Well, here it is! I finally finished the hilt on my (very) Late Roman spatha. Based on the Illrup-Wyhl, var. Wyhl A578 from Miks, it comes from Gotland.
I would welkom thoughts on the approriate scabbard fittings, as the sword does not have an exact dating and could be more of a Migration Era or Merovingian sword then typicly Late Roman.
The Handle on this blade is AFAIK 4th century (the guard and pommel are Germanic type 1 I do believe) so I'd date a blade like this to the late 4th century. In that case, the fittings of the trier spatha scabbard, which were fairly standard (think Markus Montavus' spatha fittings) would be appropriate.
Just my 2 cents. Correct me if I'm wrong, I don't know as much about blade and sword typology as some of you.
The grip itself is OK, but the pommel feels strange. It requires a kind of "handshake" hold of the sword. However, I followed the original measurements, so this is historicly correct.
WOW Robert Beautiful :woot: As to a scabbard here is a pick from Vimose showing a metal handled version;
As you can see this may point you in the direction of the type of fittings you wish to do, will see if I can find a chape that might be on this type of sword. Opps forgot there are a lot of fittings out there to put on the scabbard like the above slide wise so will have a look for them also Again great sword :lol:
Regards Brennivs
Woe Ye The Vanquished
Brennvs 390 BC
When you have all this why do you envy our mud huts
Caratacvs
Centvrio Princeps Brennivs COH I Dacorivm (Roma Antiqvia)
Total weight of the sword is 1083 grams, blade is about 80 cm long, balance point is 15 cm up from the base of the hilt. It handles very well. For a blade this length, there is high degree of distal taper. Cross section is lenticular, edges are near sharp. The fittings of the hilt and the flare of the grip do add to the overall weight.
I have a good bit of data indeed from those sites, but the range in time is rather extensise, as are the different fittings. The Wyhl spatha stays around till well after 500 AD, according to Miks chonology. So I am a bit in doubt about going for the (later) dubble suspension clasps instead of the single one as shown in the picture. The chape would be U shaped in case of dubble clasps.
my friend Robert Moc made a replica of such spatha type some time ago. Maybe it can help with inspiration. However, it was for a collection and not to be really worn by anyone, so I suspect the scabbard has no fittings to attach it to a belt.
Juraj "Lýsandros" Skupy
Dierarchos
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In the old times, people were much closer to each other. The firing range of their weapons simply wasnt long enough
Yes, it does! It will be my sword for re-enactment in Zutphen, where the foundation has rented a small site with two reconstructions of historical buildings from the Merovingian period. Here are some pictures to give you all an impression: https://www.facebook.com/ErveEme/photos_stream
I have a spatha with a 80 cm, heavy blade too. The grips of roman swords were surprisingly short many times, like many later viking swords. In fact I think that many swords with heavy blades were meant to be held with a kind of "semi-pistol grip". If you hold them with a traditional straight grip you can feel how it twists your wrist violently when you swing with it or even hold it in your hand with the blade pointing down.
Absolutely agree. I have several quite heavy or just point heavy singlehanders and the pistol/handshake grip is definitely the grip for them, or one is going to hurt his wrist...
Thanks guys! The sword is not point heavy, it is well balanced, but the big grip does increase the overall weight, as boxwood is a very dense wood and then there are the brass fittings. The original pommelnut is bootshaped and 7 mm high.
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![[Image: 07190042.jpg]](http://s162.photobucket.com/user/brennivs/media/MY%20SWORDS/ORIGONAL%20FITTINGS/07190042.jpg.html)
![[Image: fectio.png]](http://s226.photobucket.com/user/sattuviitana/media/fectio.png.html)
