Septentrian Sword Scabbard

October 1, 2018, I was given the privilege of refurbishing the scabbard of Septentria’s Sword of State, which was in a very poor condition.  The scabbard that was on the sword had been created by Master Berend van der Eych in the summer of 2002, as a quick fix but the project had not been revisited until now.

The leather was a lightweight vegetable tan, with a simple sinew saddle stitch to hold it together.  It had been dyed dark brown using oak gal ink, which had weathered quite well.  Unfortunately the sword and scabbard had been exposed to less than ideal conditions, leading to severe rusting on the blade, tarnishing of the brass sword fittings and some small damage to the wooden handle.

Master Berend will be removing the rust and returning the sword itself to as pristine of a condition as is possible using polishing compounds, and other equipment.  I will not be detailing this process, as I am focused on the scabbard and it’s reconstruction.

Figure 1- Original Scabbard, after removal from sword blade.

Removal of the old scabbard was facilitated by allowing the sword to stand in a warm, dry place for approximately 24 hours.  Once the leather was dry, we were able to drag the blade out of the scabbard and observe the damage to the blade itself.  Thankfully, the rust appears to be mostly a surface condition and very little pitting or other corrosion was observed.

The leather was cut open along the stitch line and used as a rough guide to assist with the estimation of the size needed for the new piece.  I will be using a piece of 16 oz vegetable tanned cow leather for the construction.  I have selected this weight, which is lighter than one would normally expect, and have chosen to not line the scabbard with wood due to the uses it will be put to.  This sword is used as a purely ceremonial piece and I do not expect it to be out of the scabbard for any length of time.  My concern is that if I do not make the scabbard lightweight, flexible and easy to use, it will become damaged easily and not be suitable for the long term.

It's finished, but I can't find a picture of the final design. I decorated it with the Barony's heraldry, so it's red and white with polar bears all over it.