Category-B Gallows Sword Without Scabbard

Enjoy the Gallows Sword Without Sheath

Irish two-handed gallowglass sword with ring pommel, 16th century
The model for this two-handed sword was the massive broadswords of the elite Irish mercenaries of Scottish descent, known as gallowglass (also galloglass or galloglass - an anglicisation of the Gaelic gallóglaigh / gallóglach , literally translated as young foreign soldier). Between the mid-13th and late 16th centuries, these intrepid, heavily armed foot soldiers fought alongside the central light infantry that formed the bulk of Irish armed forces in the late Middle Ages and Renaissance.
The Gallowglass originally came from the Norse Gaelic clans of the Scottish Highlands, Argylls, and the Hebrides (off the west coast of Scotland), whose Irish ancestors had intermarried with the 10th-century Norse settlers. When they were dispossessed during the Scottish Wars of Independence, they fled to Ireland, where the Irish princes quickly recognized their worth and granted them work, land to settle, and the right to provisions in return for their loyalty and military service. Many Irish lords also employed Gallowglasses as bodyguards. Over the centuries, the Gallowglass ranks were also filled with native Irish and newer Scottish mercenaries.
The preferred weapons of the highly trained Gallowglass soldiers were a two-handed sparth axe (probably a relic of their Scandinavian heritage) and a great two-handed sword. The sword often had a characteristic ring-shaped pommel, through which the tang end of the blade visibly passed. This unique open-ring pommel was relatively typical of Irish swords of the 15th and 16th centuries. Many preserved Irish-Gaelic ring-pommel swords were found during archaeological excavations throughout Ireland and can now be admired in various museums (e.g., in the Irish National Museum - National Museum of Ireland - in Dublin).

Our budget reconstruction of a gallowglass sword has a broad, flat, double-edged EN45 spring steel blade with a ricasso approximately 15cm long at the base and four fullers on either side (two running approximately one-third the length of the blade, and two shorter). The cutting edges are unsharpened. The handle has a crossguard approximately 30cm long with E-shaped ends approximately 7mm thick, a wooden grip tightly wrapped in brown leather, and ends with the iconic ring pommel that adorns many Irish swords.
This beautiful piece of Scots-Irish history comes without a case.
This late medieval/Renaissance two-handed sword is designed as a collectible or decorative item. It's also ideal as an accessory, for example to complete your costume, and will make your transformation into a proud Irish warrior simply perfect.
Details:
- Material: EN45 spring steel blade (carbon steel, not stainless), wooden handle with leather sheath, steel guard and pommel
- Total length: approx. 138cm
- Blade length: approx. 106 cm
- Blade thickness: approx. 4 mm (cutting edges approx. 1 mm)
- Handle length: approx. 32 cm (handle section approx. 19 cm)
- Maximum blade width: approx. 6.5 cm.
- Center of gravity: approx. 20 cm in front of the guard
- Ring knob dimensions: approx. 5.7 cm ø, 8 mm thick
- Weight: approx. 2.8 kg
The above specifications may vary slightly from specimen to specimen.

The steel used here is not stainless and may show slight signs of corrosion. We recommend regular maintenance of the blade, for example with Ballistol, a universal oil ideal for preserving steel products.



At Tienda Medieval, we have thousands of medieval and other period products. Discover them!