J. Helmes

This is going to be great! i cant wait to see it turn out.

Great Idea! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks everyone! The kind works mean a great deal to me.

Hi, It's been a while since I have been able to post anything up here, so it is nice to be back.

Some time ago I was contacted by a client who was interested in having 4 swords made. Each sword would represent a different season and would be made by different smiths. I was lucky enough to be able to have get the season of fall.

I meditated on the concept for some time before I felt that my idea was appropriate. There is little evidence to suggest that the peoples of Northern Europe recognized the season of fall the way that we do today, and there are even fewer "seasonal motifs" in their art. This was tricky as I wanted to give a generous nod to the historical forms that were in use at the time and still capture the motif.

In the end I decided to try and capture the spirit of the time of year and some of the meaning it may have had for the people living in Northern Europe . I relied on a somewhat deeper symbolism that I feel is more appropriate to their artistic style rather than simply making a sword with leaves on it. Each of the designs carries a concept that reflects some aspect of the season or important activity.

My first idea was to make a harvest based sword. In the end I did not feel that this is truely appropriate. In reality much of the harvesting is finished before fall even begins, so while at first glance this may appear to be what i was trying to express my real goal was to describe a period after the harvest and before the winter sets in.

Much of the form of the sword is inspired by Late viking age work. The sword itself is a type AE and the art work is done in an inspired urness style that I feel is appropriate for the piece. The over all composition of the piece is highly influenced by the work of Jake Powning. Jake's work was what initially got me interested in blacksmithing and bladesmithing over 10 years ago and it continues to be an inspiration to this day. I have always wanted to make a " Powning Styled" piece and ultimately felt that his use of bronze and carved wood was what I would need to use to convey my ideas best. It is my hope that this may be seen as personal tribute to his work.

I will run through the images and give a brief description of their meaning.

I wanted the overall colour scheme to reflect the season. Bronze, darkened wood and the red hued leather wrapped handle reflect the treesand plants that are changing colour and becoming dormant.

On the guard is bound grain. This represents the grain having been brought in and already harvested. The pommel represents the culling of extra livestock that occours during this time of year. This represents much of the bounty of the season.

On the scabbard throat is a bound scythe, there is also an actual scythe folded into the edge of the blade steel. This represents the end of the scythes usefullness. There is no more work for it to do now, and it will no longer be of any help in the coming season. The straight laminate of the core is meant to symbolize the now empty furrows of the fields.

On the scabbard is a fruit tree. There are only a few piece of fruit and leaves left clinging to the tree. In the tree are two beasts. This is meant to reflect a certain amount of apprehension regarding the coming winter. While it is a time of plenty now who can say what the long winter will bring.

And finally one serpent on the chape. This serpent is meant to reflect the vital life energy of the earth retiring back under the ground in preparation for it's long sleep.

I hope you like it.

Jeff

Beautiful sword!

These are great! I really like your work Lukasz!

Wow, thanks for the kind words! I very much appreciate them! Alan/ Richard I have another pic here. This is the reverse side but it is a little closer . Niels The POB is 12 cm from cross and the weight is almost exactly 2 lbs 8 oz. . OAL is 92 cm.

I am forever impresed and inspired by your work Petr! It is always fantastic!

Hello,

I wanted to share a sword I have been working on lately. This is an inspired reproduction on the Steinvik sword. It has been a dream of
mine to reproduce this sword since the day I first saw it and I am grateful for the opportunity. The repro varies from the original
somewhat as I was given very direct instructions and measurements by my client. The width and length vary slightly from the original as does the lack of silver inlay. The measurment changes have made for a very pleasant feeling sword in balance and weight. The POB is 12 cm from cross and the weight is almost exactly 2 lbs 8 oz. . OAL is 92 cm.

If anyone is interested there are more shots on my facebook work page.

Jeff

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.712291268783553.1073741836.145872495425436&type=1

Hello .

Here is a hawk I made forged from a 50 cal barrel with a 1070 bit. The handle is hickory, with brass tacks a leather gasket and a white tail tine plug.

It Looks fantastic Petr! I love how you tackled the handle ising the chip carved style. What a package!

This is awesome owen. I REALLY like the look of the highly refined steel on the edge.

Wonderfull work Luke!

Oh ,thats interesting Dan. I hadn't considered that . Perhaps they simply soldered on silver sheet in some areas and cut away what they wanted to remove. It makes for a good explanation for the background tool. I think similar work was possibly used on "anglo saxon " type L hilts. In that silver was soldered to the surface and a design was cut in. Well now there is something new to try.

Hi Scott, I did indeed use the sword you mentioned as my inspiration. Im fairly certain that the silver wire on the sword from the Reichstad is raised. The surface isn't as coroded as it initially appears. You can still make out the tiny circles from the tool used to stamp the background in several places.

Jeff

Thanks guys! It means alot to me to get positive feedback from here. I appreciate it.

Thanks Guys!

Here is the scabbard. It is a composite, with a wooden core lined with a coarse silk, then covered with linnen which has been soaked in glue then the skin was stitched on. More pics can be found on my facebook page.

Fantastic work Petr! I love them both!

Hi, I was wondering if anyone had an idea of what the spine thickness in the later single edged swords that I think are associated with the Baltic area. I have some measurements regarding length and width but the thickness is something of a guess. I'm imagining a fairly thick spine .

Jeff

Thanks everyone! lol Dave the inlay sure didn't feel casual.....

wow! What a lovley sword! Well done!

Thanks Guys!

Wonderfull! I can't begin to explain just how great this even was. My Thanks to everyone involved!

Thanks everyone for all of the kind words! I really appreciate them!