This sword was created to commemorate a rather special event - our wedding day! Designed to Alicia's sketches, it incorporates elements of inspiration from the Lord of the Rings films, Bronze Age weapons, Viking decoration, and personal symbology into a single stunning sword.
Chris based the shape and feel of the blade on an original Bronze Age sword that we were lucky enough to handle at the Royal Armouries. Scaled up to an arming sword size, the broad leaf shape of the blade pulls the weight forward significantly, giving it a fierce forward balance. However, ground thinly and paired with a short grip and wide hollow pocket pommel, it excels in short, powerful cuts and would partner wonderfully with a shield. The sword was designed as a display sword rather than a fencing tool, but can nonetheless be used for controlled and enjoyable drilling.
Alicia's original sketch
The decorative elements combine hand carving with hot-brassing to a majestic effect. The brass braid design on the crossguard is brought out by pouring pitch into the grooves. The ivy leaf on the pommel was modelled on one picked from the same woodlands where we take our forge photos, with careful attention to its organic symmetry and subtle veining. The complex fullering pattern is repeated on both sides of the sword, reminiscent of tangled roots or leaping flames. Our initials and wedding date are engraved on the inverse of the blade.
The sword's name draws from its Middle Earth inspiration, as it is a word from Tolkien's Quenya language meaning "tree-entangled". This refers not only to the ivy leaf and root motifs of the sword itself, but to a poem Tolkien wrote for his wife, which speaks of being "as one, deep-rooted in the soil of life, and tangled in the sweet growth".
∴ Specs ∴
Total length: 85cm
Blade length: 69.5cm
Blade width at shoulder: 7cm
Blade stock: 6mm
Quillon span: 23cm
Grip length: 8.5cm
Grip and pommel: 15cm
Point of balance: 16cm
Weight: 1407g
Right-handed
∴ Notes ∴
The hand-forged and heat-treated guard and pommel are polished to a satin finish. The downturned crossguard features flared, flattened quillons and a gentle ecusson with a hand-carved and hot-brassed braid pattern to the front.
The teardrop-shaped pommel has a hand-carved and hot-brassed ivy leaf in relief, and is finished with a brass peening block.
The oak grip is wrapped first in linen thread, then in purple kidskin. The leaf-shaped blade is polished to a high shine and features an intricate fullering pattern to the first half.
∴ Gallery ∴
∴ A Living Vow∴
Meet me in the bower
Where May breeze lifts the blossoms
And scatters them like blessings
Over our inclined heads;
Orchestra anthophila
Tuning honeyed instruments,
A chaos of creation,
And stillness in its midst.
Meet me in the bower
Where willows glow green-golden
In subtle growing splendour
Of a sunset yet to come,
And ivy leaves caress them,
Fervent with devotion,
Creeping into every crack
In worn and weathered bark.
Meet me in the bower
Over the steadfast anvil,
Wreathed in summer’s garlands
And rooted in the earth,
And raise to me the weapon:
Its blade a beaten, brilliant leaf
Of Askr and of Embla,
Crowned with braided splendour,
Alive with writhen flame.