Hirshfanger bayonet

[celtan]

Hi Ron,

Hirschfanger actually means something like deer's canine (Tooth-fang?). Several of the forester hunting daggers from Nazi Germany are also classified as such. They are not too rare...

I'm not very into either sword bayonets or hirschfangers, although as you can see a few have attracted my attention. I own several spanish, american et al sword-bayonets, but the swedish c1815 one I posted has a really neat blade.

Best regards

Manuel

Originally Posted by Ron Anderson

Those are great swords, Celtan.

Both of them. But I particularly like the Swedish sword bayonet.

The guard suggests they're not the sort of swords I associate with Hirschfangers. I wouldn't usually associate a stirrup hilt with a hunting sword. More like the type of symmetrical guard you see in the Danish bayonet I posted. Mine has that but has evolved a little to appear more like a standard bayonet.

However, that Swedish sword may be related in some way. I've not seen that before. Of those, there is also an English 'cutlass bayonet', but I think it's a later model. Not as early, and certainly as attractive, as that Swedish sword.

It's possible these Hirschfanger bayonets hail more from the scandinavian countries than from Germany. I will confess I haven't ever actually seen one positively identified as German. But I have seen Danish models. And now this Swedish cutlass-bayonet.