Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - A 13 C. Crusader sword from the Holy Land

Norman McCormick · 27th March 2009, 09:38 PM

Hi,
With the blade cross section being lenticular, the length of the fuller 2/3~3/4 of blade length and the wide blade root with a continuous taper these attributes would almost certainly bring this blade under the umbrella of Type XII although the possibility of the blade being originally 35 1/2 inches in total could push it into Type XIIa territory as the Type XII's blade was more typically 30~33 inches having said that the grip on this sword must be about 4~5 inches and this would further typify it as a XII. The pommel/crossguard shapes were many and varied on this blade, as the basic profile was around for some time, and they are not used in determining type. Hope this is of some help.
Regards,
Norman.

27th March 2009, 09:38 PM	#9
Norman McCormick Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 1,575	Hi, With the blade cross section being lenticular, the length of the fuller 2/3~3/4 of blade length and the wide blade root with a continuous taper these attributes would almost certainly bring this blade under the umbrella of Type XII although the possibility of the blade being originally 35 1/2 inches in total could push it into Type XIIa territory as the Type XII's blade was more typically 30~33 inches having said that the grip on this sword must be about 4~5 inches and this would further typify it as a XII. The pommel/crossguard shapes were many and varied on this blade, as the basic profile was around for some time, and they are not used in determining type. Hope this is of some help. Regards, Norman.