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The Perfect Sword

Forging the Dark Ages

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The Perfect Sword

By: Paul Gething, Edoardo Albert
Narrated by: Michael Langan
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About this listen

The story of the Bamburgh Sword—one of the finest swords ever forged.

In 2000, archaeologist Paul Gething rediscovered a sword. An unprepossessing length of rusty metal, it had been left in a suitcase for thirty years. But Paul had a suspicion that the sword had more to tell than appeared, so he sent it for specialist tests. When the results came back, he realized that what he had in his possession was possibly the finest, and certainly the most complex, sword ever made, which had been forged in seventh-century Northumberland by an anonymous swordsmith.

This is the story of the Bamburgh Sword—of how and why it was made, who made it and what it meant to the warriors and kings who wielded it over three centuries. It is also the remarkable story of the archaeologists and swordsmiths who found, studied, and attempted to recreate the weapon using only the materials and technologies available to the original smith.

©2022 Paul Gething and Edoardo Albert (P)2023 Tantor Archaeology Europe Great Britain Medieval

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Profile Image for Christine

Lots of interesting stuff!

A Surprisingly engaging book full of not just the basics of swords, but some mid-first millennium archaeological tales too, and we all love an archaeological tale! It’s always good to get a new perspective on a loved period of time.

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