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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2022 21:56:54 GMT
Greetings!
Over the summer, I chronicled my project to build a sword worthy of one of my favorite heroes created by Tolkien: the Elf warrior, Glorfindel of Gondolin. That sword was made using a repurposed type VXIII blade made by Windlass, writhen-style hilt fittings by the basically defunct The Printed Armoury, and really ornate Cirth runes in the Sindarin language and etched by yours truly. That sword was named Luinil, or "Blue Star."
I am pleased to announce that I am moving forward with a new project to create a sword worthy of the Lord of the House of the Golden Flower. This time, I based my design on a work of art painted by Ted Nasmith, who along with Alan Lee and John Howe, is among the most prolific visual artists who bring Tolkien's work to life. The painting is titled "Glorfindel's Bane."
Background
Glorfindel is Lord of the House of the Golden Flower in the hidden city of Gondolin. He is a warrior of great renown and is loved by all his people. When the city of Gondolin is sacked by the enemy in the First Age, it's 400-year-old history is brought to a close by the treachery of one of their own, who gives away the secret location of the city to Morgoth. The city is sacked, and although the Elves put up a mighty defense, the city falls into ruin.
Glorfindel helps lead an exodus from the city via a secret passage through the mountains. As the Elves make their escape, they are cornered by a Balrog. Glorfindel, the only warrior remaining, defeats the Balrog single-handedly, but at the cost of his own life. The Elves bury him where he falls and erect a cairn in his honor. Thereafter, golden celandine blossoms grow upon his grave.
"Sword of the Golden Flower"
This sword is named Mallosmacil, which means "Sword of the Golden Flower" in Sindarin.
The design is owed to Brother Nate, aka The Levin Lance, who was kind enough to let me repurpose one of his unused designs. He even created the first sketch for me, which I have subsequently tweaked a bit.
The sword is another type XVIII, but this time a type XVIIIe. I have long wanted a Scandinavian style greatsword, and I thought this would be the perfect project for one.
The type XVIIIe sword has a simple elegance to the form along with a no nonsense design. It's the perfect size to take down a Balrog. It also resembles what little we can see of the sword featured in Nasmith's painting.
I will provide more details about my project in future posts and will use this thread to provide updates. To date, Purna has sketched the sword and has begun work on the hilt fittings.
To be continued...
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rschuch
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Sharp blades are good to have, if Shire-folk go walking, east, south, far away into dark and danger.
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Post by rschuch on Dec 24, 2022 14:37:31 GMT
Oh crap! This may be impossible to resist!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2022 15:40:12 GMT
Oh crap! This may be impossible to resist! I held out for a while, but Nate's design stirred something in me and I couldn't stop thinking about it. So this is some serious wish fulfillment taking place here. |
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rschuch
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Sharp blades are good to have, if Shire-folk go walking, east, south, far away into dark and danger.
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Post by rschuch on Dec 24, 2022 18:29:19 GMT
Oh crap! This may be impossible to resist! I held out for a while, but Nate's design stirred something in me and I couldn't stop thinking about it. So this is some serious wish fulfillment taking place here. That's some serious sexy! I love the historical greatsword comparisons! Fantasy swords are so much better based on reality, otherwise they scream wallhanger. How big is the blade going to be? In the Rings of Power series I saw Galadriel had a nice double handed, but this is going to blow that away! |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2022 18:44:09 GMT
I held out for a while, but Nate's design stirred something in me and I couldn't stop thinking about it. So this is some serious wish fulfillment taking place here. That's some serious sexy! I love the historical greatsword comparisons! Fantasy swords are so much better based on reality, otherwise they scream wallhanger. How big is the blade going to be? In the Rings of Power series I saw Galadriel had a nice double handed, but this is going to blow that away! Galadriel's sword in RoP was formerly a big greatsword wielded by her brother, Finrod, but part of the tip was broken off. In practice that's kinda silly, but in theory it's an interesting characteristic for her. She spent so many years fighting the enemy that her sword, already an antique due to her advanced age, had so much mileage on it that it was basically a shard.
My sword is slightly scaled down compared to most type XVIIIe swords. I actually based the measurements and proportions on sword from another fantasy show, House of the Dragon. Peter Johnsson made the legendary Valyrian steel longswords: Blackfyre and Dark Sister. The sword wielded by Matt Smith, who plays Daemon Targaryen, is Dark Sister. I think it's basically a type XVIIIb with a small ricasso.
In addition to Dark Sister being an influence, I also wanted Peter Lyon's sword of the Witchking from the Lord of the Rings films to be an influence. That sword is clearly a type XVIIIe. In fact, I wanted that sword to be so similar to my design that they are functionally the same sword but one is a "light" version, while the other is "dark". A sort of spiritual dichotomy in terms of sword design. When Glorfindel is re-embodied and sent back to Middle-earth in the Second Age, the Witchking becomes his greatest nemesis. So the notion that their swords are essentially twins is really exciting to me. It's kinda like Harry Potter and Voldemort's wands.
My Sword Specs
Overall length: 123cm
Blade length: 92cm (includes ricasso in measurement)
Blade width: 4cm at widest point, tapering to 2cm before the tip
Ricasso length: 10cm
Ricasso width: 3cm
Blade thickness: 8mm at the ricasso tapering to 3mm at the tip.
Guard width: 24cm
Guard height: 2cm
Grip length: 24cm
Pommel height: 5cm
Weight: No more than 1600g
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rschuch
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Sharp blades are good to have, if Shire-folk go walking, east, south, far away into dark and danger.
Posts: 873
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Post by rschuch on Dec 24, 2022 19:12:26 GMT
That's some serious sexy! I love the historical greatsword comparisons! Fantasy swords are so much better based on reality, otherwise they scream wallhanger. How big is the blade going to be? In the Rings of Power series I saw Galadriel had a nice double handed, but this is going to blow that away! Galadriel's sword in RoP was formerly a big greatsword wielded by her brother, Finrod, but part of the tip was broken off. In practice that's kinda silly, but in theory it's an interesting characteristic for her. She spent so many years fighting the enemy that her sword, already an antique due to her advanced age, had so much mileage on it that it was basically a shard.
My sword is slightly scaled down compared to most type XVIIIe swords. I actually based the measurements and proportions on sword from another fantasy show, House of the Dragon. Peter Johnsson made the legendary Valyrian steel longswords: Blackfyre and Dark Sister. The sword wielded by Matt Smith, who plays Daemon Targaryen, is Dark Sister. I think it's basically a type XVIIIb with a small ricasso.
In addition to Dark Sister being an influence, I also wanted Peter Lyon's sword of the Witchking from the Lord of the Rings films to be an influence. That sword is clearly a type XVIIIe. In fact, I wanted that sword to be so similar to my design that they are functionally the same sword but one is a "light" version, while the other is "dark". A sort of spiritual dichotomy in terms of sword design. When Glorfindel is re-embodied and sent back to Middle-earth in the Second Age, the Witchking becomes his greatest nemesis. So the notion that their swords are essentially twins is really exciting to me. It's kinda like Harry Potter and Voldemort's wands.
My Sword Specs
Overall length: 123cm
Blade length: 92cm (includes ricasso in measurement)
Blade width: 4cm at widest point, tapering to 2cm before the tip
Ricasso length: 10cm
Ricasso width: 3cm
Blade thickness: 8mm at the ricasso tapering to 3mm at the tip.
Guard width: 24cm
Guard height: 2cm
Grip length: 24cm
Pommel height: 5cm
Weight: No more than 1600g
Wow! Some amazingly beautiful details on that HoD sword. That's not going to be cheap! I did a quick look for a replica xviiie and there's not much. DSA has one that looks nice but $700 or so, and then there's the Kawashima version for $350 or so. Not sure about that one... ageofchivalry.com/shop/ols/products/great-sword-type-18e www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/two-handed-sword-oakeshott-type-xviiie.htmlI'm sure Purna's will be incredible! You get what you pay for, right? |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2022 19:18:33 GMT
Albion also makes a type XVIIIe called "The Dane." There are a couple smiths who will make them on request. One certainly does get what one pays for. The brass work on this build is going to be super time consuming for Purna. By comparison, the blade will be the easiest part to get right. One does not always get to say that about making swords.
I think what I really have here is a type XVIIIb with a ricasso, but I don't like to get bogged down by typologies, especially given that it's a fantasy sword.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2022 21:50:53 GMT
Purna has roughly hammered out the blade, cast the pommel (not pictured), and cast the hilt. I received this update on Monday, so there is no doubt he is hard at work on the more tedious aspects of the hilt fittings.   |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2023 0:12:55 GMT
More progress has been made...   |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2023 0:33:23 GMT
Nice, that's loooking beautiful. That's a pretty great interpretation, especially now that it's taking form
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2023 1:49:43 GMT
Latest progress, also featuring The Vined Prince 2.0 designed by The Levin Lance.   |
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rschuch
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Sharp blades are good to have, if Shire-folk go walking, east, south, far away into dark and danger.
Posts: 873
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Post by rschuch on Jan 7, 2023 4:54:53 GMT
Oh man that's gorgeous!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2023 5:03:21 GMT
There's currently an issue with the weight. It's about 4.5 pounds. The point of balance is 5cm from the hilt. With the sword having such a heavy hilt, I'm unsure where Purna should grind on that blade, or how we can reduce the weight of the sword overall but keep the POB where it currently is.
Sword physics is so confusing!
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AndiTheBarvarian
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Jan 7, 2023 5:11:56 GMT
2 kg?
For such a big sword not unacceptable, look at Albion's Dane, but it depends on the mass distribution.
PoB sounds well and it doesn't look like it's just adjusted with a heavy counterweight pommel.
Long handle is better.
You also can't work with too much distal taper on a thrusting orientated sword with slender blade.
Perhaps just an a little bit more pointy foible.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2023 15:37:45 GMT
2 kg? For such a big sword not unacceptable, look at Albion's Dane, but it depends on the mass distribution. PoB sounds well and it doesn't look like it's just adjusted with a heavy counterweight pommel. Long handle is better. You also can't work with too much distal taper on a thrusting orientated sword with slender blade. Perhaps just an a little bit more pointy foible. This is helpful advice. I appreciate it.
Here are some adjustments we are making to the design: the ricasso section is being refined to an octagonal cross section, the tip is becoming more acute, and the blade will transition from an hollow ground diamond cross section to a thicker diamond cross section near the tip. This will remove some weight, but it's likely to stay just above 4 pounds. In the end, I think it's about mass distribution, not weight.
Also, due to the new cross section in the ricasso, I am ditching the rayed sun engraving on one side, but keeping the runes.
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AndiTheBarvarian
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Jan 7, 2023 15:51:41 GMT
Sounds like good ideas.
Just one thought:
Reducing the weight of the ricasso might be contraproductive.
I'm thinking of antique Euro sabers which have a very thick blade at the guard with strong distal taper to improve the mass distribution = more mass near the guard, less mass outside.
On the other side, the oktagonal ricasso looks good.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2023 15:54:06 GMT
Sounds like good ideas. Just one thought: Reducing the weight of the ricasso might be contraproductive. I'm thinking of antique Euro sabers which have a very thick blade at the guard with strong distal taper to improve the mass distribution = more mass near the guard, less mass outside. On the other side, the oktagonal ricasso looks good. I had the same thought about the ricasso, but Purna assured me it would only reduce the mass by about 20-30g. A friend I've been consulting with advised that pushing the POB back another centimeter or two won't make a perceptible difference. He recommended an overall hollow grind and reprofiling the tip to be more acute. Since Peter Johnsson partially inspired this, and given his preference for more acute tips on swords of this type, it seemed like a good idea. This is just gonna be an ice pick of a sword. |
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Post by eastman on Jan 7, 2023 20:47:27 GMT
looks like the modifications will get you in the right direction. I agree with Andi that a 2 kg 2-hander is not unreasonable. I will be having a XIIa "Grete Swerde of Warre" built this year and I am expecting 1.8-1.9 kg (95 cm blade).
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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2023 13:35:24 GMT
Was just advised by Purna that the sword is now down to 1750g overall, with an 800g blade. The hilt and pommel weigh more than the actual blade, as I anticipated.
Given that he has removed a lot of material, apart from reprofiling the tip to be more acute, we are going to leave the ricasso section rectangular.
The sword blade is now off to the engraver to carve the runes, and the fittings are off to the gold plater to be plated with gold.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2023 22:59:38 GMT
Purna engraved the ricasso of the sword blade with the runes. He also fabricated the scabbard parts and had them plated in gold, along with the hilt components. All that's left to do is polish and sharpen the blade, assemble the parts, and let epoxy cure for a few days. This will likely ship out on Friday.   |
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