River Witham Knightly Sword with Scabbard, 13th C

Knight's sword from the River Witham with scabbard, 13th century

This one-handed sword is based on an original in the collections of the British Museum , London. This knightly (arming) sword, dating to the 13th century, was found in 1825 in the River Witham near Lincoln, England. The distinctive feature of this sword is the inscription "+NDXOXCHWDRGHDXORVI+", which is inlaid into the blade with gold wire. Despite numerous speculations and attempts at decipherment, the meaning of this supposedly Latin acronym remains unclear to this day.

The sword has a broad, double-edged blade with unsharpened edges. Two grooves run almost the entire length of the blade. Like the original, they are decorated on one side with an inscription and on the other side with a sequence of symbols consisting of crosses, crescents and stylised quatrefoils. The guard and the wheel head, which is riveted to the full tang of the blade, are made of steel. The handle has a wooden core wrapped with brown leather bands.

This knight's sword comes complete with a brown wood and leather scabbard.

This medieval sword is intended as a collector's or decorative piece. In addition to its value to collectors, it is also excellent as a prop, for example to complete a historical costume.

• Blade material: carbon steel with high carbon content

• Rockwell hardness: 48-52 HRC

• Handle material: leather-covered wood, steel guard and pommel

• Overall length: approx. 93 cm

• Blade length: approx. 76 cm

• Blade thickness: approx. 5.3 mm

• Hilt length: approx. 16.5 cm (handle approx. 10 cm)

• Maximum blade width: approx. 5.4 cm

• Balance point: approx. 15 cm from the guard

• Including wooden sheath covered with genuine leather with steel fittings

• Weight without scabbard: approx. 1.5 kg

• Weight with scabbard: approx. 2 kg

Specifications may vary slightly from piece to piece.

The steel used is not stainless and may show light surface discolouration in places. We recommend regular maintenance of the blade, for example with Ballistol all-purpose oil, which is ideal for the care of steel.