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Author	Topic: Katzbalger guards
B Hellqvist Member	posted 05-04-2003 17:12 It seems like the norm among katzbalgers is the "S"-shaped guard. Is there any evidence that figure 8-shaped guards were used as well? I've looked for sources on this, but haven't found anything conclusive. IP: Logged
VAR99 Member	posted 05-05-2003 22:12 They do appear to be quite rare, but I have seen several documented, however they also have a knuckle bow and at least one side guard. They include plates 17 a&b in Dufty's " European Swords and Daggers in the Tower of London", and if I recall correctly a specimen in the Museo Poldi Pezzoli in Milan. IP: Logged
Ron Jensen Member	posted 05-10-2003 13:33 Hi Björn, Have you seen this example from Herman Historica? IP: Logged
B Hellqvist Member	posted 05-10-2003 18:52 Hmm... Interesting. I'm a bit leery about the "A katzbalger assembled from high quality pieces." part; sounds like a composite to me. Plus the rather atypical length (110 cm/ c. 44"), and the fact that they call it an "Italian Landsknecht sword". Exsqueeze me, but the Landsknechte were German las time I checked... Still, if the piece is genuine after all, the figure 8 guard is very interesting. IP: Logged
Ron Jensen Member	posted 05-11-2003 00:18 "...assembled from high quality pieces" does make it sound composite. But if we assume the pieces are authentic that at least tells us the figure 8 guard does exist in an historical context. Awhile back Thomas McDonald, Russ (Triton) Ellis, Craig Johnson and a few others discussed Katzbalger blade length in the thread A&A Katzbalger on Netsword. The's another Netsword discussion here: Two-handed katzbalger, Geocities linking policy means you need to go to the parent page ( http://geocities.com/sebastian_eckhart/swords/ ) to view the images posted by M. Quan.. Have you looked through the Wallace Collection catalogs for the figure-8 hilts yet? Edit-Broken link... [This message has been edited by Ron Jensen (edited 05-11-2003).] IP: Logged
VAR99 Member	posted 05-13-2003 21:59 re Katzbalger hilts, in H. Seitz's classic reference book "Blankwaffen" vol. 1, he states that:" The south german type has a horizontal S- shaped, and later, figure 8- shaped" indicating that this is a later development. Of the 3 examples illustrated however, all have an S shaped guard. IP: Logged
B Hellqvist Member	posted 05-24-2003 20:30 Thanks for the replies! They make my replica Katzbalger look a bit better... I found a sketch in one of Wagner's books of a figure 8-guard on a Katzbalger much like the one sold by Hermann Historica. IP: Logged

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