The Count Inspirations


The sword found in the banks of Fyris river in Uppsala, Sweden

It had already been an amazing day for us at the University of Uppsala storeroom. We were able to document and handle some two dozen Viking swords. We just finished documenting a half dozen medieval swords of various types and periods when we decided to go over the storeroom shelves one more time before packing up for the day. I grabbed a ladder and climbed to the top to view the contents of the upper shelves. My eye caught a glimpse of two spherical shapes in the middle of the shelf. My heart started to race as I realized that there was another Tritonia-like-sword, plus a huge hollowground sword with a spherical pommel right next to each other. I looked down at Peter and said, "you are not going to believe this." We quickly traded places. All Peter said was, "be still my heart." He carefully handed the swords down to me. The Count guard is the result of that serendipitous moment. The Tritonia-like-sword, which was quite rusted, had this beautifully designed guard that really made a tremendous statement. The Count would have been a contemporary of the sword, so it is fitting that the Count bears such an elegant guard. As you can see from the picture, the guard is quite rusted, but the elegant lines and symmetry of the guard is obvious. By placing it on the Count, it is adds a tasteful flourish to an already noble sword. --Eric McHugh

The principal inspiration for the Count pommel



Other similar period pommels