LordFuzzyButt said:
beautiful, wondering where i can get one for myself!
What about the URL offered on the wooden plate?
LordFuzzyButt said:
Erm, what's with the blade? It seems a little curved near the hilt.
That's the ricasso.
Why it's narrower than the blade, I don't know, but it's seen ocassionally. Its presence may have several reason: 1) It saves the maker effort - why shape and sharpen a part of the blade that isn't used for cutting? 2) It probably is more robust than the actual edge. 3) It could be used for half-swording techniques (not 100% sure about that, don't know if you'd grip it that close to the hilt for some of the techniques).
For why it's narrower I can offer two (and a half) theories: Same amount of material on the blank (unformed sword), but it's not hammered as flat as the edge (sorry, I lack some technical terms in English here..) - therefore it's thicker but narrower. Second theory: the ricasso was sometimes wrapped in leather to offer additional protection for the material - maybe it's narrower so that it's not broader than the blade when leather is wrapped around it. The half theory: the narrow ricasso might improve your grip when half-swording because you can't slip into the blade so easily and your hands/gauntlets are better protected increasing the chances of the opponent's blade to glance off.
Mind that there's quite a lot of speculation involved and I could be entirely wrong with all of these theories - or it's a mix of more than one.
