It’s a different world when you begin to practice what you research.
I’ve read books on medieval swords, fighting, and design evolution from softer Bronze blades through stronger Iron and finally Carbon Steel, but all the research in the world cannot prepare you for when you pick up a real metal sword for the 1st time.
This instrument of surgical precision and finesse is a thing of beauty, and terror when on the receiving end, even in just training. My time with the sword was very short, though my love of it has never faded and I have been fortunate enough to add a few different versions to my personal collection, which includes, amongst others: a Norman Sword, a modern take on the Japanese Wakazishi, a Short Sword which looks like Gandalfs Glamdring (sheer coincidence that this is the case), right down to the runes carved into the cross guard, and a 13thC Lake Neuchatel Arming Sword.
Archery is no different…well, in a way it IS a little different. Different muscles used, same dedication to training to build skill is required. Different muscle groups used in different ways. And both safer and deadlier at the same time.
Safer because you are in a controlled environment. Deadlier as there are fewer legal restrictions on ownership and ranged weapons come with their own advantages and history. It’s much more open and easier to access than medieval sword fighting, with more opportunities to progress.
Swords have always fascinated me. Their simplistic looks hide a complex design and have been used both in combat and as symbols of authority for years.
In a modern world dominated by bullets and bombs, these iconic weapons still retain a spiritual hold over us that is hard to shake.
From movies such as Conan, Lord of the Rings and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, to Pirates of the Caribbean and Deadpool, the classic blade has featured in them all and more.
And, thanks to George Lucas and Star Wars, the blade lives on in the form of the lightsabre, which has a strong and iconic place in a futuristic galaxy far far away.
I mirror these movies and my fascination with the sword never wains with time.
Every time I pick up a sword or a bow, these instruments speak to me on a 1-2-1 basis. I follow in the history of their makers from centuries past. Their design, weight, balance point, draw weight all conspire to speak to me on a spiritual level.
Over the years I have been fortunate enough, through re-enactment groups, to have held: Falchions, Viking sword, Norman sword, Katana, Broad sword, Arming sword, Conan sword, and some polypropylene swords as well as a collection of blades ranging from large to small knifes of various historical origin. I have also shot a longbow (at 25lb draw weight) and practice archery as a hobby with a recurve bow.
And every single time I pick one up I can hear history whispering in my ear. The ghosts of the past echoing their history with every swing and every draw of the bow.
I have also given talks on the history and evolution of the spear, atlatl, and bow with focus on different arrows from Neolithic to modern.
I love history and I love holding historical artefacts, both real and replica. Doing this helps to erase an aspect of time and allows the historical and modern to coexist for a short period. It makes the intangible tangible. And if one thinks carefully about what one is holding, especially if the artefact is genuine, then I try and think about the hand that made it.
Who was this person? What did they see? What was their environment like? How, where and when did they live? How was this implement used and how did they hone the skill to make it? And what happened to them?
When I visited a small church on the Antrim Coast in Northern Ireland, the oldest person was born in the 1600s. I stood there, beside their final resting place, and tried (and failed) to imagine their life, their home, and this ever-changing country that they knew, but which would be a stranger to them now.
And yet some things never change. I know the moon is the same moon that the dinosaurs looked up at, hundreds of millions of years ago, though they seen stars that no longer exist and some that I see now have been born since the time of their extinction. I have walked on rocks older, and younger, than the dinosaurs, and I have literally walked in their footsteps in Fossil Rim in Texas, USA. I have held a meteorite that formed in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter around 1 BILLION years ago.
Somewhere in the world today, someone is unknowingly making footsteps for future generations to find and ponder about us, what I have pondered about the generations that have came before me…
JJ Fossils 