Elmgarth Hand Forged 51CrV4 Bolognese Sidesword Trainer with Two Finger Rings & Knuckle Bow | About 41 Inches Overall | Russet Wrapped Leather Grip and Care Card | HEMA Gift | RK-3011

The sidesword is the sword of sixteenth century Italy, the one the Bolognese masters wrote for. It sits between the medieval arming sword and the rapier, long enough to threaten with the point and still broad enough through the blade to cut properly. Anyone reading Marozzo, Manciolino or dall’Agocchie needs a blade shaped like this to make the plays work.

The hilt is where the century shows. Two finger rings sit forward of the cross so the index finger can be hooked over the ricasso without sitting in the line of an incoming edge, and a knuckle bow sweeps back from the cross to the pommel to cover the back of the hand. The blade carries a fuller and keeps its width well down its length. The grip is wrapped in russet leather.

If you are choosing between this and a longer thrusting hilt, read rapier against sidesword first, then HEMA sword flex explained. The rest of the cut and thrust hilts are in HEMA sideswords.

Specifications

The sidesword in the Bolognese tradition

The Bolognese school is the most complete body of sixteenth century Italian fencing we have. Marozzo printed in 1536, Manciolino a few years before him and dall’Agocchie in 1572, and between them they cover the sword alone, the sword and buckler, the sword and dagger, the sword and cape and the two handed sword. The sword they all assume is this one.

The guards carry names worth learning because they describe positions rather than abstractions. Coda lunga e stretta with the point back and low on the right, porta di ferro with the hand at the hip and the point toward the opponent, cinghiara porta di ferro on the other side with the body turned, guardia di testa with the sword up and across. The cuts have names too. Mandritto from your right, riverso from your left, stramazzone the rolling cut from the wrist, imbroccata the descending thrust.

That mix is why the blade matters. A rapier blade will not deliver a stramazzone and an arming sword will not hold a long thrust from coda lunga. The sidesword is built to do both, and it is the reason the finger rings are there: with a finger over the ricasso the point obeys the hand, and the ring keeps that finger out of trouble. Fence it in gloves, a mask with back of head protection, a gorget and a rated jacket.

A fullered cutting blade and the flex that suits cut and thrust

The blade keeps its width a long way down before the taper begins, and a fuller runs through the middle of it. That combination is what lets one blade do two jobs. Width and a little forward mass give you a cut that arrives with something behind it, and the fuller takes out the weight that would otherwise make the point slow to bring back online after the cut.

Steel is 51CrV4 hardened to 49 to 52 HRC. The cutting swords in our range run 1095 at 54 to 58 HRC and this is deliberately softer, because spring steel at this hardness bends and returns instead of taking a set or snapping under a hard bind. A sidesword sees a lot of hard binds. The Bolognese plays are full of moments where the blades stay in contact while the hands work.

Flex sits in the medium tier. The market sells flex in bands, light around 15 to 21 lb, medium around 25 to 29 lb, strong or tournament grade around 30 to 43 lb, and stiff for harnischfechten. Medium is where a cut and thrust blade belongs, because it has to stay firm enough to hold a bind and give enough to take a thrust safely. We name the tier and not a number, since we do not put every blade on a jig. The edge is blunted to a flat land over the 2 mm minimum club gear lists ask for and the tip is rolled and flared to about 15 mm across, matching the at least 1.5 cm rolled or spatulated tip in the Berlin HEMA Cup requirements.

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 grip. On this one runes sit cleanly along the fuller, on the face of the pommel or pressed into the russet leather of the grip.

Text and runes are $19, a symbol is $39 and a family crest is $49, and the work is done in the United States after the piece has landed and passed inspection. If you would rather have your own design than a rune line, choose your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us where it goes. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it. More on the engraving page.

Handling and balance

Hook the index finger over the ricasso inside the forward ring and the sword changes character. The point comes under the control of the fingers, the hand can turn the true edge into a bind without the wrist breaking, and the whole blade feels shorter than it measures. Take the finger out and put a full fist on the grip and you get a cutting sword back.

The knuckle bow does its job quietly. It lets you commit to a cut without the back of the hand being the first thing your opponent finds, which is what makes single sword play at speed possible at all. We do not publish a weight or a point of balance. There is no scale in the photograph and a figure printed here would be a guess rather than a measurement.

Care

Wipe the blade down after every session and leave a thin film of oil on it before it goes back in the bag. Pay attention to the inside faces of the rings and the underside of the knuckle bow, where sweat sits and where a rag does not reach unless you push it in.

Expect burrs on the edge land after hard play. Take them back flat with a fine file and finish with wet and dry paper, and do not chase the edge into sharpness. Check the pommel and the joints of the bow for movement every few sessions. The full routine for oiling, rust and long storage is in our care guide.

Made in the Czech Republic

Made by hand in the Czech Republic and imported by Ransack Viking. Nothing here is drop shipped out of an importer catalogue straight to a customer. Every one is checked for hilt tightness, pommel seating and blade straightness at our North Babylon, New York warehouse, and ships from there. Shipping in the United States is free, returns run for seven days, and the lifetime warranty against defects in the forging, the grind, the heat treat and the fittings has no end date and needs no receipt.

A hilt with rings and a bow has more brazed and fitted joints than a plain cross, so those joints are the first thing the team checks when the crate is opened, along with blade straightness and pommel seating.

A note on handmade variation

This is hand forged. It is not machine made, not cast and not bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph on this page. Rings are bent and fitted by hand, so the sweep of the bow and the exact set of the two rings will not repeat from one piece to the next, and russet leather takes dye unevenly, so the colour can run lighter or deeper than the photograph.

The standard behind the piece does not shift. Every one leaves the workshop straight, tight and blunted the same way, and anything that fails the check at the warehouse never gets boxed.

Frequently asked questions

Whether this suits Marozzo and dall’Agocchie

Yes. A fullered cut and thrust blade with finger rings and a knuckle bow is the shape the Bolognese texts assume, and the plays that need a real cut as well as a real thrust work with it as written.

How a sidesword differs from a rapier

A rapier is longer, narrower and built around the thrust, with a hilt that grows more complex to protect a hand that stays forward. A sidesword cuts properly as well and is short enough to be worn and used as an ordinary sword. The sidesword came first.

Whether the finger goes over the ricasso

That is what the forward ring is for. Hooking the index finger over the ricasso inside the ring gives the point far better control, and the ring keeps the finger out of the path of an incoming edge. Wear gloves regardless.

Whether a scabbard is included

No. This ships as the sword alone and we do not sell a scabbard for it. Carry it in a padded bag and keep the blade oiled inside.

Whether it can be used for sword and buckler

Yes, and the Bolognese masters expected it. The hilt is built for a hand that is often the target, which is exactly the situation a buckler is answering.

Whether the blade can be sharpened

Do not sharpen it. 51CrV4 at 49 to 52 HRC is chosen for sparring, not for cutting, and an edge would make a safe trainer into something else while holding badly anyway.

What is in the box

• The Elmgarth Bolognese sidesword trainer, blunted along the full edge.
• A protective film of oil on the steel, which comes off with a rag.
• A printed card covering oiling, the hilt joints and storage.
• The lifetime warranty against defects in the forging, the grind and the fittings.

Explore the range

More cut and thrust hilts sit in HEMA sideswords, longer thrusting blades in HEMA rapiers, plain crosses in HEMA arming swords, and the whole training line under HEMA swords. The written side is in the guides.

Worth a look beside this

If the fit is not quite right, Brekavik schiavona, about 41 inches overall, Valdris sidesword, about 41 inches overall, Orveldt sidesword, about 42 inches overall and Fenrholt rapier, about 47 inches overall cover much the same ground.

Browse the HEMA sidesword category or step up to the HEMA sword hub for the complete set, or start from scratch on the custom sword builder.