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Originally Posted by Valjhun
Without the wooden hilt. 
Well, I hoped that the blade contiued into the hilt... obviously not.. is that an original tang or just a soldered piece? I would vote for the second option, I'm not sure thou. |
Hi Valjhun
My best guess would be that this blade started out life in a configuration more akin to the one's I've shown above and in the link I sent you.
I suspect that it has been shortened from the hilt end (as well as having lost a little from the tip).
If you take the proportions of the childs small sword that I have with this type of blade then the overall length is 65cm (with possibly a tiny loss from the tip) with the single pierced 'in and out' fuller starting 10.5cm from the hilt and ending 23.5cm down the blade (from the hilt).
The full sized one has a blade length of just over 76cm long with similar relative proportions for the fuller and area above.
So, if you assume that your blade was once 76cm long and of the same configuration as the one I propose, then there would be around 12cm of blade from where the fuller started and the original hilt.
Looking at the top of the blade on yours I can't see any evidence of shoulders or widening, which would also lend credence to the theory that it's been modified at that end.
So if we deduct 12cm from 76cm we come up with 64cm, the tip looks like it's been recut so that could well account for the other 4.5cm 'missing' which gives us the remaining 59.5cm that you have now.
The tang as it is now looks like it might have had metal added in (as you rightly pointed out).
You could clean it up and there might be more 'evidence' to be seen. There looks to be signs of working on the upper part of the blade and the tang as it is now certainly doesn't look like it was originally made that way.
I would suggest that this current configuration lacks the 'finesse' of a sword made for fighting and simply doesn't fit into any of the scenarios that I can imagine. Frankly I also imagine that the balance would be somewhat 'lacking' with the wooden hilt and huge cruciform guard.
However there
is perhaps another possibility.
The size makes me think childs sword. The shape makes me think of a crude version of a bowless Matadors sword.
I imagine that ghastly as it is, some children aspire to be bullfighters. Why not a 'first real' sword for a poor aspiring Matador?
Of course any theory on it's 'second life' is just guesswork pure and simple.
Here's a close-up of the upper section of the childs smallsword for you to examine.
Best
Gene