North European military sword C.1610-1650

[Victrix]

Originally Posted by Cerjak

O.L. 104 cm ; blade L. 90 cm; blade width at hilt 3.5 cm
Blade of thick diamond section, tapering uniformly through its length
Pommel :Flat heart-shaped with strong button of type 43
Origin : used by troops from Sweden and the Netherlands very popular during the 30 Years War (1613-48)
Any comment on it would be welcome.

Best
Cerjak

Nice sword Cerjak! The typically simple Dutch-Swedish type swords (S-shaped quillon and heart shaped pommel) don't have knuckle guards, but later during the 1640s some did although they tend to be attached to the pommel. Gustavus Adolphus had to import large quantities of these Dutch swords which were used from around 1620 and throughout the 30 year war. Many of the imported swords were fitted with Solingen blades. Expert Walloon sword smiths were also imported to Sweden, and domestic production began there led by the enterprising Louis De Geer. These type of swords were also produced in Germany and Switzerland. There are some of these swords in Edged Weapons in Sweden (2014) by Staffan Kinman, and Svärdet och Värjan som Armevapen (1955) by Heribert Seitz from which the pictures were taken.

[Cerjak]

Originally Posted by Victrix

Nice sword Cerjak! The typically simple Dutch-Swedish type swords (S-shaped quillon and heart shaped pommel) don't have knuckle guards, but later during the 1640s some did although they tend to be attached to the pommel. Gustavus Adolphus had to import large quantities of these Dutch swords which were used from around 1620 and throughout the 30 year war. Many of the imported swords were fitted with Solingen blades. Expert Walloon sword smiths were also imported to Sweden, and domestic production began there led by the enterprising Louis De Geer. These type of swords were also produced in Germany and Switzerland. There are some of these swords in Edged Weapons in Sweden (2014) by Staffan Kinman, and Svärdet och Värjan som Armevapen (1955) by Heribert Seitz from which the pictures were taken.

Hi victrix

Thank you very much for the books reference.
Best

CERJAK

[Victrix]

Originally Posted by Cerjak

Hi victrix

Thank you very much for the books reference.
Best

CERJAK

My pleasure, Cerjak. Sorry I can't be more specific about your sword (the first one). In my eyes the knuckle guard design looks too elegant to be Swedish. Swedish weapons have an emphasis on functionality which gives them a particular charm of their own. There were also many Germans serving in Gustavus Adolphus army during the 30 Year War. I attach another photo from Seitz's book, this time of a sword more similar to your second one.

[cornelistromp]

it can be a Dutch sword as well, the end of the knuckle guard has the same shape of an animal head as seen on matchlock muskets (fuse holder) from around the first half of the 17th century.

fe see http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=18207

best,
Jasper

[midelburgo]

Hi,

in 2005 I bought this sword and since then I have not seen anything like it. Maybe it is a Victorian mongrel. If I remove the branched guard and the ricasso perforated plates, I can imagine I will finish with something similar to the Dutch-Swedish felddegen... but still the pommel will be atypical.

What do you make out of it?

Measurements are something like 117cm total length, 93cm blade and 1495gr total weight. There is a thumb ring. The handle shows wire marks. The front edge seems to have been sharpened more often than the back.

As you can see from the pictures, the hilt is huge and the thing seems to have been constructed to be used with gauntles. It handles nicely with them on.