Aaron, it's explained in our Hands-on Review of the Jarl.

In my sword collection, I am striving for diversity. As Nathan, Alexi and others have pointed out, here and elsewhere, the context is very important. That said, particular favorites of mine are: Albion's Jarl, Tritonia and Svante; A&A's German Bastard.

I'm feeling a bit confused on the pommel typology...Can somebody please directs me to a site or source that has the pommel and/ or guard types. That would be very helpful! Thanks

-Michæl F.

Michael F. wrote:

I'm feeling a bit confused on the pommel typology...Can somebody please directs me to a site or source that has the pommel and/ or guard types. That would be very helpful! Thanks

The amount of information on the Internet regarding the study of arms and armour is staggeringly low. Obviously I'm trying to make a dent in that with this site, but even if I were to increase my efforts 10-fold and 10 other people did the same, the 'net would still only have just a spec of available info on the subject. To really get an idea of this subject one must read many, many books and make every effort to see original pieces in person.

The story of Oakeshott's typology is told in:

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The Archaeology of Weapons

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The Sword in the Age of Chivalry

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Records of the Medieval Sword


The Sword in the Age of Chivalry is your best source for a detailed discussion of the pommel and cross. Records only briefly mentions the subject without any background info. Records can only be seen as a companion and means of update for the other books: it's not really all that informative on its own.

And for typology on British basket-hilts Cyril Mazansky's new book is the one to use ! Mac

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British Basket Hilted Swords

The Paper Armoury: Scotland The Brave

Had to go with the scent stopper on this one. They just blend into the rest of the handel beautifully. Almost an extension of the grip itself.

That being said I also have a real sweet spot for wheel pommels as well. I never used to like them, possibly because there didn't seem to be that many reproductions with accurately rendered examples of disk pommels. That seems to be changing. Albion alone has sever beautiful examples that really turn me on. But for right now... scent stopper please.

Thanks, Kirk. I edited your post because that link was wayyyy too long and screwed up the page format. To see what I did, hit "edit" or "quote" and look at the code.