The Castilia Scabbard

∴ A Complete Set ∴

The Castilia rapier is an enduring favourite with our followers, and exhibits a subtle 17th Century Spanish aesthetic. Our client liked the look of our basic frog and belt sets, but wanted to add something of the same Spanish to the design. Between us we discussed a variety of traditional Spanish designs, highlighting in particular the vine patterns in extant leather and woodwork.

I based the final tooling pattern on a rough sketch provided by the client, and created variations on the theme for the belt, the frog, and the scabbard itself. The dark brown of the leather is set off by hammered brass fittings and copper rivets, while the scabbard benefits from a thick leather chape and mouth for added durability.

Due to the simple and versatile style of the frog and belt, the scabbard can easily be worn on either hip, ideal for an ambidextrous fencer.

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The Monocerine Longsword

∴ A Noble Encounter ∴

Your fingers sting with cold, despite thick leather gloves. You clamp your hands under your arms and kick at the snow-covered ground. You have no idea how many hours have passed, how many must still pass until daylight trickles through the dense tangle of branches, and you are relieved of your vigil.

Quite what this tradition is supposed to achieve, you don’t know. Surely a fight would be the better proof of your readiness. To first blood, blindfolded, four against one, you don’t care – anything would be better than the bone-deep cold and profound boredom of waiting unarmed under ice-encased boughs for some kind of sacred sign.

Just as you’re practicing the divine vision you’ll relate when they come for you, you catch sight of something you hadn’t seen before. There, in a strain of moonlight, a hoofprint marring even snow. And another. The marks look fresh, but how could they be? You have been here since nightfall.

Heart quickening, you decide to follow the prints. They could be part of your test, you think. You hope. Wishing more than ever for your training blade, you plunge into dense woodland, scanning the ground for signs. Branches snatch at your hair, the hood of your cloak, but you press on as if possessed.

Whether minutes or hours pass, you cannot say, but at last thick forest gives way to another snowlit glade, glittering with nearing dawn. The tracks you’ve been following loop around the flat, broad stone at the centre of the glade before seemingly disappearing.

But you are not looking at the tracks any more. Your eyes have been arrested by the sword that rests on the stone table: long, lined, a vision in dark, faceted steel and deep blue leather. You fall to your knees as sunlight floods the glade. You are ready.

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The Accipiter Scabbard

∴ A Heraldic Fantasy ∴

I’ve been fortunate to create leather goods based on fantasy realms before, taking cues from Middle Earth and beyond. This challenge, however, was all the greater – making a scabbard based on a world of our client’s own creation.

A published writer, our client chose to celebrate the success of her novels by commissioning a sword and scabbard straight out of them. The resulting weapon was the acclaimed Accipiter Kriegmesser, and my task was to create a matching scabbard. Continue reading

The Amroth Scabbard

∴ A Proud Protector ∴

Part of a suite of Lord of the Rings inspired pieces, this scabbard needed to channel the proud history of Gondor, complimenting the bold, masculine design of the Amroth Arming Sword.

As a companion piece to the The Aranarth Scabbard, this scabbard needed to carry through a certain aesthetic kindred while evoking a subtly different character and culture.

The scabbard is wooden-cored and coated in a polished dark brown leather, wet-formed and secured with a seam of crossed stitches. The length of the scabbard is criss-crossed by broad black leather straps, while the steel rings and chape are finely carved.

An interpretation of Gondor’s symbolic tree is tooled into the leather then highlighted in gold, seven stars tucked amidst its roots and branches.

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The Aranarth Scabbard

∴ Rugged Nobility ∴

When tasked to make a scabbard for the Lord of the Rings inspired Aranarth Longsword, a plethora of images immediately flooded my mind. While our client was particularly inspired by the now classic swords and scabbards made by Weta for the film trilogy, I was keen to incorporate a sense of Strider’s story: the rugged ranger with noble roots.

The scabbard is wooden-cored and coated in mottled dark green leather, wet-formed and secured with a seam of crossed stitches. The sturdy, practical brown strapping is offset by the strong lines of the steel chape and ring, which follow the shape of the sword’s ecusson.

A knotwork motif, picked out in gold and then lightly sanded to a distressed finish, completes the tale: a hint of regal glory, both worn away and enhanced by hard wear.

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