The Harsefeld Scabbard

Finally, I have made a worthy home for my beautiful iron age Germanic sword! If you saw my kit photos in my last post, you got a sneak peek-- but here are the close-ups!

This scabbard is based off a single piece of artwork recorded in a book by Martin Jahn, in his 1916 work "Die Bewaffnung der Germanen in der älteren Eisenzeit" ("The Armament of the Germans in the Older Iron Age"), which was drawn after excavation of the scabbard's 1st century remains at Harsefeld. There are no photos and very little description-- just this doodle. This book has been out of print longer than I have been alive, but I happened across this photo from his work shortly after starting iron age reenactment in 2019, and I had to know more. Despite the frustratingly overwhelming lack of information, I think I have been able to recreate a modest impression of the original.

For the wood, I chose walnut in order to better match the grip of the sword. Starting from a live sawn slab, I cut the planks and allowed them to dry and bow naturally on the inside, and then began chiseling out the difference to fit the blade. I made a few mistakes here and there, but once I was happy with it I glued and clamped it together, and sealed it with teak oil (not the most period compound, but great for bringing out the natural color, and I was trying to match finishes as best I could).

For the metalwork, I enlisted the gracious help of a friend Dan, a blacksmith and fellow member of the St. Louis Medieval Association. With his expertise, we were able to manufacture our own fittings for the scabbard in-house. The chape is a T-shaped piece that is slipped into a channel cut into the scabbard, then riveted in place with homemade rivets.

The five clamp pieces were tricky. The bottom three were simple enough, just basic C-clamps bent into place, but the top two had to be bent around twice and the scabbard would not be able to sustain that kind of pressure. We had no choice but to bend them on while heated. Imagine our surprise when we realized that hot metal and teak oil have a colorful reaction!

Yes, the scabbard was briefly on fire, but it all worked out alright. Once we committed and put the metal in place, dropping the hand-made metal rings into position and twisting the bands around, the damage to the wood gets mostly concealed by the metal. The rest I was able to sand out and repair later.

With the bands affixed, all that was left was the baldric straps. I sewed on two thin strips of leather sealed in neatsfoot oil, and attached a small iron buckle-- a handmade gift from the blacksmith. It was the perfect final touch.

I'm very pleased with how it all turned out, and I had a lot of fun with the experimentation and cooperation needed to see it through!