend.
Will keep you posted on my sword progress, difficult but hopefully rewarding. Kudos on your swords, but the scabbards are even better than most. They are right on the money, with the blunt chapet of Chinese origin (even back in the Han period), just like the ones on the Orlot belt plaque. Exellent!
Alanus
A.J. Campbell
Cohors Pannonarium, Legio III Cyrenaica
Thanks for the tips on the other end. I think I've found a supplier who has cabrochons up to 38mm. Have no idea of the thickness. My blade is just under 1.75" inches wide, about 29" long: the tang is excessively long and I will cut it back and thread it for a cap over the stone. There is a similar fancy metal cap shown in Ospray's "Sarmatians" book.
You are correct that the Sarmatians were more than one tribe. But so were the Alans. They were a huge federation under a cultic core that believed in "Alanus," the progenitor. Ammianus Marcellinus, who fought against them and knew their culture, noted that they were many tribes, but since they all lived and fought in the same manner, they were "all known as the Alani." I have no idea how many Alanic tribes there were, but the Aorsi were a large contingent, and of course the Roxolani were the first to hit Europe.
I am an admirer of Ammianus. He was "real," a former Roman officer under the Apostate, fighting both in Pannonia and the East; and he refers to rivers "rushing hard by" and "gaining booty"-- not your fluffy historian who sat around eating grapes (aka Strabo). Ammianus made the distinction between "Sarmatian" tribes upon the Hungarian steppe, and the "Alani" who lived upon the Black Sea littoral and also far into Asia. ("both parts of the world.") To him, there was a distinction between the Sarmatians and the Alani. I figured out from Herwig Wolfram, that the Taifali were Alans attached to the Gothic Tyrfingi. And the Tyrfingi were literally "people of the sword." The sword was "Tyrfing," also mentioned in the northern legend the Hervar Saga. And I believe that Tyrfing was brought to Britain by the Equites Taifali, or to their probable leader Theudebald "diademned prince the legate." I believe the sword could have been Excalibur, "from the Kalybes."
This first Alanic sword is but a practice, something I can use as a reenactor in Legio III's Pannonian cohort. Eventually, I would like to design a reproduction of Tyrfing/Excalibur, which according to the Dream of Rowenbury had mirrored dragons probably holding the "pearl," the ball of fire also found on the Equites Taifali Iuniore's target shields. I believe the sword was an "antique," exactly as mentioned by Herodotus when he discusses the Scythian sword ceremony. The mirrored dragons motif on the hilt must have been similar to the akinakes found at Filippovka, and another at the Issyk kurgan. Both are dated to about 300 BC, the height of Alanic culture, but the style could have been made until the first century BC, especially in the design of a fancy ritual sword that would never have been used in battle.
Another style of Alanic sword, other than the ringed pommel, seems to be almost heart-shaped at the pommel, the entire sword constructed from a single billet of iron/steel. It was found at a kurgan in the Krasnor region at the Zubov farm, somewhere around the first century. Most of these fancy models appear to be votives, or even more likely, "borrowed" items for the deceased, generally found in the entryway, not in the inner chamber. The entry also had votive stags, the "borrowed mounts." The legend goes that the warrior would ride back to "Dreamland" (the Indo-European homeland?) and bring back "good things." This is the premise of transmigration, of returning, as we see in the comparable legend of Arthur, the once and future king.
A great book, cheap for its quality, is "The Golden Deer," containing many color plates of Sarmatian/Scythian artifacts including gold embellished ritual swords and Grail cups with the Bear on them. The book shows horse gear, belt plates, and a lot of goodies that can help reenactors visualize the seeds of an Alano-Gothic culture that eventually redefined the Roman cavalry and gave us the enduring Arthurian legend.
Will keep you posted on my sword progress, difficult but hopefully rewarding. Kudos on your swords, but the scabbards are even better than most. They are right on the money, with the blunt chapet of Chinese origin (even back in the Han period), just like the ones on the Orlot belt plaque. Exellent!
Alanus
A.J. Campbell
Cohors Pannonarium, Legio III Cyrenaica
Alan J. Campbell
member of Legio III Cyrenaica and the Uncouth Barbarians
Author of:
The Demon's Door Bolt (2011)
Forging the Blade (2012)
"It's good to be king. Even when you're dead!"
Old Yuezhi/Pazyrk proverb
member of Legio III Cyrenaica and the Uncouth Barbarians
Author of:
The Demon's Door Bolt (2011)
Forging the Blade (2012)
"It's good to be king. Even when you're dead!"
Old Yuezhi/Pazyrk proverb
