These are a pair of Chinese swords I custom ordered from Longship Armoury LLC based in the United States which was established in 2011 as a successor to Odin Blades. The blades are hand forged by master weapon smith John Lundemo and unlike many other smithies like the ones in Longquan, they work hard to ensure that the blades are actually accurate and combat ready and are not purely decorative pieces. In addition the prices are much more reasonable. They should arrive in Hong Kong in the next month or so subsequent to which I shall post additional pictures. Although they are based largely on the existing Shenlong Jian model previously produced by Odin Blades, I have tweaked the specifications to conform to my own personal preferences. (Thus they are not fully bespoke but more made to measure pieces).
Examples of the Shenlong Jian
The most important change is the addition of a fuller on each blade (see below excerpt from Wikipedia) as I needed to drastically reduce the weight as I intended to use them as a paired weapon. In a concession to practicality, I am not sure if this has affected the aesthetics as I feel the fuller is too wide. In addition, I added a sun and moon motif to the sword as a nod to my tutelary deity Marishi / Dou Mu / Cundi, which represents the powers of Yin and Yang or heaven and earth. Originally the handles were wrapped in shagreen, but in concession to my Buddhist teachings I had them replaced by fake ivory. I will test them out to see if the grip provided enough friction for my sweaty hands. The original Shenlong model was based upon a Ming Era sword and it also has a little western influence as that was the period when there was the first extensive contact with the West. However the level of detailing on the hilt ensures that this is definitely a sword for the literati and upper classes rather than a wandering knight errant.
The blades weigh 2lbs 3oz each, 28" in length and point of balance at 3". Thus they are extremely light and agile without sacrificing stiffness and resistance in cut. They were designed to suit my style of fighting. I will also get the blades blessed so they can keep dark forces at bay. The blades were sharpened to 8000 grit and stropped for the keenest cutting edge.
A fuller is a tool used in the trade of blacksmithing to produce a rounded or bevel groove or slot in the flat side of a blade (e.g. a sword, knife, or bayonet), and it also refers to the grooves made by these tools. These grooves are often called "blood grooves" or "blood gutters" as well as fullers, although their purpose has nothing to do with blood. A fuller is often used to lighten the blade, much the way that the shape of an I-beam allows a given amount of strength to be achieved with less material. When combined with proper distal tapers, heat treatment and blade tempering, a fullered blade can be 20% to 35% lighter than a non-fullered blade without any sacrifice of strength or blade integrity. This effect lessens as the blade is reduced in length. While this groove is often called a "fuller" by sword enthusiasts, it is the tool used to make the groove which is actually a fuller and the blade is said to be "fullered" after introduction of the groove.
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