This is my oldest sword:

This sword was given to me by a very good friend back in the mid 80s — I was around 18-19 years old. I loved getting this sword, and I felt so cool just to own a sword. It has followed me through many moves, through college, through multiple homes with my wife, and is still mounted above my desk in my home office.

I didn’t know it when I received this gift (only learned in recent years): This is apparently a replica of Tizona, one of the swords carried by Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, El Cid (circa 1470). This is just a decorative wall hanger, but I didn’t know that; I knew it was “A SWORD!”

It is 40.5″ long, and weighs 2.8 pounds. As a decorative sword, it’s made of stainless steel, and the blade is not sharpened (though the tip is sharp). The dark discoloration is from age; until recently, I’ve never even tried to clean it other than dusting it off with a cloth. Recently I did try to clean it with Bar Keeper’s Friend, and that is the white residue you can see on the hilt. BKF barely did anything to clean it — the blade is very slightly lighter than it used to be.

Even though the blade is not sharp, I have whacked small tree limbs with it a couple times (many years ago). It successfully cut the limbs (less than 1 inch in diameter) clean off the tree, and it didn’t break. So, considering it is only a decorative object, that’s pretty good (and lucky for me).

This sword has a special place in my heart.

The Old Adventurer