Medieval Sword Scabbard

[Harry Marinakis]

Medieval sword scabbard

This is a historically-accurate reproduction of a scabbard that is depicted on a statue at the Naumburg cathedral, German Empire, circa AD 1200.

1. Carved 2-piece poplar wood core lined with a fullered, woven-wool textile

2. Veg-tan leather cover (2-3 oz) dyed with Fiebing's Medium Brown

3. Oil-tan Latigo leather belt (6-8 oz, sanded down to 3-4 oz.) in a factory drum-dyed cream color

4. Natural linen thread

5. Bronze chape

6. Hide glue

Sword is a reproduction of an Oakeshott Type XI sword (made by Del Tin, model 2121)

Edited February 8, 2015 by Harry Marinakis

[druid]

very nice

[Brushpopper]

Beautiful work.

[MonicaJacobson]

Very cool! Love the color combination and the semi-rolled edge as you described in the rolled edge thread.

[TheCyberwolfe]

Beautiful work, I'd love to see how the whole thing hangs when worn.

[leatherwytch]

Very nice, just love it.

[Harry Marinakis]

Beautiful work, I'd love to see how the whole thing hangs when worn.

Here are examples. One photo of another one of my scabbards, the other is an image from Medieval illuminated manuscripts showing the same thong belts.

Manuscript: Massacre of the Innocents, Germany, c. AD 1350, British Library, London, Shelfmark Add. 17687 B

The offset belt pulls the scabbard into an oblique angle so it does not hang vertically, also places the sword's grip forward so that it's easier to find and grasp.

The tighter the belt, the more the scabbard is pulled obliquely.

Edited February 8, 2015 by Harry Marinakis

[Thornale]

That's funny to see when forums overlaps. I have just seen your scabbard on myarmoury and now here. Anyway, congratulations on your scabbard.

However I'm a bit concerned about the stitch. Let's put away the historical accuracy, I find this stitch expose a lot of thread to wear and tear, so have you encountered a problem of thread breaking over time on older scabbards you made ?

[Harry Marinakis]

I'm a bit concerned about the stitch. Let's put away the historical accuracy, I find this stitch expose a lot of thread to wear and tear, so have you encountered a problem of thread breaking over time on older scabbards you made ?

Good question

I don't use my scabbards very much, haven't drawn my sword in anger in weeks. (:

Don't have much information on stitching from the Bronze Age through the Iron Age. There is some erevidence that a few leather covers were glued into place.

The whip stitch shown above in my photo was used during the Migration Period all the way through the Medieval Period, but it was not the most common stitch.

The early Vikings preferred a hidden edge-flesh stitch with a butted or beveled seam, perhaps out of concern for stitch wear.

The later Vikings preferred a closed seam with a saddler's stitch, which was infinitely easier to sew than a hidden stitch, and probably had less wear on the stitches than a whip stitch.

A lot of Viking and Medieval finds are leather scabbard covers that had been sliced lengthwise and stripped from the wood core, suggesting that the leather was regularly replaced anyway. For what reason?

Edited February 9, 2015 by Harry Marinakis

[DJole]

I love that laced scabbard style. I have bookmarked an excellent how-to (http://www.yeoldegaffers.com/project_scabbard.asp) for future reference.