On Wednesday 26 January 2005 00:29, neal pardoe stood up and spoke the
following words to the masses...:

> On Tue, 25 Jan 2005 04:34:20 +0000, Aragorn wrote:
> 
>
> Would that be 'stormbringer' by any chance?
>
> neal.

That would be the one. ;-)  Tried and tested on trolls, orks and other
spawn from Mordor. ;-)

Okay, this is going _way_ off topic, but I actually do possess two
swords, and to a certain degree I'm quite skilled in using them, though
I'm not master. They are of a totally different kind than the ones in
"Lord Of The Rings", though.  They are in fact (replicas of) Japanese
*katanas,* the traditional sword of the samurai, and I've had them for
about 9-10 years now.

In general, if one buys a /set/ of these (replicated) swords, then one
begets a /dai-sho./  This is a set of two swords with the same kind of
scabbard, the same kind of handguard - known as the /tsuba/ - the same
kind of grip winding, etc.

A /dai-sho/ consists of a /dai-to/ and a /sho-to,/ respectively
translated as "long sword" and "short sword".  The "long sword" is the
katana, the "short sword" is the wakizashi.  There are of course other
types of Japanese swords as well, such as the /tashi/ - which is
slightly longer than a katana and was carried hanging down from the
waist belt with the sharp side of the blade towards the ground - or the
/tanto/ - which was more of a knife but actually held and used in
combat as if it were a sword - or the /nodashi/ - a very long sword for
use against cavalry.

In my case, both swords are separately purchased katana replicas,
finished and styled very differently.  One is a traditionally looking
katana, the other one - my favorite - is a black katana with a handgrip
that is sculpted in the shape of a black dragon, rather than the
straight, wound textile grip found on most katanas.

Both swords are replicas of course *[1]*, but they are usable and can be
sharpened as their blades are made of hardened stainless steel.  The
black dragon katana has a blade of /Toledo/ /steel/ and an identical
replica - of the same manufacturer even! - was used by actor Mario Van
Peebles in his role of Kane in the movie "Highlander III: The
Sorcerer".  Here you can see a picture of it:

http://www.swordsdirect.com/marto-dragon-katanas.html


*[1]* Authentic katanas are still being made in Japan today, but Japan
forbids export of them, considering them to be part of the cultural
heritage of the nation, and certainly not something to be owned by a
/gaijin,/ i.e. a foreigner. ;-)

Only a few swordsmiths still make them, but they do so with all the
traditional patience and skill.  It takes about 6 months to complete a
sword, from the collecting of the raw materials over the forging and
tempering process and the polishing of the blade, down to the
lacquering of the sheath and the binding of the twohanded grip with
ray- or sharkskin and textiles, etc.

If you were to buy such a sword first hand, you would have to shell out
some some 40'000 Euros.  A 17th century specimen in perfect condition -
and the Japanese *have* kept many of those old relics in an mint
condition - would yield about 100'000 Euros.

On the other hand, the mass-produced katanas used by Japanese officers
in World War II would fall within the pricerange of 10'000 Euros.  They
too have the very rigid and sharp carbon steel blade, but they are of
course not as good as the traditionally forged blades, which all were
unique one/offs. ;-)

--
With kind regards,

*Aragorn*
(Registered Gnu/Linux user #223157)

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