Joyeuse Sword of Charlemagne - Greatness Steel Handicrafts
Jun 14, 2024 23:52:42 GMT
Post by Barahir on Jun 14, 2024 23:52:42 GMT
Introduction (Who I am again ?)
A 48-year-old Canadian, I have been collecting swords for about 20 years. I own all sorts of weapons… ranging from movie replicas, historical replicas, fantasy weapons and a mix of all of these at the same time! I am by no means a weapons expert, nor a historian, nor a time traveler who thinks I know everything (like some folks on internet), nor a good reviewer. I'm just a fan who likes to add shiny steel items to his armory. If you are also a member of the SBG group on Facebook, you can also find me there under the name of Philippe Goulet (the guy who love Scandinavian/Viking/Saxon style swords). I am launching here to present this interesting sword which had piqued my curiosity. Here is Joyeuse, the Sword of Charlemagne from Greatness Steel Handicrafts
Full Disclosure
This is my second Greatness Steel Handicrafts sword. In fact, I almost discover at the same time as you this new Indian sword manufacturer which seems very promising to me, according their Type H Viking Sword I’ve held recently. Knowing my great interest in swords in general, they reached me again and offered to send me Joyeuse so that I could also review it. We concluded that I would do an honest review. I was not asked anything specific. I therefore have no affiliation with them (but I nevertheless offered some advice in the development of this sword) and I am in no way an expert in weapons, as mentioned in my introduction. So, let's start.
Manufacturer Overview
Greatness Steel Handicrafts is an independent forge located in the Derahdun region of India. Region known for its highly talented blacksmiths. They forge blades from Indian EN45 hardened steel.
Islam Abbasi, owner of the company, has 34 years of experience in blade and knife forging. He started in this industry at the age of 20. He learned his job from his uncles and working for companies as labourer such as India Craft Emporium and Windlass Steelcrafts. Eventually, Islam started his own small factory with only 2-3 employees, initially serving only Indian retailers. Today, at 54, he still works as a labourer but in his own company. If you try to get in touch with them, you will have the pleasure of dealing with his lovely daughter Tanisha, who serves as a spokesperson for the company.
So for a long time they only forged blades. Looking to the future, they are now embarking on crafting complete swords, complete with their own scabbard.
Historical Overview
Joyeuse is, on the one hand, the legendary sword of Charlemagne in the Song of Roland, and on the other hand, a sword used during the coronation of the kings of France from the 12th or 13th century, called the “sword of Charlemagne ". A ceremonial sword. It is one of the oldest surviving “regalia” (Royal insignia (crown, globe, scepter, etc.) used for the coronation ceremony) in the Kingdom of France.
The sword used during the coronation of the kings of France, probably since Philip Augustus in 1179, documented since Philip III the Bold in 1271, was also called Joyeuse, and it was claimed that it was the same . In fact, it was made later, using elements from various periods:
The pommel dates from the end of the Carolingian period (10th century);
The quillons in the shape of opposing dragons making up the guard date from the 12th century;
The handle dates from the 13th or 14th century;
This sword was kept in the treasure of Saint-Denis until it entered the collections of the Louvre Museum in 1793. The sword was used again for the coronation of Napoleon in 1804, then under the Restoration.
This sword produced by Greatness Steel Handicrafts is one of the very first complete model they are offering to retailer, along with their Viking Type H I already reviewed. Basicly, its their first prototype of Joyeuse. I know that DSA (Canada), Del Tin (Itlay), Marto (Spain) and more recently Magnoli Props in Australia, also have a sword inspired by Joyeuse in their catalog but unfortunately I never had the opportunity to hold them, so I cannot compare them to each other. I look forward to examining in more details the various components as well as the craftsmanship of this version by Greatness Steel Handicrafts.
. To see the photoshoot of this sword, follow the link at end of this review. With that, let's get started.
Initial Impressions
I received this sword in a box and it was tight and protected by several layers of transparent film (which is always tedious to remove and its was not that bad this time!). There was no movement in the box, very tight. Now they have used oil/grease to protect the blade from rust. Very good. The grease had left several stains on the blade which did not come off with WD40. I used AUTOSOL (Steel Cleaning) paste and now I have a nice plain blade mirror finish instead of marbled 😊. All removed, what stands out to me is that this sword is smaller and therefore lighter than I would have imagined based on the manufacturer's photos. it's not a feather either but still better than I would have thought. After a quick glance, he doesn't seem to have any problems with the sword.
I am at first sight impressed with the quality of this sword. Especially the very nice mirror blade which seems a little whippy but solid (doesn't seem to have many flaws beside maybe few minor grinding marks). But having already handled a Greatness Steel Handicrafts blade before, I still knew that they were very talented. Then, everything seems fine at first sight and no major flaws jump out at me at first glance. The cast of the hilt look very cool too. The overall craftmanship seems to live up to my expectations. So let's start the deserved analysis of this beautiful sword.
Actual Statistics
Blade Length : 29 3/8’’
Overall Length : 36 1/4’’
Handle: 6 5/8’’
Grip Length : 3 3/4’’
Weight : 3.05 lb
Edge : Unsharpened
Pommel : Peened
Width : a nice 55 mm
Distal Taper : (Thicker Side – back of the edge ) 4.5mm – 3.5mm – 3.1mm
P.O.B.: 4’’ Below hilt
Blade Material : polished EN45 Carbon Steel Blade from India
COMPONENTS
The Hilt
The hilt is therefore largely inspired by Charlemagne's ceremonial sword as mentioned in the introduction. The original hilt is made of gold. Here, as discussed with the manufacturer, at first glance they intended to cast it in bronze. But not worrying about the excessive weight that the sword would have had, they backed away. They also tried to cast it in two parts hoping to make the sword lighter, but without success. In addition, they were afraid of affecting its solidity. The alternative solution chosen was to cast it in polished brass, lighter and certainly less expensive.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that the hilt was less imposing than I would have thought when opening the box. I was expecting something bigger and more massive. For good reason, the hilt of Charlemagne's original sword measures almost 9 inches wide and on this inspiration from Greatness Steel Handicrafts it is only 7 inches.
The casting is well done. I thought I saw imperfections in the photos of the prototype before sending it, but to the naked eye, it's not so bad after all. It is very beautiful and one might be tempted to believe that it is truly a golden sword.
Compared to the original sword, the hilt is still roughly quite faithful in its details. Everything seems to be there.
The Blade
The blade used for this ‘’inspired replica’’ of Joyeuse is a Type X, according to the Oakeshott Typology. We know that this is not historically correct considering that it is a 'replica'. The original blade is longer and thinner than the one chosen by Greatness Handicrafts. So let's say that this sword is an inspiration from Joyeuse without being a faithful replica.
The blade is made of Indian EN45 carbon steel. Similar to 9260 spring steel, well-tempered EN45 is flexible and shock resistant. With a composition similar to 9260 this spring steel exhibits similarly impressive flexing characteristics due to its substantial addition of silicon. So, EN45 carbon steel is good because when it is properly heat treated it becomes resilient. It is quite tough and can keep its edge fairly well. Since I'm not a metallurgy expert, I can't verify if this is really what Greatness Steel Handicraft used in their India forge. It sports a high level of resistance to fatigue, has high ductility, and has good spring qualities useful for applications where flexibility is desired. In order to lighten and help a blade perform, it is often said that there must be a distal taper. Distal tapering refers to a blade's cross-section thinning from its base to its tip. I measured using my caliper and indeed, there is indeed a distal taper on this blade. The thickest part of the blade (the back of the single edge) is 4.5mm at the guard, reaches 3.5mm in the middle and ends at 3.1mm near the tip, where the fuller end. The blade of this sword comes unsharpened from the manufacturer. But they look forward to sharpen their blades for future clients if needed.
There is no visible wave in the blade, no forging mark, and it is fully straight. Not so many minor traces of grinding but its there. The finish is on the mirror side. Just perfect like that for a ceremonial sword. There is a fuller (well centered) running from guard to 4 1/2’’ from the tip. Basicly, its the same blade used for their Type H Viking sword, but with a corrected wider fuller. As I said above, it's not really the kind of blade that should have been used to make a more faithful replica. The original Joyeuse blade measures 41” (30” here) and is 45mm (55 cm here) wide at the hilt. However, this error does not detract from the quality of craftmanship that I expected from this sword. Really nice looking finish overall. It’s the blade that Greatness Steel Handicrafts have chosen. It’s definitely a blade, yes thick, which shrinks quickly, but solid!
When you play with the sword a bit, you find the blade a bit whippy for this sizes. When hitting the blade on the flat against my knee, I don't hear any rattling at all. The sword is solidly built and almost no gap between the blade and the guard. Then there is a good flex to this blade considering the thickness, I bent it in both directions and it went back to true. The tip is perfect and pointy, nothing bent.
The blade is a full tang. You can easily see the peen at the end of the pommel. This gives us additional strength.
The Scabbard
Greatness Steel Handicrafts usually makes its own scabbards. A beautiful scabbard is indeed planned to accompany this sword but unfortunately as I write these lines, it has not yet seen the light of day. This means that I don't have a scabbard to review. However, I will be able to talk to you about it in due course when it exists.
Handling
Honestly, I did not do any cutting or strength test with this sword. I know that many collectors like to see water bottles waltzing into pieces in the air, but it is often only the sharpening of the blade that we analyze in these cases in my opinion, which can be very different from blade to blade for the same model. Also, I treat my swords like oeuvre d’art, and I don't see the point in testing for destruction. There are other ways to analyze the handling of swords than trying to destroy them. That's my personal opinion.
Now concerning the Greatness Steel Handicrafts Joyeuse Sword, as we saw earlier in the review, despite the relatively heavy weight (3.05 lb), I find it doesn't handle very bad at all. The way the handle is made, is comfortable even its in brass instead of leather, I have enough room for my hand and the rocket shape of the grip gives us a safe hold. I don't find that the sword feels unbalanced. Anyway I couldn't do any test cuts because I received this sword unsharpened. It is also to be believed that all swords forged in India are sold dull, as Greatness Steel Handicrafts will offer some factory sharpened models, they just need to get the right papers for it.
I still carried out a few small hitting tests. I hit a few dead trees and the blade did not break or damage (as seen with one of my swords from another Indian manufacturer on the SBG Facebook page). Nevertheless, overall, I enjoy wielding this popular, easily recognizable sword with a Joyeuse hilt.
Conclusions
Overall, I love this sword. Yes like almost the swords in my collection. It will be a keeper for me for sure. The Quality/Control is better than I would have imagined even if I had no expectation (Ha ha !). Still, it's a very nice model for budget sword collectors.
This sword is not yet available from any retailer because it was a prototype. I am the lucky one who was offered to analyze it. Greatness Steel Handicrafts are open to speaking with any retailer who would like to place an order for their store or simply send their own designs if they are looking for someone to do business with. Greatness Steel Handicrafts seem very honest and it was a pleasure to work with them. Some makers are talented, make good swords, but are also good at irritating customers (I won't name names here... ahem!). This is not the case for Greatness Handicrafts so far. Really friendly and close to the customers. They learn and do it the right way.
It is also difficult to compare this interpretation with that of other manufacturers (because I don't have them!), because they all differ in the materials used for the blade or the hilt, which greatly affects the selling price. I could easily predict that a retailer would list this sword for between $300 and $350 USD. Do we generally compare $300 swords with $800 swords? Generally no, but you will tell me that sometimes... but that is another debate! In short, I like this version. You can contact them on facebook at Greatness Steel Handicraft or just email them at greatnesssteelhandicraft@gmail.com
Now, do I recommend this sword to collectors too? Yes, without any hesitation. For the quality of the craftsmanship, the materials, the relative historical representation. And you will have for your port a quality scabbard for the accompanied (later!). Because nothing is perfect in this world, I give a nice 4 stars out of 5 for Joyeuse, the Sword or Charlemagne by Greatness Steel Handicrafts.
To see this sword in images, its here
To see more of my collection its here
To see more of my collection its here