2nd Gen
This 12th Century Teutonic Sword has a distinctive Type N boat or crescent pommel; a probable relative to the brazil nut pommel this type is depicted in a wide array of period art and sculpture, though few surviving examples remain. The Type XII blade is a long, relatively wide cutting-oriented form which was ideal for the mounted knight or man at arms of its time. Such swords were often favored at this time for both mounted combat and for striking from behind a shield in foot combat and it would have been the sword of a professional warrior who could use its long and hard-hitting blade to deliver strong and decisive cuts and chops to the foe.
The blade of this Balaur Arms example is forged from high carbon steel. The crossguard and pommel are hand-forged into form from steel and the grip is wood with a binding wrap of dark brown leather. The thick blade tang is stoutly anchored into the pommel with a robust and durable peened construction. The sword is paired with a companion scabbard of wood with a tight leather wrap and a protective steel chape.
Due to distal taper and overall weight, this sword has more finesse than its austere proportions may suggest, but it still retains enough mass in the blade for some powerful slicing and chopping power and the contoured N type pommel readily accommodates a handshake grip or even a second hand placement. When the back of the hand is placed in contact with this pommel it allows for enhanced control of the blade as the contact with the back of the hand and pommel serves together as a rudder to better control the sword. The grip can readily couch and accommodate a hand clad in mail.
No returns on Close-Outs
Travis H. (verified owner) –
Pommel is cocked/crooked one side higher then other, really ugly looking defect. Zero retention in scabbard, blade really whippy. This was supposed to be the improved 1075/windlass version. Bought new and not scratch and dent or munitions grade. So I figure the bad pommel must be acceptable quality from this brand for kult of athena.
I’m rather dissapointed I wouldn’t have bought it, if I were to known it was going to arrive like this.
David W –
Hi Travis – pls send some pictures to help@kultofathena.com
Michael o. –
I adore this sword! It looks great and fits well in my hand. Its heavy towards the end, but balanced well enough to do drills and other exercises. If mine were sharp, I’d be cutting with it all day.
The cross guard did have some pretty sharp edges funny enough, and i sanded that down to make it more comfortable, so look out for that. Overall, I love my sword. I can’t wait to make a belt for it.
Mark Glasow (verified owner) –
First the disclaimer – This is my first sword. I have lots of knives. Folding, fixed, Bayonets, daggers. But this is my first sword.
Second, I hope Kult of Athena can resolve Travis’ issues.
I received my sword yesterday. Pommel is slightly off square – about 1/16th inch side to side on the crescent measured from the cross guard. But unless I knew to look for it, I likely wouldn’t have noticed. Scabbard looks good, leather wrap is tight, stitching is tight and even. I observed one protruding thread (barely noticeable). By my standards, scabbard retention was good. Inverting sword and scabbard, sword does not move. A little vertical shaking and eventually mass and physics wins (blade starts to move).
I purchased the sharpening option, but have only tested so far on a sheet of paper. I would classify the sharpness as “Good” as compared to how I keep my knives. I should qualify that by noting I use diamond stones from 200 to 1000 grit followed by 1200 and 1600 wet ceramic stones and finish with 5 micron and 3.5 micron diamond paste with a leather strops so my standards are fairly high. Point being I got my $22 sharpening value and then some.
There is a reference to hand forging cross guard and pommel, not sure if that extends to the blade, but if so, that explains ever so slight undulations looking down the length of the blade in good light with a critical eye. Not really noticeable except on close inspection.
All in all, I would say I got my $280ish worth (includes the sharpening). I have 2 other swords on order from different sources (Katana and Munich Town Guard). Perhaps I’ll do a comparison when those arrive in the coming weeks.
Trevor G (verified owner) –
I got the standard grade with factory sharpening. Total cost (with tax and shipping) ended up almost exactly $270, and for that price I’m quite happy with what I got! The leatherwork on the scabbard and grip is overall pretty good, although the ends of the grip stitching are a bit messy, and the leather is slightly parted in those places. I only just got it today, and haven’t noticed it when using it so far, but it might start to come off with enough use.
Somebody else mentioned the crossguard being a bit sharp, and I experienced this as well. The tips of each quillon have some annoying edges on them that scratched my forearm, so I’ll consider sanding those down.
All the fittings are perfectly good–no rattling in the hilt, and the scabbard fits the blade well. The pommel is very comfortable, and the nature of the longer quillons gives some decent protection to the knuckles in a melee situation. The blade is quite heavy–heavier than I expected, but this is perfectly historical, so this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It is also well tempered and features distal taper, so it bends in the top half of the blade.
Overall, I would definitely recommend this sword, and will for sure be looking into other products from Balaur Arms!
Ray Blundell (verified owner) –
I received mine today,kult of athend did a very good job of getting the sword out fast even with the sharping.This is the seventh balaur arms sword I Have purcgase.The peommel is very unique,the peen is good,The handle wrap is done very well,I also like the fact that the handle is little thiner.The sword fits in the perfect,love the scabbles with the rain guards.The guard is 9&3/8″ long and very well done.The pob on the blade is 5&5/8″,the weight on mine is 2.3/4″,the length of the blade is 33″The grip length is 4&1/4″ The distal taper on mine is just a shade over 4mm down to a shade over 2mm.I cut some water bottles varies types-example on a 16oz coke bottle which has thicker plastic on it than on a two leter coke bottle anyway it cut very clean also cuts various types of paper easy,cutting not tearing.Will update when I cut mats with all the balaur arms swords I have bought.The sharping service on the sword is done very well.Out of all the brands amd Medvial swords I have on sword under 500 the balaur arms are my favorite ones,keep in mind cult of athena offers didferent grades which helps with on the cost of the swords.This balaur arms 12 century teutonic arming sword and the balur arms templar sword are my favorite arming swords now.Rember to cut water bottles,mats and bamboo,safe cutting Ray Blundell
Ray Blundell (verified owner) –
Update on single mat cutting,the sword cut very well
rodriguez.santamaria (verified owner) –
Good quality sword, swings well.
mattharris2010 (verified owner) –
This is a fantastic reproduction of an early medieval arming sword. Hand forged by Windlass Steelcrafts, you’re getting a sword that is about as close as you can get to a weapon straight out of the 13th or 14th century. The peen is well done and the blade has a good distal taper going from roughly 4mm at the hilt to 2mm at the tip making it feel effortless to manipulate. The pommel is unique and very cool looking and the handle is very well wrapped. Overall the sword looks and feels excellent and of course is very authentic. If you’re looking for a functional sword that could have time traveled from the hand of a knight on crusade then look no further. Also if you don’t already know, Matt Easton of Schola Gladiatoria (from the video in the item description) knows his stuff and he has nothing but good things to say about the value you’re getting from Kult of Athena on this sword. Rest assured, if he says it’s a good sword; then it is a GOOD sword. I was certainly not disappointment. Thank you Kult of Athena! I’ll definitely be looking for more swords made by Windlass in association with Balaur Arms and Kult of Athena.