Okay, so I can already hear the questions: Emily, why do you have a sword?

Why not?

Yeah, that’s a flippant reply, and there’s actually a huge amount more to it. So here’s the story about why I have a sword, a dagger, and a whole bunch of other cool stuff in my house!

First off, you have to understand that I’m a medievalist by training. I adore the medieval period, and I have also have a fascination with material culture. That’s the stuff that a society uses that gets left behind after a person, a family, a community, a culture is left behind.

So a cathedral is material culture, but so are the sheep shears from a farm house. Embroidery is material culture, clothing is material culture, the pen someone used to write their last will and testament? Also material culture.

Whenever I have the chance to get my hands on material culture that is old, I absolutely jump at it. Seriously. I’m a hoarder.

When I was a student at the University of York, I of course joined the Medieval Society, or MedSoc. One of the perks of joining was that you could order historically accurate replicas of medieval weapons at a serious discount.

Who was I to turn down that opportunity?

So the sword I have is a medieval one and a half hander. That means that it’s a big sword: big enough to be wielded by either one hand, or both hands to get that extra swing. It’s so pretty!

But even before that, my attraction to old weaponry had begun. When I was only about fifteen, I came across an antique looking dagger with a seriously rusted blade in a charity shop in the UK. Honestly, US readers: history truly is everywhere in this country!

I bought it for what was, at the time, the princely sum of £25. And it’s one of my prized possessions.

There are a few other beautiful and old objects in my home. I have a bookcase made from floorboards, constructed during WWII by my great-grandfather. I have a set of pewter tankards.

It really brings me joy to be surrounded by such beautiful objects – and they’re worth almost nothing!

But that’s not the point of them. They remind me that history is tangible, if we want it to me. We can reach out and touch something that has been touched by people in the past.

So if you ever feel the urge to buy a sword…I say, go for it.