04-15-2003, 04:31 PM
(This post was last modified: 04-24-2003, 07:05 PM by Rhydderch Hael.)
Aye, we have come to different perspectives on the matter. Authenticity is a definite plus, if one wants to glean knowledge of what was an authentic sword.
But I'm in it for aesthetics and performance. To be the most sturdy, reliable blade technically possible in this day and age, and remain stylish while doing so. The Gus Trim AT1548 blade sold by All Saints, fitted to the reitschwert hilt offered by reproduction armourer Christian Fletcher, is an example of 20th-21st century technology and metallurgy (being made from 5160 steel, geometry determined from a CNC machine, and a Mar quenched heat treatment) that merely looks like a 16th century sword. It's akin to a Bugati racer from the 1920's being fitted with a modern Ford Cosworth supercharged racing motor. I am no fool and know that it such a sword is quite real, but not really authentic, but that's something I'm content to settle for. I demand the strength and reliability of modern steel, the "Old World" sensibility to the weapon being more cosmetic than anything else. A modern and reliable touch-tone phone wrapped in an antique wall-mounted phone cabinet, so to speak.
After all, if I ever meet the wrong end of a spanner being swung by an angry fellow named Hercules, I want to be carrying a sword that's going to wow the rabble when I wake up to find myself in the Middle Ages... ;)
But I'm in it for aesthetics and performance. To be the most sturdy, reliable blade technically possible in this day and age, and remain stylish while doing so. The Gus Trim AT1548 blade sold by All Saints, fitted to the reitschwert hilt offered by reproduction armourer Christian Fletcher, is an example of 20th-21st century technology and metallurgy (being made from 5160 steel, geometry determined from a CNC machine, and a Mar quenched heat treatment) that merely looks like a 16th century sword. It's akin to a Bugati racer from the 1920's being fitted with a modern Ford Cosworth supercharged racing motor. I am no fool and know that it such a sword is quite real, but not really authentic, but that's something I'm content to settle for. I demand the strength and reliability of modern steel, the "Old World" sensibility to the weapon being more cosmetic than anything else. A modern and reliable touch-tone phone wrapped in an antique wall-mounted phone cabinet, so to speak.
After all, if I ever meet the wrong end of a spanner being swung by an angry fellow named Hercules, I want to be carrying a sword that's going to wow the rabble when I wake up to find myself in the Middle Ages... ;)
Political Correctness is the idea that you can foster tolerance in a diverse world through the intolerance of anything that strays from a clinical standard.