Aikidoka
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Post by Aikidoka on Apr 23, 2020 22:24:48 GMT
ATrim Two-Handed French Medieval Falchion
Historical overview
The above image of a two-handed French falchion was created by James Elmslie in support of a video game, "War of the Roses".
Per the Elmslie typology, the ATrim Two-Handed French Medieval Falchion is an F3e falchion. The blade design was inspired by the Italian storta (shown below) that resides in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. James Elmslie was kind enough to provide this photo with the blade profile at various points, shown below in white. As can be seen here, this Italian sword had a very complex blade profile. The ATrim Two-Handed French Medieval Falchion has a less complex blade profile.
Although the inspiration for this design was an Italian piece, this design was popular in France as can be seen by the number of these falchions found in period artwork. Here is an example from a 15th century French manuscript:
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Full Disclosure
I was awarded this sword as the first place prize for the cutting tournament at the 2019 Swordsquatch HEMA event.
Statistics
Blade Length: 35.5 inches
Grip Length: 9 inches
Overall Length: 46.5 inches
Guard Width: 8 inches
POB (Point of Balance): 5 inches
Weight: 2 lbs 10.9 oz
Distal Taper:
The Blade
This blade has a distinctive spine with two clip points and a third peak located about 1/3 of the way down the blade.
Handling Characteristics
This two-handed falchion weighs 2 lbs 11 oz with a POB at 5 inches. So it is roughly the same weight and balance of a typical Japanese katana, but much longer and wider. The result is a sword which is both powerful and nimble.
Test Cutting
This was my first cutting session with the ATrim Two-Handed French Falchion that I won as the first place prize from the 2019 Swordsquatch cutting tournament. Double cut combinations were easy to perform on either single or double mat targets with this powerful cutting sword.
Today, I performed an ascending double cuts (rising cut from each direction) on a double thick tatami mat target. Wow... this is a powerful cutting sword 
Conclusions
Pros
- Interesting blade type
- Powerful cutting sword
Cons
- Expensive (~$1300 USD)
The Bottom Line
I would highly recommend this sword to anyone interested in falchions and/or looking for a very powerful and effective cutting sword.
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Post by jgelmslie on Apr 24, 2020 1:22:10 GMT
I suppose, 4 years after signing up to here, I really should actually contribute something... just a little late. Oops.
Akidoka let me know he was putting this review up, asked if I wanted any of the comments changed, but I figure its best to leave them as-is, and make a few brief observations instead.
There are, to the best of my knowledge, no western European two-handed falchions surviving from the medieval period. A long-hilted type F3 with an Oakeshott Form "T" pommel in the care of the Archaeological museum, Crdoba, Spain being the closest. There are a small body of central european arms, particularly hungarian sabres with (admittedly short) two-handed grips, and of course there's plenty of post-medieval two-handed single-edged arms, from messers to swiss sabres, and a small body of single-edged two-handed swords. But with the exception of messers, all are rare.
The "french two-handed falchion" was inspired by the images of such items in the BNF.Fr51 "Speculum historale", and modelled for the 2013 video game "war of the roses", mostly as a gratuitous excuse to add something to the game (which I was working on as a consultant to the art department) that didnt survive but was entirely plausible, and as a little vanity exercise - it might well have only been a video game, but the weapons all had my personal makers' mark hidden in the textures.
Its rather taken a life of its own since, with at least one craftsman making a physical version of it without knowing it was from a game, and I understand that Angus Trim was also somewhat influenced by the design in the creation of this version, I certainly chatted a few times about them with him during its design stages. It taking on that life has rather made me feel the principles behind it were indeed pretty plausible. So much so that part of my reason for commenting is to ensure people dont mistake it for a real object that's out there in some museum, and be well-informed that such designs are solely speculative.
hopefully that info will be of interest for people.
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Aikidoka
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Post by Aikidoka on Apr 24, 2020 1:43:46 GMT
Thanks for the additional information and for all of your help, James!
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Aikidoka
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Monstrous monk in training...
Posts: 1,452
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Post by Aikidoka on Apr 28, 2020 22:39:11 GMT
Additional cutting video added.
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pellius
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Post by pellius on Apr 29, 2020 1:31:43 GMT
A two handed falchion conceived by J Elmslie, crafted by Atrim, and wielded by Aikidoka.
Absolutely fantastic. Very very cool.
Thanks for sharing.
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Post by ThomasW on Apr 29, 2020 18:34:20 GMT
Lovely blade!
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Post by Tomt24 on Apr 29, 2020 22:33:58 GMT
The cutting is really impressive.
Two handed falchion seems like the perfect medieval cutter.
Could it be that some museum has one somewhere in storage?
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