Halloween Edition

Sword Buyers Digest

Issue # 172

While things had been pretty grim for our industry before 2020 (though actually it was getting better), the events of that year and the years that followed hot on its heels have truly wrought havoc upon the sword industry and left it hanging by a thread. There have been almost NO new projects (at least compared to previous years), almost no new major product lines (maybe Balaur Arms is an exception) and many complex supply chain issues that have seen our niche industry battered by a long 'perfect storm' of bad news and bad events..

While none of this is new news, it has a long term wearing down effect on both the industry and everyone involved in it.

But the storm gets worse, as in recent months international shipping is under such an attack that it has almost become a thing of the past. One of the last nails in the coffin, last month our Canadian sword brothers and sisters had their government funded postal service fail them utterly, with every shipment sent from the US in the post now being rejected as a matter of course..

As you can see, they have created a 'dangerous goods' rejection category specifically singling out swords - so the global market for swords is now tighter and more restricted than ever before (and also seems to apply to the airshocks, ink cartridge and 'liquid' industries.. We are all in this together I suppose)..

Add to this all the other challenges of the last few years and the outlook for our industry is very, very (very) grim indeed..

For the time being, all anyone involved in the production and sales of swords can do is batten down the hatches and do their best to continue to weather the rough waters ahead as best as they can. In the meantime, let's hope that the remaining few international sword shipping options and forwarding services can pick up the slack (though so far, it's been anything but the case)..

The only real bright spot on the horizon is the expected and much anticipated annual uptake in sword orders that starts late this month and continues in the lead up to the holiday season.

Most sword sellers are well stocked this year, so let's hope for every collectors sake that the stock they have will buy them a reprieve to at least make it into 2023. Though what happens after that is anyone's guess.. (fingers crossed it might be a turning point back to something vaguely resembling the 'old normal' - whatever that really means. Not likely of course, so it very much looks like some major rumblings and darker waters ahead for the foreseeable future)..

Why do so many military weddings feature swords?

In the era of the gun, why is it that so many militaries around the world still use the sword in their wedding ceremonies? And what is the long history surrounding such traditions? Find out here!

Don't cut your cake with a sword in India!

India has some of the worst and most repressive sword laws around. So when a young fellow dares to slay 20 cakes for a birthday, it is no surprise his arrest and subsequent troubles go viral. A taste of things to come for the rest of the world? Let's hope

Matt Easton reacts to the Rings of Power Sword Fights

Sadly due to the way Amazon restricts its viewers to specific geolocations, I will never actually be able to see or comment on the Rings of Power series by Amazon. But Matt Easton can and does, so check out his commentary on how realistic (or not) it is to date.

10 WORST Anime Swords Ranked..

Love it or hate it, anime can and often does inspire many real world sword designs. But here is a list of some of the WORST ever imagined. See if you agree.

$75 for a priceless medieval manuscript? It happened!

Every now and again, someone gets REALLY lucky. And that is clearly the case of one Maine resident, who purchased a medieval manuscript at an estate sale for $75 that is worth at least $10,000

Oversized anime sword with some real history?

The massive sword of protagonist 'Guts' from Berserk may not be completely fantastical after all. Popular anime series 'Shonen Jump' equips one of their characters with a massive blade based on actual events during the mongol invasions of Japan, and while it may be heavily fictionalized, maybe there is a grain of truth in there too..

AFA repatriates 600 year old Japanese Sword

It's well known that many priceless family heirlooms were taken back to the US as war trophies by veterans who fought in WWII. But after many years, as the two former enemy countries become even stronger allies, when these swords are returned the bond is strengthened further still. This is one such inspiring tale...

In previous editions of the digest we would from time to time highlight a bad fantasy sword design that was ether too impractical or too silly to take seriously. But with the recent rise of AI generated art, many people are playing around with AI art generators such as Craiyon - and the results so far are far from inspiring..

So without any further ado, here is Craiyon's answer to a 'horror sword' - and it's so bad it is good again..

True horror - it is a sword with a leather fist slapper attachment! Never before seen and probably will not see again. Looks like AI still has a way to go sword designing, but let's not laugh too soon shall we?

Try it out yourself at Craiyon.com - just enter a few keywords and see what you come up with! Maybe there is a great AI designed blade just awaiting the right keywords, but to date, I have not found it..! (bonus bad sword below - words fail me on this one, though the phrase 'steaming pile of tsuba' comes to mind..)

Every now and again the age old question pops up - who would win in a battle with a knight versus Samurai. And once again, this question is being revisited on YouTube - started by an interesting comparison between a Ronin Katana, er, Katana and a Ronin Katana European Longsword to try and answer the question once and for all..

While it is far from conclusive, and really is just a fair comparison between modern reproductions made at the same price point (and that itself is very interesting and eye opening) this viral video 'Katana versus Longsword, the sad truth' has racked up over 2 million views and is well worth a look if you haven't seen it already..

The video is expanded upon and critiqued by long time Sword channel Skallagrim here who for the most part agrees with, and attempts to fairly clarify the points made. Check them both out and make up your own mind!

I had no interest in swords (until I bought my first one)

As we say 'it starts with one' - forumites humorously muse over their own and others sword addictions, including the patented 12 step program..

What is a full tang exactly?

Recent correspondence with CAS Iberia opened a bit of a can of worms with sword terminology. So what exactly is a full, partial and integral tang? Find out here!

One year into serious collecting can look like this..

Sword addition in action, see how one of our newer members grew an impressive almost 'Dave Kelly' level collection of military swords in just one year! It starts with one...!

Silica and long term sword storage

Whether it is because of moving house or just needing to set your collection aside for a time, here are some great tips and trips with Silica and other desiccants to prevent the dreaded rust monster from striking when your back is turned..

While it is traditional to tell a spooky tale around the campfire at this time of year, the tale of the cursed Norse sword, Tyrfing will have to do. While this is far from a complete or even very accurate retelling, the core story at least is both fascinating and very appropriate for the Haloween special..

Made under duress by Dwarvern sword smiths with a gold hilt and blade shining like fire, this magical sword from the 4th century Norse saga, the Tyrfing Cycle (and echoed in several other related sagas) was imbued with the supernatural abilities such as to 'never miss a target' and could bite through stone and iron as easily as cloth. But because it was indeed made under duress, the Dwarvern smiths cursed it under their breath so that every-time it was drawn, someone would have to die. And to this curse they added that it would cause '3 great evils' and eventually cause the demise of the proud King who commissioned it, King Svafrlami, grandson of Odin..

Seemingly not very pleased with these last minute additions to the enchantment, the enraged King found that at least half of the intended beneficial magic worked as it should - for while his first strike missed its target (so much for never missing it's target!), it did at least cut the stone in half into which the Dwarven smith retreated..

Perhaps wondering why it missed, and had been drawn but no-one had died (seems to be something of a truly 'buggy' weapon), the poor King did not have much time to investigate the swords mysteries much further, for in short order he encountered the raiding Berserker Arngrim - and facing off this intruder, once again it missed its target, cutting through Arngrims shield and into the ground (unless his targets were the shield and ground that is), whereupon the Berserker disarmed the King, and slew him with his own weapon..

For a time, the swords curse remained seemingly dormant, and was passed from Arngrim to his beserker son and progeny, Angantyr. Tallest of 12 brothers, the descendants of Arngrim were a force to be reckoned with, their reign of terror finally put down by another legendary Swedish warrior, Hjalmar, who was mortally wounded by the sword in the ensuring battle and it was buried along with the 12 dead sons by one of Hjalmar's companions so as to finally put the curse to rest.

But the sword was retrieved from the grave by Angantyr's daughter Hervor (who in true Halloween fashion - also required waking her father from the dead) and so the sword once again had a chance to fulfill its cursed destiny..

In due course Hervor passed the sword to her hot headed and violent son Heidrek, who made the mistake to one day to show it to his brother on the road together, seemingly unaware that every-time it was drawn, someone had to die. And in this case, in short order, one brother lay dead at the hands of the other - the buggy curse reawakening in full force..

The murdering brother Heidrek went on to many a violent misadventure, slaying King Harald with the cursed sword - but as expected eventually become a victim of the sword itself, slain in his sleep after disregarding all the warnings and advise given by his father. 

Tyrfing's story comes to an abrupt end however, for after revenging the death of his father Heidrek, Angantyr recovers the sword and discovers that the curse, and its magic, had finally come to an end-and it disappeared into the mists of time and legend..

The moral of the story? It could be interpreted many ways, but practically speaking it can be seen as a warning that if you commission a custom sword made by magical Norse Dwarvern swordsmiths, payment in kind rather than threats and violence might yield a better end result...!

With the recent popularity of the Lord of the Rings Inspired Amazon Series 'Rings of Power' (which, due to the way Amazon recently restricted its viewership to exclude my current location - so for better or for worse, I may never actually see it myself) revisiting some of the classic decorative swords and items, as well as some recent editions, to United Cutleries finely made replicas could be a lot of fun this Halloween.

Our friends at Trueswords have you covered, click to see some of their most popular in stock of the official UC LoTR collection.

Hope you enjoyed this Halloween edition of the digest and hoep that you have a fun and carefree Halloween celebration! Until next issue, take care of yourselves and Happy Swordening!

Paul