Comments

1. #1 ArchAsa

   January 15, 2008

   Oh come on. It’s clear what happened: After a night of drinking and partying in the Atlantic City of 16th century Sweden, the owner of the sword found that he had lost his cabin key when he went abord his ship. In anger he banged the sword repeatedly on whatever he was nearest which awokened the big burly ship mate, who wrestled the sword from the inebriated aristocrat and hurled it overboard. It’s obvious!

   Seriously though – great fun!

2. #2 Lassi Hippeläinen

   January 15, 2008

   Reminds me of Israeli assault rifles that have a built-in bottle opener. The soldiers ruined too many good magazines by using them to open their cokes.

   Was Gustav Wasa Pepsi or Coke king?

3. #3 Tegumai Bopsulai, FCD

   January 15, 2008

   The edges have several fresh parry nicks

   What does “fresh” mean for a 16th century sword dug out of the ground? And houw could you pass up an opportunity to post more pics of the conservators?

4. #4 Felicia Gilljam

   January 15, 2008

   Awesome!

   (Wish I had something more constructive to say. But. Still awesome!)

5. #5 guthrie

   January 15, 2008

   Can you show us where on the blade the nicks are? Different swords at different time using slightly different styles will have different damage, and it would be interesting to see where this is damaged.
   It does look like a nice sword though, apart from the rust and damage.

6. #6 Martin R

   January 15, 2008

   Asa, you’re obviously right.

   Lassi, I’m pretty sure Gustaf was bought by the mead lobby.

   Tegumai, the nicks are fresh in the sense that they’re still sharp-edged and haven’t been hammered flush with the blade’s edge.

   Guthrie, sorry, can’t say where exactly the nicks are as the sword is in another city from which the pix above were sent to me.

7. #7 Mattias Niord

   January 15, 2008

   Oh dear! Why did I not become a conservator! I mean, I would have been employed on underrepresented gender at least! Well, damn, I knew I should have read more natural science and gone for conservator and not osteologist after finishing archaeology. Stupid me!

   Martin, I am so tempted to sneak into their lab and just look at that blade! Darn it´s unfair!
   Anyway, it will be interesting to read the report. Would you do me the honour of sending me a copy?

   I would say that you got clear marks form edge to edge parrying there. And there was some on the handle aswell, on the curls meant to guard your finger if you use the grip that has the index finger over the crossbar.
   That looks to me as if it is damage form some pretty hard clash. You usually strive to parry with the side, but here you have gone edge on edge, so to me it seems as if it was some pretty violent struggle.

   But when? I have no memory of any skirmish, let alone battle in that area from a Gustav or Eriks reigns at least. Have you checked with the historic records, Martin?

8. #8 Martin R

   January 16, 2008

   It could be the result of a brawl among troops waiting for wind. Or part of war booty collected elsewhere and taken to Djurhamn after a battle.

9. #9 Tegumai Bopsulai, FCD

   January 16, 2008

   Still no shirikins found at the site?

10. #10 Martin R

    January 16, 2008

    Oh yes, loads and loads, but the ninjas wouldn’t let me take them home.

11. #11 Rithban Kirda

    January 18, 2008

    The curling nick is typical for a sword striking some other metal object (e.g. helmet, armour, something else in the environment). The other nicks could also be from other non-sword metal objects, but they’re also consistent with edge hacks. If they are sword-on-sword edge hacks, as Mattias Niord points out, it would indicate a desperate situation. One displaces with the edge, and taking a blow on the edge like that is something one does in a last-ditch effort.

    I’m not seeing the “handle” damage Niord mentions, though. The tang would not have taken direct damage, being covered with a durable material such as hardwood, and the deep pitting looks (to me) consistent with ordinary corrosion.

    the sword was most likely dropped into the sea.

    Speculation here… a blade that damaged may not have been worth the repair effort if a good smith was not handy, especially if other weapons in better condition were available. There are other plausible reasons.

12. #12 JC

    January 18, 2008

    Edge trauma near the point of the blade would suggest damage indicative of the weapon striking something resistance, such as armor or a dagger, and would not necessarily be the result of another sword edge blade blocking with its own edge (indeed, swordsmen at the time were not instructed to block oncoming swords near their point—indeed, no style of fencing does). But, this may simply be a sample case of the common haphazards occurring in close combat. The blade may even perhaps have discarded due to the damage suffered at that very portion of the blade primary for thrusting and cutting.

13. #13 Highlyeccentric

    January 20, 2008

    just a quick note, since LJ doesn’t always co-operate with trackbacks, to say that i linked this post in the latest carnivalesque:
    http://highlyeccentric.livejournal.com/242435.html

14. #14 Martin R

    January 20, 2008

    Many thanks!

15. #15 Bill Fedun

    January 25, 2008

    The single nick on the back looks a bit wider,(like it might have been from striking a shield edge, helmet brim?), the others are pretty obviously sword blocks.

    Thanks for posting these pictures.
    Its nice to see the “sword traps” seemed to have worked!

16. #16 Martin R

    January 25, 2008

    This sword was wielded with your index finger crooked over the parry-guard and around the base of the blade, which was dull and slightly less wide for that very purpose. Imagine what happens to that finger if your opponent’s blade comes sliding down yours and hits the parry guard. It’s hardly surprising that the swords in the generation after this one had a front parry-guard forming a closed oval, to protect the finger.