I think I’ve mentioned at some point that I own a sword replica… as I’m fully immersed in the Middle Ages, please let me introduce you to my baby. It doesn’t have a name, yet (and I bought it back in 1997…) because I can’t decide if it’s a “real” sword such as Excalibur or Durendal or a fantasy sword such as Stormbringer.
the unnamed sword
The fact that I don’t actually use it or wave it around adds to the fact that I can’t come up with a name, of course. A friend of mine suggested I try to use it on pumpkins or water melons (depending on the season), maybe if one day I’m mad enough at Day Job, I could give vent like that – although having to do it outside, I might look a little crazy, so I’ll have to find a quiet place in my green enough suburb… 😉
Being a writer, though, I could call it Quillkiller or something like that! 😀
Supposedly it’s a 1400s sword, but like my aforementioned expert friend said, it’s strange. It has the blade of a one-handed sword, but the hilt is for one hand and a half. Which, he says, for a woman might just do. Except the fencing master who did the sheath refused to teach me any move, saying women didn’t handle swords. Grrr. That’s why sometimes I prefer fantasy to history! 😉
I’ve been a warrior woman in most of my first fantasy stories, throughout the 1990s. Only in the new millennium I moved myself to quieter and more feminine behavior/occupations. The first was a woman disguised as a man to study, but she was barely a squire, not really a warrior. Then came the actress/writer who wrote about warrior women, but wasn’t one. Next (for my next graphic novel), I’ll be a merchant. So the adventurer of the graphic novel (The Prince and the Adventurer 1997-2001) is gone. Here she was, though (I even had very short hair at the time), and next year or later the novel will come out of this story, as I think it’s a very nice, unconventional love-story – and a sort of fairy tale revisited, as it starts with a Male Sleeping Beauty, awakened by this adventurer/warrior woman, poor chap.
The Prince and the Adventurer (graphic novel)
Now Brithwen is not going to touch any sword, so let me put it back where it belongs… I will pull it out again only when I get back to writing fantasy, just in case I need some more inspiration! 😀
Barbara G.Tarn - writer 
Jai Joshi
/ 08/02/2011I love that you have a sword. Wow, it’s beautiful too.
You have to name it but what you name it has to come from you and your relationship with it. I also wouldn’t recommend that you use it on pumpkins if you see it as a sword for a warrior. I read somewhere (or maybe I saw in a film) that it’s a dishonour to the sword to unsheath for something unworthy of it’s power. If I were you I’m put in on my wall above the mantlepiece or somewhere where it has a position of prominence. Warriors should always keep their weapons where they can see them.
Jai
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Barb
/ 08/02/2011I had it by my bedside before I had the scabbard done… now I admit it’s hidden, but it’s protecting all my notebooks of old stories I can’t rewrite yet.
Maybe you’re right, though, I should pull it out again and hang it somewhere on my wall (I wish I had a mantlepiece, but nope…)! 🙂
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Joleene Naylor
/ 09/02/2011Very cool! We have some random swords and daggers from BudK. My hubby prefers Katanas, but I go for the fantasy swords 😉 Nothing wrong with the warrior woman, either! When I was a kid and my brother and I would play games I always had a sword (even bought a rather nice wooden one at a Renaissance Fair once) – in fact when we played Robin Hood, I was Robin Hood, and she was a girl 😉
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Barb
/ 09/02/2011as a child I had those plastic Zorro swords… the medieval one is better, though! 😀
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Stephen Watkins
/ 09/02/2011A fine looking weapon. I doth covet. (I’ve always wanted a sword.)
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Barb
/ 09/02/2011😀 You’ll have one eventually…
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Yolanda Studer
/ 28/09/2011I mean this picture.
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Barb
/ 28/09/2011Thanks, I have a very busy blog, couldn’t figure out which one you saw! 🙂
Sure, you can use it – credit is appreciated and I’d love a link to see the finished product…
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Scott
/ 29/07/2012IT was a style of sword used alot during the Northern Rebellions of the 16th century. More often than not it would have been used by the commanders or regimental officers. the hand and a half grip is not very common around this time but they were still popular for that design and as dueling weapons. i have a hand and a half sword of my own, I call it Sverengar. not entirely sure what it translates out to but it sounds cool 🙂
I might try and find one of those for myself. looks beautiful 🙂
PS. That sword master sounds like a twat :). women had swords of their own, they were smaller and lighter but they were still swords
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Barb
/ 29/07/2012yes, he’s a little twatty, but it’s his girlfriend’s problem right? I would have dumped him back then! 😀
See me wearing in on the cover of Cosmopolitan… not! 🙂
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