| Short
sword from an unknown maker. Re-enactment blade
with some weight. Note the simple scabbard tailored
to fit. Represents early Roman pattern retained by
the Vikings. Could be used right up till the 13th/
14th century. |
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| "Crusader
sword" or broadsword, etc. I call it a cross
hilt sword because at least people can guess what
I'm getting at, no matter it's actual title. This
one's made by Armourclass in Glasgow. Fairly heavy
re-enactment quality high tensile steel. Shown here
with scabbard, tailored to fit. Fairly standard design
with wide forte (near grip) and long tapering blade.
Period approximately 9th through to 15th, more common
around the 13th century. One of several I had made
for the Battle Of Stirling Bridge. Prior to the Battle
Of Stirling Bridge several of mine in similar but
not identical patterns went out on loan on Mel
Gibson's Braveheart. |
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| Bastard
sword, also known as a Hand and a half. Again,
this is made by the great Armourclass of Glasgow.
Longer than the above swords and a little heavier.
Tulip pommel design is nice. Made again of High tensile
steel and popular again around about the 13th century.
This particular weapon was made for the 10 week tour
of SYT Production's MACBETH heavily featured in my
images section. |
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| Swept
hilt rapier with scabbard, yet again
made by Armourclass (Well they're local, what do you
expect... and they're good). Nice pattern with heavy-ish
re-enactment blade. Scabbard was made by a different
company, and it is solid as opposed to flexible like
the above scabbards. I would recommend for theatre
that where possible scabbards be made of a flexible
design. This pattern of rapier sits roughly late 16th
early 17th century. |
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| "Transition
Rapier" - by this I mean that it's not quite
a rapier and it's not yet a smallsword. It still has
wide quillions but has a very thin blade. This particular
weapon originates from a company in France. (I'd like
to find out the source - email me if you know) It's
grip and guard is cast from a metal alloy, and it
has a blunted epee blade mounted. Nice weapon, fairly
light and with a long blade. Late 17th century pattern. |
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| Rehearsal
weapons of the small sword era. These weapons
are made from Italian fencing foils and are mounted
with modern epee blades. They were made by Macdonald
Armouries and I use them solely for rehearsing small
sword and late rapier fights. On saying that they
have also made several appearances onstage. |
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| Smallsword.
Wooden grip with cast bronze guard and pommel. Made
by Macdonald Armouries in Edinburgh. As above this
weapon is mounted with an light triangular epee blade.
Works well although the softness of the bronze limits
things like disarms to those which retain the weapon.
Period approx. late 17th century to mid 18th. |
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| Fencing
foil. French grip. Modern fencing's most popular
weapon. Design hasn't changed much since the beginning
of the twentieth century. I think this one's made
by Leon Paul. |
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| Fencing
Foil. Orthopedic grip. This is the same weapon
as above but the grip is moulded to the fencers hand.
By "orthopedic" we do not mean that it is for disabled
fencers (As has been suggested) but that the grip
is designed to sit more comfortably in the hand than
the French does. In competition for example, when
the weapon may have to be used for hours at a time,
it saves the hand from tiring too quickly. |
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| Fencing
Sabre. The modern sporting sabre is a cut and
thrust weapon. Hits can be made using the fore edge,
the back 1/3rd edge and the point. It's been
around as a training weapon since the eighteenth century.
These particular ones are a German and a Leon Paul.
The techniques used in sabre play are the bases for
virtually all of my sword fights. |
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| Epee.
Third of the modern fencing weapons. Shown here with
an orthopedic grip. Has been around with French handle
since the eighteenth century. It is said that fencing
with epee is the nearest that we can come to re-enacting
a duel... The weapon has similar characteristics to
small sword etc. |
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