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My Newest Blade
Topic Started: Aug 25 2008, 11:25 PM (159 Views)
Union
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Pyrenees Republic
I love swords, especially European shortswords, and recently had one custom made. I feel like sharing it with you all. Lucky you guys.

The sword's design is a replica of the one my great-grandfather was buried with. He was the last of our family to be recognized as a noble (stupid Second Spanish Republic), and had the deed to the entire village of Allenes (which is no more than ruins now). It has a blade made of fine Toledo steel, with the grip made of the same material, but covered in a silver leaf.

On the end of the hilt, there are two engravings - the first one is of the Battle of Roncesvalles (the first one, commemerated in the Song of Roland), where my family traces their lineage to one of Charlemange's knights, Francis de Pueyo, who fought, supposedly, with Roland himself. Despite the disaster for Roland's troops, he stayed on in the Pireneo, and settled there, in Biel. My mother was the last Pueyo - the name will die with her, unfortunately.

On the other side is our coat of arms. It features two knights on the edge of a shield. The shield is divided into four sections. One section is the Aragonese flag, from when our family swore fealty Ramiro I. Another is the flag of Allenes, which features the flag of Aragon, with a crossection of mountains beneath it. The bottom one is the Aragonese symbolic representation for Pueyo, which translates into 'plateau'. The last one, I do not know its origin, but is in our coat of arms.

I have pictures here, though they suck as I lack a good camera.

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Full blade. Not very long. It's a ceremonial sword, though fit for battle it is not intended for that purpose.

Posted Image

Battle of Roncesvalles. It features a cavalry charge against enemy spears, with mountains behind them. The date of the battle, as well as the engraving of the sword, are beneath it. The name of the battle is above it in latin.

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The name of the family is above the image: Pueyo. The rest is the names of our traditional lands (ours no longer), and below it is the date of the engraving.

Well... hope this little talk interests you guys as much as it interests me. :lol:
Edited by Union, Aug 25 2008, 11:28 PM.
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Sedulius
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Field Marshal
It's always good to have a ceremonial family sword to pass on. Who knows how many generations of your own might receive this? It's a good thing you have done.
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Ulgania
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A better Zarathustra has never rode a horse
That's pretty cool.

I had a girlfriend (who... has started talking me a LOT more lately) who collected swords. VERY awesome.
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Union
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Pyrenees Republic
I love my swords. I have one wielded by my great-great uncle during the Spanish American War. It's broken and rusted, so not very useful, but still a cool thing to have. I also have an authentic blade from the British Raj, that belong to a cavalry-man.

I collect mostly daggers and muskets. I have a replica AK-47 in my room at home, and two working muskets from the Spanish colonial period given to me by my father's family from Morocco.
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Rhadamanthus
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Legitimist

I guess I'll have to add this to my "To-Do List":


'Get Hispania's noble title restored.'
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Union
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Pyrenees Republic
Yeah baby. :lol:
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Nag Ehgoeg
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The Devil's Advocate

Yeah... how much did this set you back?
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Union
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Pyrenees Republic
The family paid for half.

I paid... a little over 540 euros.
Edited by Union, Aug 26 2008, 01:18 PM.
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Tristan da Cunha
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Science and Industry
That is a beautiful weapon with a lot of stories.
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NRE
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Map Tsar and Southern Gentleman

I love swords, they're perhaps one of the most beautiful weapons man has ever been inspired to create. I have a meager collection of main stream swords that have not the majesty or worth that an actual sword from a time period does or one that has been passed down through generations of a family. That being said, though they hold no great value by those means they are fun to have ^^ .

Speaking of family history, that is something I really want to do one day, is find the means (and notably the money) to trace my heritage back, as far back, as humanly possible. I know bits and pieces of my family tree but all of it applies only to my family as it's made it's life here in America. Beyond that I know little to nothing and it makes me kinda sad :sad:
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New Harumf
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Bloodthirsty Unicorn
NRE
Aug 26 2008, 02:12 PM
I love swords, they're perhaps one of the most beautiful weapons man has ever been inspired to create. I have a meager collection of main stream swords that have not the majesty or worth that an actual sword from a time period does or one that has been passed down through generations of a family. That being said, though they hold no great value by those means they are fun to have ^^ .

Speaking of family history, that is something I really want to do one day, is find the means (and notably the money) to trace my heritage back, as far back, as humanly possible. I know bits and pieces of my family tree but all of it applies only to my family as it's made it's life here in America. Beyond that I know little to nothing and it makes me kinda sad :sad:
With some effort and not very much money at all my father was able to trace our family back to Wm. Penn's fleet, and a crossing of the Atlantic in 1682, then back to the late 14th century in England and Scotland. It helps that the family was Quaker (I.E. Puritan) because the churches keep exceptional records. I strongly advise talking to any old relatives you have alive, see where your Grandmother, Great Grandmother or Great-great Gaandmother may have stashed the family Bible and find out what Churches they attended! This can be done with letters!

Let me know if you are really interested and maybe I can turn you on to some resources!
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Union
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Pyrenees Republic
I had the good fortune that my family has always kept these records. My grandfather has two tapestries, detailing our family tree [following the eldest son, or in a few rare cases, a next-eldest, or youngest] from Francis to the mid-15th cnetury, and from the mid 15th to late 18th. They're quite beautiful.
Edited by Union, Aug 26 2008, 04:18 PM.
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Menhad
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ET2(IDW)
For my American History class last year we had to make a family tree. It turned out to be very interesting.

My Father's Mother's side were the lords of Langley Castle, the first was Adam de Tynsdall, who was a Norman lord.

My Father's Father's side was nearly the same a Lt. Dan in forest gump, The first in that line was a soldier who fought for the American in the revolution, his son served in a artillery battery during the war of 1812, and defended New York Harbor. His grandson served in the Ohio state volunteer militia. he lost his leg and was taken POW and survived Andersonville. His grandson died during WWI, his son(My grandfather) was a fighter pilot during WWII and Korea, later became a Captain, and commanded his own ship(Some sorta cruiser).

My Mother's Mother's side came from Germany(Thanks to the Nazis, I have 200 years of history from them, to prove they were not Jewish, I will highlight the important ones) This line were rich landowners. My Mother's grandfather was a soldier during WWI (Funny, had the two branches shooting at each other) after the war he became a Chemist and worked for IG Farben(Who later became Bayer) he invented the modern chemical warfare suit, He spoke out against Hitler and was taken away by the SS, two of his daughters were forced into slave labor camps and drew propaganda for the Nazis. In this line we had three Teutonic Knights, and several army officers (They where prussian)

My Mother's Father's side were Scot-Irish decent, they lived in western Tennessee BEFORE 1776 (This was really far west for the time). The Nesbits lay claim to being one of the oldest clans in Scotland. The story goes that a Scottish king was out boar hunting, and when the boar charged his men fled, but a local guide stood his ground and killed the boar, saving the king's life, the Name Nesbit come from the old English for Nose-piece(He was wearing a helmet with a nose piece, rare for the time). They where lords of Southern Scotland, and played a huge role in fighting the English. Their punishment for fighting them, the English sent them to Northern Ireland, to fight the Irish, later they were moved again to the frontier of America to fight the Natives. They fought for the Americans in the revolution, at the battle of King's mountain.
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A.Q.
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Beautiful Snowflake
 *  *  *  *  *  *
Well, I don't have a sword, but I did just order a new AXE!

Posted Image

(It's a bass, and a Les Paul.)

I do have access to the family Kukri, however, if that counts.

Posted Image
(visual aproximation)

And if we're talking lineage, there's a story that I'm descended from Alfred the Great
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Sedulius
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Field Marshal
Hispania
Aug 26 2008, 01:18 PM
The family paid for half.

I paid... a little over 540 euros.
DAMN! Even if it is customized, that's a bit overpriced.

You could get the highest quality of blade for that much, like I'm talking Damascus steel, fully balanced, expertly sharpened, that kind of quality.

Our little family sword is maybe like $200 at the most. It's just symbolic.

Our longswords on the other hand... :gnarkgnark:
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Union
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Pyrenees Republic
It's the silver handle, and the customized engravings that upped the price.
EDIT:

Mind you, Toledo steel is a very good sword-steel. And the blade is sharpened, as well as balanced. It could feasibly be used in the battle, even if its not meant to be.
Edited by Union, Aug 26 2008, 09:18 PM.
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Alberto
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Resident Italian
The Toledo steel is one of the finests, while the cerimonial swords of my family are all made in Solingen .
My family has five generations of sword : the most ancient one is of 1850 and saw the Garibaldi's campaign in Sicily :)
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Sedulius
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Field Marshal
Hispania
Aug 26 2008, 09:17 PM
It's the silver handle, and the customized engravings that upped the price.
EDIT:

Mind you, Toledo steel is a very good sword-steel. And the blade is sharpened, as well as balanced. It could feasibly be used in the battle, even if its not meant to be.
Well, when you put it that way, okay, but it still seems about 200 euros overpriced. But, meh, customization is customization.
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New Harumf
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Bloodthirsty Unicorn
Like I said, my father's family was Quaker - they didn't fight anyone, anywhere, any time, tho I have a direct ansestor that housed Martha Washington near Valley Forge the winter he was stuck there! The first war any of my father's ansestors fought in was WWII, the big one. The family was Prespyterian by then, so they had no excuse. My uncle Harry was a 3 star General (West Point Grad, class of '27, Served under Patton until 1944, then served under Mark Clark. Later became the Lt. Gov. of the Panama Canal Zone), while my father's other brothers were all just grunts. On my mother's side, well my Grandfather was Schwoben (think hillbilly) and my Grandmother was from Northeast Germany which is now part of Poland. My Grandfather's family lived forever in a town called Mochmeul (there are some oomlats in there somewhere) Northeast of Worms and were basically un-noble dirt-jockeys. My only Uncle on my Mother's side was a Medic at Omaha Beach and in the Battle of the Bulge and received a bronze and silver star at the crossing of the Rhine River.

Ultimately, my father's family comes from the Borders of Scotland where they either stole horses from the English or the Scotish depending who was winning the wars at any particular time.
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Nag Ehgoeg
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The Devil's Advocate

Toledo steel - realistically among the best kinds of steel used in weapons
Damascus steel - has not been produced in about 300 years

Anyone selling a sword made of "Damascus steel" is either just using a folding or pattern weilding technique. Not that these techniques aren't great for makiing swords, just that they're not worth the over-inflated price tag of being called "Damascus" when they're not made of wootz.

Unless, you know, you're paying thousands of dollars to mine wootz and/or create nano-carbon fibres for your blade so you can authentically call it Damascus.

Additionally... I wouldn't expect to see an actually battle ready blade for anything less than £750. Of course, I define a battle ready blade as something sharp, with a long tang (doesn't have to be the length of the blade but it's gotta be at least 80% or what's the point) and of a suitable material that has some flexibility in it so it can be bent without snapping (just about any high carbon steel alloy will do).

A display blade (or a "re-enactment" blade etc) shouldn't cost more than a couple of hundred.

I'll be getting a new LP long before I get a sword... and an engaugement ring is above my LP priorities.

But I gotta say that I'm jealous of all of you with familiy swords.
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New Harumf
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Bloodthirsty Unicorn
As for the engagement ring - buy the stone seperately from the setting, you will save mucho bucks, and buy the stone from someone reputable. Reputable does not necessarily mean expensive, it just means someone you can trust, because every person that handles a diamond doubles the price, so the closer you can get to the cutter, the better off you are.

"Watered" steel is still produced in India in the same way it was produced for both Damascus sword makers and Samari sword makers. It's methodology of production has not changed for 1500 years and still produces the best, most flexible weapons. The edge of a true "watered" steel weapon is actually not sharp - it is serrated microscopically because of the high carbon content, and really should not require sharpening.

Toledo steel uses a similar process but is not as effective a product, and does need higher maintenance, tho it is the best made in the West. I have a few knives I bought when in Toledo that are of remarkable quality but still cannot rival the quality of what is made in the east.
Edited by New Harumf, Aug 27 2008, 09:06 AM.
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Sedulius
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Field Marshal
Authentic Damascus swords are still produced, they are simply far and few between. I've only found one western style blade that is made of true Damascus, while finding a decent amount of Arabic blades, and more commonly (though this is only a modern thing) Damascus katanas. The art didn't die, it just fell into heavy decline.

My grandfather makes real Damascus knives. They pwn.

But, yes, you must be aware of the many imitators. Most of the time they have simply the pattern, and are really no better than a regular carbon steel blade. These are not worth it. But a true Damascus blade is very worth it. You could call this an exaggeration if you wanted, but the things just don't break.

EDIT- Things sound a bit overpriced in England too. :| I must be able to find good deals or something...
Edited by Sedulius, Aug 27 2008, 11:19 AM.
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