SWORDS

FEW FIND FORTUNE, BUT A BLOW FROM A GOOD SWORD IS HARD TO AVOID.

Right, swords. As a sometime valkyrie - thanks to Gorm's Viking Name Converter, I am now Jorunn Bloodaxe - it's only good and proper to have (an ever growing) part of this website dedicated to pointy metal sticks of all kinds.

I'm not sure when I "got into" loving sharp pointy weapons, but somewhere along the line the influences of Lord of the Rings (the sword that was broken, Glamdring, Orcrist etc), Star Wars/Empire/Jedi (Lightsabers) and many other similar things (basically if a movie had a sword in it, I watched it, no matter how bad the representation of the weapon or the fighting) led to my minor obsession with swords. I took up fencing while at the University of Portsmouth, learning foil, taking up sabre because of my "natural style" and the fact we needed a female sabreur, and occiasionally picking up an epee; but unfortunately I didn't have the time to continue this at Imperial (workload and all that) and unfortunately I remain an ex-fencer due to the unpredictability of work.
I suppose part of it is that in an age of guns and missiles, the grace and art of swords of all kinds (both in manufacture and the weilding of) appeals to me. While I don't own any at the moment, I have a long and varied wish list - just need a proper job to earn the money to afford them!

The following links are sites related to swords and fencing. I have no idea about the quality of any of the goods for sale, all I can say is read around, and Caveat Emptor! (Buyer Beware).

SWORDS (general)

Sword Forum International
An educational organization promoting history and culture through the study of swords and swordsmanship.(A great site for all kinds of edged weapons enthusists, with cool forums on everything from Movies swords to fencing, to oriental martial arts)
The Exiles website
Western Martial Artists concentrating on the hand-to-hand fighting techniques of Western Europe during the medieval and early renaissance periods. Nice site.
The official Lord of the Rings films website
How much do I want to see this film?!?
Albion Armourers
Museum quality reproductions of arms and armor for the collector, connoisseur and practitioner of the Historical Sword Arts. They are doing a very nice line in "Conan" swords, and as for the "Beastmaster" sword...
Viking Metal Works
Glen Parrell's site, a blacksmith working out of Newfoundland. Very cool looking custom pieces.
Purpleheart Armory
Wooden wasters/practice weapons.

and fencing sites:

University of Hull
University of Southhampton
Warwick University
Leeds University
Bath University
Sussex Uni Fencing club

British Fencing Association - the governing body

Leon Paul - one of the biggest equipment suppliers

This was the home of the University of Portsmouth Fencing Club on the web, but I have now left Pompey uni (and therefore this club) for pastures new. If you want to join , email AC on bio70448@port.ac.uk and she'll know whats going on.

Thanks to everyone who tried to make a go of it this year, Andy, Sharon, AC, Jon, Jamie, Will etc. Ta guys, I appreciate it.

for those that are at all interested, these are the reports for a couple of competitions I participated in while fencing with UPFC

Christopherson-Holdsworth 5 Weapon Open (Durham Uni 14/03/99)

Southampton University Team Invitational (08/05/99)

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