Hand-Forged High-Status Falchion in the Medieval Way Cuts Like a Lightsaber and Handles like a Dream

A beast while a beauty! I am utterly impressed by the performance of this 100% traditionally made fantasy falchion designed by Brother Nathaniel and realized by Purna Darnal in the rib-cutting tests. One slash in fencing style with this falchion cut through 6 ribs under thick clothing as if there was nothing there.
This falchion takes heavy inspiration from late medieval and early Renaissance falchions with singular clip points and incorporates some fantasy elements of the writhen-hilt design inspired by an 15th century longsword at Royal Armouries, but also adding a D-guard, which is uncommon on period falchions, although extensive hand protection such as knuckle bows are found on many--I have not seen a completely close-up example. The hilt is further decorated with Brother Nathaniel's signature design of sculpted rose buds on the quillons and the pommel as an extension of the twisted-branch motif.
One elephant in the room is its weight/size ratio. Coming in at 2.9 lbs (1330g) with a 25.6" blade and 32.2" overall, it's quite a hefty beast. It is by no means overweight as period examples have a broad spectrum on weight/size ratio. One extreme example is the "Medici Falchion" housed at the Wallace Collection weighing 3.7 lbs with 24.3" blade, while on the other end of the spectrum, the Thorpe Falchion at Norwich castle and the Italian storta at the Met both weigh just a bit over 2 lbs with over 30-inch-long blades, not to mention the Wakefield Hangers that weigh even less.
So its weight is definitely above average and you constantly feel its heft. However, the excellent distal taper helps a lot with the handling. Its thickness is tapered from 8mm at the base, to 5.1mm at midpoint, and 3mm at 1.5" from the tip, and the clip point is moved further back comparing to most 15/16th century falchions of this type, in order to start narrowing out earlier to help with the mass distribution. At the base it's 48.3mm wide, and tapers upward to 56mm at the clip point 13" from the base, but starts to narrow down from there, although certain width is still maintained near the tip, due to the subtle forward curve on the edge. It also features a 13" long false edge with stout edge bevel but also razor sharp. The primary bevel is a full flat ground from the spine to the hair-popping edge.
The entire sword was completely hand-forged and hand-crafted from scratch to finish using medieval level of technology exclusively in lieu of any modern machinery. Not only was it pounded out by hammer, but also ground by hand-powered wheel, polished and sharpened with stones only. It's very impressive that the surface on the blade are very flat with minimal rippling. The amount of labor put into the production of this piece is astonishing.
The hilt components are also hand carved brass and wood pieces, soundly put together with a hot peen at the end of the pommel. All the edges are chamfered well. There's no hot spot anywhere on the hilt and the geometry of the grip is quite ergonomic.
In the lore of this piece, it was used along with a shield by an elite operative well-versed in the knightly arts to decapitate a wyrm. But it also moves quickly despite its heft and can cut light targets effortlessly too, as demonstrated in my test cutting.
It comes with a wood-core scabbard secured by brass chape and locket with sculpted foliate decorations, and the retention is fantastic.
Needless to say, this is a phenomenal piece. Please visit Brother Nathaniel (The Levin Lance)'s profile at SBG for more designs (sbg-sword-foru..., or his KZbin channel for more insight of the crafting process (www.youtube.co.... You can contact him on Facebook ( / natesil ) for his design service or a commission of this exact model.
For contacting the amazing craftsman and bladesmith behind this project, please visit Purna Darnal's website Great Gurkha Khukuri (GGK): www.greatgurkh... or directly converse with him on Facebook ( / purnadarnal2015 .
Background music by Eternal Eclipse:
Cloak and Dagger
Redemption
Born From Ashes
Theory of Light
Dawn of Faith
Fate of the Clockmaker
Dirt and Fire
Hidden Machinations

[@thelevinlance6566]

Ah, in all its glory!

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

All credits go to you and Purna, brother!

[@knightjw]

Hello, sword friend! 😁

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Hello indeed, and welcome!

[@Boggsy.]

Ohhhh man, that’s a beaut!

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Indeed. A beauty AND a beast!

[@thelevinlance6566]

🙏

[@mikesongnguyen8149]

Splendid :))

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Thanks!

[@FrostMocha]

A pretty design, yet scarily effective in use.

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Brother Nathaniel and Purna have done a superb job this time!

[@thelevinlance6566]

🙏

[@vladimirkovacevic1656]

beautiful falchion

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Brother Nathaniel (The Levin Lance) knows how to design aesthetically pleasing yet functional swords!

[@thelevinlance6566]

Thank you, this one has some unusual elements. It was early in my design development.

[@hungamunga5860]

That looks like a big knife!

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Well, late medieval and Renaissance grossemessers are basically falchion blades mounted on knife hilts. And they are called “big knives” in German-speaking regions.

[@raphlvlogs271]

the falchion actually started out as the single edged version of the standard medieval arming sword

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Yeah that’s probably what got falchions their popularity. Guys want something that handles similarly to arming swords but want more cutting potential and doesn’t care too much about thrusting.

[@nathanfrick1962]

Out of all the medevil weapons the falchion is probably the most fantasy in my opinion besides the double bladed axe. Any more you'll have to go to asia

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

I will say that there’s lots of highly decorated examples of late medieval and Renaissance falchion, and many of them are shown in this video. Many falchions also have very novel ideas of blade profile like the back edge falchion and Maciejowski Bible falchions.

[@GoodFolksOfTheSwallow]

A very classic design. Brother Nathaniel has done a marvelous job!

[@thelevinlance6566]

Thanks, Brightlord!