Question about 14th century swords and scabbards

[Magnus]

Hey guys, I just recently acquired this sword, and I wanted to know how else to wrap the handle. Right now there is a piece of leather around it, sewn shut on one side. But I'm not a big fan of it. Anyone know how to wrap a handle, and use what type of material?

Also, the scabbard is just 2 pieces of leather, with a full metal chape at the top, and a metal tip on the bottom. Is that period? My friend said this was a 14th century arming sword...but I know nothing about these weapons.

[Jeroen Pelgrom]

i think you can use leather/ ivory for the handle.

regarding the scabbard: IIRC it was wood, covered with leather.

[Carlton Bach]

Rehilting a sword properly isn't easy, but yes, hardwood, bone, ivory or even horn could be used. But leather isn't really such a bad choice of material. You also sometimes see wires criss-crossing over the hilts of swords from that era, but that seems to be more a decorative thing.

As to the scabbard, at that time you'll definitely want a woodcore sheath. I cheat on mine nby using plywood, but you can also use solid if you're feeling masochistic. The idea is simple:

- cut out a pattern of your sword blade plus about 1cm on the sides

- if it's solid, carve out a channel deep enough to admit the blade plus a millimetre or two. If you're using plywood, build up the edge by gluing on wood strips to get a similar effect. You have a slightly loose, two-part 'container'.

- take cheap fur and cut the hair short (a beard trimmer is very helpful here). Glue itz into the inside of the sheath on both sides, with the 'grain' of the fur pointing towards the opening. That way, the shword is held in place, is easy to draw and the oil is distributed over the blade and held there.

- Glue together the two halves. After drying them, the sword should fit snugly. If it doesn't, you did something wrong.

- rasp the sides until a broadly symmetrical, rounded shape results. If you want metal fittings, now is the time to take account of their shape. Afterwards, sand the wood down.

- You can strengthen the scabbard by gluing a layer of thin linen cloth around it.

- Then fit a leather covering, sewn along the back, and whatever metal fittings you want.

A sword of this kind should be worn on a separate 'warbelt', with metal fittings and maybe dyed leather, and taken off when not in use. You can hang it from convenient hooks fpor good visual effect (the Huntiong Book of Gaston Phoebuis shows them dangling from trees during a picnic)

[Ironhand]

The wood for the scabbard tended to be fairly tight fighting. It could have a rain guard at the top. Most 14th century scabbards were fairly plain in decoration. Arms and Armour of the Medieval Knight has good illustrations of 14th century scabbards and there are a wealth of sources such as effegies. The Westminster Bridge sword is a good example of 14th century scabbard style. Here is a picture. It is fairly typical in that its fittings are simple even though they are silver. I'd focus more on the quality of leather and the suspension system. Tritonworks does beautiful 14th century style work.

[Ironhand]

Heres some examples from Tritonworks of what you can do for 14th century scabbards.

[Ironhand]

Another

[Lusitano]

To wrap the handle:

http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/ ... hp?t=68236

To make a wooden scabbard

http://www.christianfletcher.com/Site/G ... ction.html

Altough its for a gladius, the woodwork is the same.

[Magnus]

Awesome, thanks so much guys. I rebuilt my gladius scabbard, so I see the workmanship is basically the same. I may also just wrap some steel wire around this handle, or leather thong over top of the existing leather.

Derek, is that sword belt permanently attached to the scabbard, or is it just held on with buckles? Great pictures, btw. Thanks for the references.

[Carlton Bach]

Derek, is that sword belt permanently attached to the scabbard, or is it just held on with buckles? Great pictures, btw. Thanks for the references.

The one titled 'crusader' is permanently attached (yoiu can unpick the knotes, but it's a lot of pointless work). This kind of attachjment usually comes with fairly plain belts and can be found from the 11th century onwards, though the very elaborate ties shown here seem to be based on a 13th/14th cetury source (the Codex Manesse and Gothic statuary are favourites)- However, by the fourteenth century you can also have metal fitting with attachment rings that tie or 'clip' to belt strips. The rings for this are visible on the Westminster sword picture. By the later 14th century, that method becomes more or less standard.

[Magnus]

Cool. I'll take that into consideration when I make a new scabbard Volker. Thanks!

[A_Volpe]

Magnus -

Yeah, you could classify that as an "Arming Sword", but could also fall under "Short Sword"; although the blade on the one you've got pictured looks a bit on the long side, but I think that's hair-splitting for classification.

That would be a common sword from late 1200's, probably more 1300-1400's, and probably used with a buckler as seen in I.33/Walpurgis Fechtbuch, or possibly with a "Heater" shield, something like a "Crusader" sort of getup, and shortly revisited in 16th and 17th century [manuals] for something like a "sword and shield man"/Targeteer...And now I can't find the illustration/reference for it now...I'm pretty sure it's in an Osprey book somewhere...He's got a heater shield, a short sword (with I believe a finger-ring in the hilt), and a closed helmet/armet...Darnit, ah well.