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A piece of matai, a yellow close-grained
native timber was used to carve two blades of equal length.
I was inspired by the wood's natural beauty and called the
two swords Castor and Pollux. More
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The shape, colour and markings of the woods
used for this sword gave it a Celtic flavour. This led me to
name the sword Beowulf. . More |
The red beech used to make the blade for this sword was carved
from an old fence post. The post had been discarded and had
found itself in Lake Wakatipu. Later it was salvaged from the
shores of the lake and hence came into my posession.
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The blade is based on the typical shape of a Viking sax of the
9th. century. The sax only served to reinforce the already fearsome
reputation associated with the Vikings. Like a huge carving
knife, it had a curved sharpened edge and a flattened back which
met at a point. The sax was the forerunner of the falchion which
in turn gave rise to the sabre.More |
A single piece of red beech was used to
carve two blades of equal length. First a blade based on a 9th.
century Viking sax which I called Odin and second, this blade,
typical of a 13th. century falchion a descendant of the sax
and similar to one held in the Library, Durham Cathedral. This
sword just had to be named Thor.More |
SOLD. A
piece of driftwood salvaged from the shore of Lake Wakatipu
at Kingston turned out to contain the tough hardwood, red beech.
The worked and finished wood revealed spectacular wavy grain
which, dependent on the angle of light changes in hue. This
blade was the first long blade (35 inches) I had carved and
can be catergorised as a long sword or war sword. I named the
sword Merlin (the magician in the legend of King Arthur) because
the blade's colour and grain seemed to possess a magical quality.
More |
SOLD. This
was the second blade in which I carved a fuller or 'blood channel'
as it is usually called. A fuller was designed to strengthen
and lighten the blade, it had nothing to do with blood. The
wood was hard to work but it cut cleanly and the richness of
its colour made for a satisfying result. More |
The shape of Falcon's blade was based on
the 'Sword of Charlemagne' c. 850 A.D housed in the Waffensammlung
in Vienna. It is typical of an eastern European falchion. This
blade is single edge with a subtle s-curved flat back which
meets the edge at a point. Falchions were preceded by the Viking
sax, a sword which resembled a huge carving knife. They were
also the forerunner of the modern day sabre.
More |
The falchion was the
forerunner of the Viking sax which looked like a huge carving
knife, it, in turn preceded the sabre. The
blade was carved from a piece of macrocarpa which is a good
carving wood. This wood is one of the most underated of all
the woods here in New Zealand. It can be seen to have a rich
light brown colour with good grain and markings.More
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This is the first blade in which I carved
a fuller. The fuller, frequently called the 'blood channel'
is that channel which runs from the cross-guard towards the
point along the flat surface of the blade. It was designed to
lighten and strengthen the blade, it had nothing to do with
blood. Blades of this length, 34 inches, just slightly longer
than average, placed them in the long sword or war sword category.
They could, consequently, be used by a knight on horseback giving
the rider that much needed extra reach |
Swords which had an almost parallel sided
blade for about 2/3 of its length, then tapering to a point
were in use during the 11th. and 12th. centuries. Similar shaped
blades were also used by the Vikings in the 9th.century. Swords
of this type usually contained a fuller, more commonly called
the 'blood channel'. However Amorra has been given a blade section
of the flattened hexagon type in order to accentuate the colour
and grain of the wood.. More
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The falchion was the forerunner of the
Viking sax which looked like a huge carving knife, it, in
turn preceded the sabre.
The blade was carved
from a piece of macrocarpa which is a good carving wood. This
wood is one of the most underated of all the woods here in
New Zealand. It can be seen to have a rich light brown colour
with good grain and markings.More
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