The sword is the most iconic of all weapons. Throughout history, it has connected various, sometimes conflicting, dimensions of human culture: physical combat and representation of political power, definition of gender roles and refinement of body techniques, evolution of craftsmanship and mythological symbolism.
The articles collected here explore these dimensions, from a variety of disciplines, among them archaeology, medieval history, museum conservation, and linguistics. They cover topics from the production and combat use of Bronze Age swords via medieval fencing culture to the employment of the sword in modern military. They question traditional sword typologies and wide-spread theories about sword making, discuss medieval sword terminology and the use of swords as royal insignia, and describe the scientific methods for approaching original finds. Arising from an international conference held at Deutsches Klingenmuseum Solingen (the German Blade Museum), the volume provides fresh insights into the forms the sword can take, and the thoughts it inspires.
Author(s): Lisa Deutscher, Mirjam Kaiser, Sixt Wetzler (eds.)
Series: Armour and Weapons
Publisher: The Boydell Press
Year: 2019
Language: English
Pages: xxii+272
City: Woodbridge
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgements xv
Foreword / Isabell Immel xvi
Preface / Sixt Wetzler, Lisa Deutscher, Mirjam Kaiser xvii
List of Contributors xx
I. TYPOLOGY
1. 'What is the Riddle of Steel?': Problems of Classification and Terminology in the Study of Late Medieval Swords / Iason-Eleftherios Tzouriadis 3
2. Challenging Typologies: Swords in the Utrecht Psalter / Stefan Mäder 12
3. '...schirmen mit Federklingen': Towards a Terminology of Fencing Swords (1400–1600) / Daniel Jaquet 24
II. METALLURGY AND PRODUCTION
4. Phosphoric Iron and Welded Patterns: The Reconstruction of an Early Medieval Sword from Beckum / Ulrich Lehmann, Stefan Roth and Claus Lipka 43
5. Material and Properties of VLFBERHT Swords / Ingo Petri 61
6. A Sword from the Rhine: Restoration, Examination and Classification of a Chance Find / Holger Becker 89
7. The Highest Art of Smithery: Research on a Tyrolean Sword / Florian Messner and Ulrike Töchterle 102
III. SYMBOLIC MEANING AND CULTURAL PERCEPTION
8. The Battle for Glory: Form and Function of Early Nordic Bronze Age Swords / Jan-Heinrich Bunnefeld 119
9. The Iron Sword from the 'Warrior's Grave' in Lanuvium / Fabrizio Savi 131
10. The Swords of the Italic Kings / Vincenzo d’Ercole 143
11. Three Treasures in One Blade: Thoughts on a Rare Form of the Japanese Sword / Michael Mattner 155
12. '.j. veel feble fauchon dil anxien temps.' The Selection of the Falchion as Symbol of Tenure: Form, Function and Symbolism / Robert W. Jones 167
13. The Way of the Northmen: The Development of the Norman Sword from Duke Rollo in Normandy to Emperor Frederick II in Sicily from the Tenth to the Thirteenth Century / Nicole Mölk 176
IV. FIGHTING AND SWORDSMANSHIP
14. Researching Bronze Age Swordsmanship: Experiments and Wear Analysis / Raphael Hermann, Andrea Dolfini, Rachel J. Crellin and Marion Uckelmann 187
15. Egenolff's Fight Book: Form and Thought, Then and Now / Matthias Johannes Bauer 208
16. A Sword for a System: The Pattern 1796 Light Cavalry Sword / Henry Yallop 216
Bibliography 236
Index of People 263
Index of Places 265
General Index 267
