Kingsbarrow Hand Forged 1095 High Carbon Steel Camelot King Sword Replica | 44 Inch Overall with 35 Inch Blade | Cosplay and Display Gift | RK-1256

The Kingsbarrow is a Camelot sword in the full royal dress of the high middle ages: a broad double edged blade with an engraved fuller, an ornate gilt brass guard and disc pommel, and a maroon leather scabbard mounted in matching brass. Camelot itself is younger than most people expect. Arthur has no capital at all in the earliest Welsh material, and the name Camelot first appears around 1180 in Chretien de Troyes, in a single passing line in Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart. It is mentioned once and then dropped. Later writers seized on it, moved it to Winchester, to Cadbury Castle, to Caerleon, and built the whole architecture of the Round Table around a word one French poet used almost in passing. The court came first and the city was invented to house it.

Every Kingsbarrow is forged, ground, heat treated, polished and hilted by hand in our shop in Memphis, Tennessee. It ships with its brass mounted maroon leather scabbard, a light protective oil on the blade, a care card covering both steel and gilding, and free shipping anywhere in the United States.

Specifications

Camelot, the Round Table and what a king’s sword looked like

The romances that gave us Camelot were written between roughly 1170 and 1240, and the writers armed their knights in the gear of their own day rather than of any fifth or sixth century Britain. That is why the Arthurian sword in art and manuscript is consistently a high medieval one: straight quillons, a wide fullered blade, a disc or wheel pommel, and hilt furniture in gilded copper alloy on anything belonging to a king. Real royal swords of the period survive to confirm it, notably the ceremonial swords in the imperial and Hungarian regalia, all of them mounted in gilt bronze or brass rather than steel.

The Round Table appears about the same time, in Wace, as a solution to a practical court problem: with no head of the table there is no precedence, and so no quarrel over who sits where. It is a piece of political design dressed up as furniture, and it tells you a great deal about what these stories were really arguing about.

How the gilt brass hilt is fitted

Hilt furniture is only as good as the joints. The guard is drilled and filed to the exact section of the tang at the shoulder, then driven down until it seats hard against the ricasso with no gap for a shim to hide, because any looseness there works itself larger every time the sword is handled. The grip core goes on next, then the gilt brass disc pommel, and the last inch of the tang is peened cold over the pommel until the head spreads and locks the stack under compression.

The castings are chased by hand before gilding. A mould softens every edge it reproduces, so a caster’s punch is run over the raised work to bring back the crisp shoulders and the deep grounds that make the pattern read from a distance. That step is the difference between hilt furniture that looks cast and hilt furniture that looks made. Brass takes it well, and it holds gilding better than steel does, since it does not flex under the surface and shed the finish.

Why 1095 high carbon and not stainless

1095 is a straightforward carbon steel with very little in it other than iron and carbon, which is exactly why it behaves so well in a blade. It hardens deeply and evenly, holds a clean edge, and tempers into a range that keeps a long blade tough. Stainless owes its rust resistance to twelve percent or more chromium, and the carbides that produces break up the grain and make a thirty five inch section comparatively brittle. A blade that will bend and come back is worth far more than a blade that never needs oiling and can snap. The metallurgy is set out in full on our page covering Damascus versus stainless.

The grip, the scabbard and the wood inside both

The grip is two carved halves of hardwood clamped on a full tang, cord wound to raise risers, then covered in red leather stitched along the back edge. The scabbard is built the same traditional way, two wooden laths hollowed to the exact profile of this blade, glued, lined and covered in maroon dyed leather before the brass throat, locket and chape go on. Both are wood at heart, so both respond to humidity. Keep the sword out of direct sunlight, which fades red and maroon dye faster than any other colour, and away from radiators and unheated garages. Our notes on wooden handle care apply to the scabbard body as much as to the grip.

Engraving, runes and your own design

Use the rune converter on this page to turn a name, a date or a short phrase into Elder Futhark and we will cut it into the steel or the handle. If you would rather have a Viking pattern than a rune line, choose your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us whether it goes on the blade or the handle. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it. On the Kingsbarrow the standard fuller engraving is what gets replaced, and a name, a date or a short Latin motto all sit well in that space. We do not cut into the gilded brass, because engraving through gilding exposes bare metal that will never match. Full details are on the engraving page.

Care and sharpening

The blade and the brass want opposite things. High carbon steel needs a wipe after every handling and a thin film of mineral or camellia oil two or three times a year, and any red spotting should be lifted early with oil and a fine pad before it can pit. The gilt brass needs no polish at all, and abrasive metal cleaner will strip the gilding in one pass, so keep it to a dry soft cloth. Store the sword out of the scabbard for long periods, because tanned leather holds moisture against steel and against gilding. The blade routine is on our steel care page, and if you take the sharpened option, our guide to sharpening with a whetstone covers maintaining a long bevel without rounding it.

Forged in Memphis

Forged, ground, heat treated, chased, gilded and assembled in Memphis, Tennessee. Nothing here is drop shipped from an importer catalogue, and nothing arrives in the shop finished with somebody else’s mark taken off it. Because the hilt work and the scabbard mounts are done by hand, this is one of the slower pieces we build. In stock swords go out in two to three business days. Made to order or custom engraved Kingsbarrows run three to four weeks, and if the schedule slips you will hear from us before the date rather than after it.

A note on handmade variation

This sword is hand forged. It is not machine made and it is not bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph on this page. Chasing is done by eye and by hand, so no two guards carry identical detail. Gilding catches light differently across a surface. Maroon dye strikes deeper on some hides than others and every wooden grip has its own grain. The etch in the fuller runs a shade lighter or darker with time in the mordant. All of it varies because each piece is worked by hand from natural materials. The dimensions, the steel, the heat treatment and the build stay the same every time. The character does not.

Frequently asked questions

Does the sword arrive sharpened?

No. It ships with a display edge, which is safe to handle and to hang. Select the sharpened option if you want a working cutting edge ground on before dispatch.

Is the hilt solid brass or plated steel?

The guard and pommel are cast brass, chased by hand and then gilded. They are structural parts of the hilt, fitted tight to the tang and locked in place by the peened pommel, not decorative covers over a steel frame.

How should I clean the gold coloured parts?

A dry soft cloth only. Metal polish is abrasive and will go straight through the gilding to the brass beneath, and there is no way back from that.

Can I have a name or motto engraved?

Yes. Use the rune converter for Elder Futhark or ask for plain lettering in the engraving option. Your line takes the place of the standard fuller engraving rather than being added beside it.

What is the difference between this and a claymore?

A claymore is the Scottish two hander, longer and heavier, with forward sloping quillons and no ornamental hilt furniture of this kind. This is a shorter, faster court and battlefield sword in the style the Arthurian romances describe, and it is far easier to display in a normal room.

How long does delivery take?

Free shipping across the United States. In stock swords leave Memphis in two to three business days, and custom or engraved pieces take three to four weeks.

What is in the box

• Kingsbarrow hand forged 1095 Camelot sword with gilt brass hilt and disc pommel
• Maroon leather scabbard over a wooden core with gilt brass throat, locket and chape
• Protective oil coat on the blade for transit
• Care card covering both high carbon steel and gilded brass
• Rune engraving certificate where personalisation was ordered
• Forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

Explore the range

Browse the rest of the fantasy and movie style swords, the longsword range, our arming swords and the scabbards and sheaths. Arthurian background and steel care are in the guides.