In today's blog we take a close look at an iconic original sword from our sister organization, The Oakeshott Institute. This iconic type XIV knightly sword was owned by Ewart Oakeshott, who named it "Moonbrand".
While there are many examples of relic finds, rusted-out blades, and random pommels and crosses in museums and collections around the world, surviving complete swords from the medieval period are quite rare. These weapons have a great deal to teach us about how medieval swords were made, how they functioned, and what kind of properties their makers and users desired. In the video below we examine the original and point out what this excellent sword has to teach us about medieval weapons.
In addition we encourage you to check out a link to a 3D model of Moonbrand made by Mr. Dale Utt III, research fellow at The Oakeshott Institute. This very high quality model allows you to rotate and zoom into millimeter scale, so spend some time virtually swinging Moonbrand around. The perspectives one is able to see the sword are unique.
Dale's work is helping us all to better understand these fine antiquities and to help educate the world about real medieval swords. Check out all of his fine models at the Oakeshott Institute's sketchfab page, and if you're able, support the mission of the Institute through their Patreon campaign.
Nathan Clough, Ph.D. is Vice President of Arms and Armor and a member of the governing board of The Oakeshott Institute. He is a historical martial artist and a former university professor of cultural geography. He has given presentations on historical arms at events including Longpoint and Combatcon, and presented scholarly papers at, among others, The International Congress on Medieval Studies.
Craig Johnson is the Production Manager of Arms and Armor and Secretary of The Oakeshott Institute. He has taught and published on the history of arms, armor and western martial arts for over 30 years. He has lectured at several schools and Universities, WMAW, HEMAC, 4W, and ICMS at Kalamazoo. His experiences include iron smelting, jousting, theatrical combat instruction and choreography, historical research, European martial arts and crafting weapons and armor since 1985.