I get mail ... on the subject of fake medieval swords

[Lee]

In today's email:

As an avid sword collector for many years I still have never been shown a fake of a Medieval sword. This includes river finds, bog finds, grave finds or any other finds. Theres so much controversial stuff on the internet but, Hello, no evidence supporting fakes or copies. My medieval swords look pretty much like any of Oakshotts photos in his many books. It would be nice to know just how the Know-it-alls know what a fake looks like. =

The salient parts of my reply:

It is through handling a large number of known genuine medieval swords that you gain the ability to spot the duds and from there you then have to temper your enthusiasm and avoid fooling yourself. I am a pathologist and I used to teach residents. They would ask "How do you know?" I explained that the supratentorial fatty organ usually does the pattern recognition in a flash and then I applied a mental "checklist" of confounders and double-checks to be sure my diagnosis did not mislead. It is a different skill entirely as a teacher to extract the diagnostic points to explain to a trainee. ... May all of your swords be genuine.

See also this old thread.