Wearghremm

Gothic Falchion / Hunting Sword

Blade - 48cm / 19 inches

Hilt - 16.5cm / 6 1/2 inches

OAL - 65cm / 25 1/2 inches

Scabbard - 54.5cm / 21 1/2 inches

This sword has a blade inspired by a falchion in the Metropolitan Museum from the 15th century. The overall design of the piece is inspired by the Hanger style of sword sometimes referred to as a Hunting Sword or Woodknife.  It is a wide short and fast blade designed for cut and thrust.
The cut out on the spine of this blade stile has always evoked something of the gothic to me, so I incorporated the wolf and raven into the scabbard embellishment.  These are animals associated with battle and hunting as well as with the darker sides of Germanic and Anglo Saxon mythology.  They also represent many noble qualities and were common heraldic emblems.  Since this is a piece with late medieval influences, I have carved the animal motifs in the heraldic style; the wolf is a close study from a coat of arms from 1507, while the raven is from a slightly earlier coat of arms.
The name of the blade is an Old English composite of  wolf (wearg) and raven (hremm), The word ‘wearg’ has a rather grim aspect and was also used to describe a villain or outlaw, perhaps cognate with the modern term “lone wolf” as opposed to the more benign Old English word 'wulf'.
The fittings on this piece are cast silicon bronze, I did a full tutorial on my casting process for this piece which can be seen here.  The scabbard is carved of walnut, and the grip is walnut and birdseye rock maple, with bronze pins.  The blade is forged of 100 layer 1075/admiral L6.