Replica Witcher Swords

[Gr3aves]

Replica Witcher Swords

Hello there,

I collect replica's of swords, and i was wondering if CDPR would ever consider having a company make 1:1 Witcher sword replica's. I know there's a big amount of swords, so naturally only the most awesome ones.

If they do this, say, in United Cutlery quality, how much interest would there be in them? The price range would be around €200 - €350 for a new one.
I have some Lord of the Rings swords made by United Cutlery, and they're really solid, and good quality. And although they're not razor-sharp, they're not very dull either. Look great on the wall, especially since they come with painted wooden boards to hang them on.

Let me know what you guys think!

 

[EliHarel]

I think I want to see your gallery!

 

[Aaden]

Szymon Chlebowski made Witcher swords for a competition a while ago. I don't know though if a) he is willing to make more of them on request and b) has the required rights to the design if he is willing to do it. Handcrafted by the way and top quality. My swordfencing club has ordered Feders from him and they're top notch.

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[Gr3aves]

Those look pretty awesome, and solid as well. They're less ''pretty'' and ''perfect'' than the United Cutlery ones, but more authentic. I'll wager these are cheaper, too.

I'll look around on his website. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Aaden]

Those look pretty awesome, and solid as well. They're less ''pretty'' and ''perfect'' than the United Cutlery ones, but more authentic. I'll wager these are cheaper, too.

I'll look around on his website. Thanks for the tip.

Probably less expensive, yes. The regular long swords in his online shop range from 500 to 700 zloty, which is about €120 - €170. I expect this one to be a bit more expensive than that, due to the special design and details, but certainly not as much as €350. If anything like that is even for sale, that is.

 

[Manowar0264]

Damn, those are really nice.

 

[Senteria]

I bet a true silver sword would cost thousands of euro's.

 

[Gr3aves]

Keep in mind that Geralt's sword isn't made out of pure silver. It has a steel core, probably to make it stronger, cause silver is weaker than steel.

So you wouldn't pay for a full silver sword, although i can imagine the silver around the core still costs quite a bit.

 

[Belzebutinov]

Keep in mind that Geralt's sword isn't made out of pure silver. It has a steel core, probably to make it stronger, cause silver is weaker than steel.

This.

Silver scores 2.5 to 3 on Mohs' scale of hardness (if you're unfamiliar with this scale, 1 is talc, 10 is pure diamond). Steel, depending on its quality, starts at 5, and can go as high as 8.5. We know that the gnomes have top-notch bellows and that witchers, accepting only the best, use top-quality meteoric iron ore. So it's quite likely that the steel they use for their swords is close to 8.5.

Once you have that core, you just coat it with some silver because many monsters are, as Lambert tells you in the prologue of TW1, immune to steel or almost. Take a bruxa for instance: "On her white dress, slightly above her left breast, a red stain was visible beneath a slash no longer than a little finger. The witcher ground his teeth – the cut, which should have sundered the beast in two, had been nothing but a scratch." - A grain of truth. You could batter away all day with a steel sword, the only damage you're likely to do is to her ribs, because bruxas are ticklish (trust me) and she'll laugh all day at your feeble attempt. Silver is your only option.

On the other hand, you cannot in any way use such a weapon against a human, because the human is likely to be carrying steel armor and weapons. And when something with a hardness rating of 2.5 hits something with a rating of 8.5, it doesn't go well at all for the softer material - hence the steel sword for human monsters.

 

[GuyNwah]

There are other scales more suitable to evaluating the hardness of metals (Brinell, Vickers, Rockwell), but the conclusion is still the same: not even gnomes could make silver take an edge. Hard silver alloys are brittle and would fracture when you tried to put an edge on, even if you could clad a blade in them. IRL, you can put silver inlays on a blade. This will not affect the edge, nor will it expose the silver to damage. You can execute extraordinarily beautiful runes and knots this way.

But a blade with silver on the edge is just for fantasy.

 

[Gr3aves]

There are other scales more suitable to evaluating the hardness of metals (Brinell, Vickers, Rockwell), but the conclusion is still the same: not even gnomes could make silver take an edge. Hard silver alloys are brittle and would fracture when you tried to put an edge on, even if you could clad a blade in them. IRL, you can put silver inlays on a blade. This will not affect the edge, nor will it expose the silver to damage. You can execute extraordinarily beautiful runes and knots this way.

But a blade with silver on the edge is just for fantasy.

How about an alloy of silver and steel? If thats even possible. It would probably work against monsters, though.

But for on my wall, stainless steel will suffice.

 

[GuyNwah]

The hardest silver alloys are approx. Vickers 100 to 150 -- and at that hardness, the silver can no longer be worked. (Stainless is commonly around 220. Medieval steel from the best Indian sources is as hard as Vickers 500. That is extremely hard.)

What does work is traditional silver overlay like koftgari:

or modern inlay work; here's how it's done:
http://www.seekyee.com/Bladesmithing/the process/tutorials/inlaytutorial1/inlaytutorial.htm

Here the silver is supported by the steel and is shown off with great artistry, without the need to form an edge in soft brittle metal.

 

[Gr3aves]

Damn that's so awesome.

 

[Belzebutinov]

From a strictly lore-orientated standpoint, the issue I see is that you actually need the edge, the cutting part, to be silver-coated, because many monsters are simply ridiculously resilient to steel. So you actually need something made of silver to open a wound.

Obviously, this doesn't seem possible with our current blacksmithing techniques. I guess the gnomes have found some unique, possibly magical way then

 

[Gr3aves]

Yes, thats the issue. But for decorating purposes, steel will do

 

[dragonbird]

From a strictly lore-orientated standpoint, the issue I see is that you actually need the edge, the cutting part, to be silver-coated, because many monsters are simply ridiculously resilient to steel. So you actually need something made of silver to open a wound.

Obviously, this doesn't seem possible with our current blacksmithing techniques. I guess the gnomes have found some unique, possibly magical way then

It depends on whether the monsters need to be cut with silver, or just that the wound needs to come into contact with silver. If the latter, silver decoration on the surface of the sword would be enough.

 

[Gr3aves]

It depends on whether the monsters need to be cut with silver, or just that the wound needs to come into contact with silver. If the latter, silver decoration on the surface of the sword would be enough.

Well, we know the Striga Bruxa (Thanks Belz) needs to be cut with silver. Steel didn't do shit. And he's not gonna carry around 2 silver swords. So a sword with a silver edge is required.

 

[Belzebutinov]

The way I understand it, it's part of the monsters' natural resilience that makes it so that steel simply cannot cut through. I always come back to that bruxa in one of the earlier short stories, which skin is so tough that even after a full-on witcher-strength slice, it only has an inch-long scratch, whereas any normal being would have been cut clear in half.

I do agree that if iron can slice through these monsters, than a silver-inlaid steel sword would unquestionably do the trick though.

 

[ReptilePZ]

The way I understand it, it's part of the monsters' natural resilience that makes it so that steel simply cannot cut through. I always come back to that bruxa in one of the earlier short stories, which skin is so tough that even after a full-on witcher-strength slice, it only has an inch-long scratch, whereas any normal being would have been cut clear in half.

I think you may have misunderstood that part. The slice was so small because the hit didn't connect properly - either Geralt missed (after being knocked down by the bruxa: "The soundwave was so powerful it broke through the Sign. Black and red circles spun in Geralt's eyes; his temples and the crown of his head throbbed") or the creature dodged (it's described as being very agile), as shown by the lines directly above your quote:

"He jumped up and, in a flash, matching the tempo of his movements to the speed of the monster's flight, took three steps forward, dodged, turned a semi-circle and then, quick as a thought, delivered a two-handed blow. The blade met with no resistance . . . almost no resistance. He heard a scream, but this time it was a scream of pain, caused by the touch of silver."

The part in bold shows that he almost missed the creature. So I don't think silver is required to wound a magical monster, it's just that they're more susceptible, making the fight easier.

 

[dragonbird]

In the books, is there any reference to what the chain is made of? I've forgotten.
If the chain is also silver, then it backs up the theory that this is an "allergic reaction", similar to vampire/werewolf lore. Which would definitely mean that a silver-decorated steel sword would work just fine. The steel edge cuts, the silver surface "poisons".

I've always assumed that the lore was intended to be like vampire/werewolf. The monsters can be cut using steel, it's just that the cut does less harm than with natural creatures.