...but of course, I was never allowed to have one - not a real one anyway. When I was a youngster, in my pre-teen years and well beyond, I loved to watch movies about adventurers of olde. When maybe 4 or 5 through at least 12 years of age, I loved to watch movies and shows about gladiators - Spartacus (with Kirk Douglas) was a favorite. I also loved movies about Hercules (especially starring Steve Reeves), Aladdin, the Golden Fleece with jason and the Argonauts, The Thief Of Baghdad and so on. Pirate movies were also high on my list of fantasy inducing films. Anything with knights (the kind in shining armor and such) were even higher on my list; heck I have this guy today, bought it a few years ago, because it reminded me how much I loved my set of toy knights (some with horses) that I used to play with for hours a day (better than watching them on TV):
Most of all, I loved reading The Hobbit - Or There And Back Again (thank you Christine Collins for tuning me on to that one) and The Lord of The Rings trilogy. The Hobbit may be my favorite book of all time (even a bit higher on my list than Man Eaters of Kumaon or The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre and also above - if only barely - Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency).
As could be expected, I also loved movies and shows about bad guys who did good - like Robin Hood. Then there were the Three Musketeers. Even as an adult, I was still into the same kind of things, in fact one of my all time favorite PC games was Thief. By now, you may be beginning to see a common thread between almost all of them - nope not that they were good guy adventurers or bad guys who were do-gooders at least at times but something to do with a thing each of them used in their battles. Yes, they all carried weapons but think more specifically because that is what I finally got myself today and I am actually trembling a bit and have a joyful tear in my each of eyes over it as I type; that's no balderdash - just fact!
Anyway, it's time I show you what I got. I got this:
It is the first actual sword I have ever owned. Granted it is not a big one, not a broadsword by a long shot! It is somewhat along the lines of the short swords used by soldiers in the Roman Legions but is much more modern in origin. It is an Argentine Model 1909 Short Sword. It has not been sharpened (a good thing).
Accompanying it in the photos are the matching serialized scabbard and the correct frog (why the leather holster that holds the scabbard is called a frog is beyond me). I bid in an online auction run by Hessney Auction Co. LTD about a week and a half ago and had the high bid on it. Oddly enough, for the first time in a very long time, I did not have the high bid on even a single firearm. What I did have high bids on were: this sword, an Argentine 1891 bayonet, two sets of pistol grips - one plastic and one wood with Beretta medallions on the wood set - both for a Beretta model 84 (I think 84B but will have to check to see if they fit mine).
Anyway, I digress so back to the sword. All I need now is a cape, a helmet, a shield and a fast & mighty steed (or maybe pony but since I am no Hobbit it would need be very strong). With all that, I suppose I could find some sort of evil bastard to fight or a dragon to slay, one with many extravagant riches for me to plunder. Sometimes, if you dream long enough, dreams do come true.
All the best,Glenn B
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