[MR] Modern Swordmaker

[Roy B. Scherer]

         This may well be of interest to the Gentla Readers.
         It's from the AP, published this morning 
in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
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NEW GLARUS, Wis. The scent of burning metal and 
the whine of a grinder drift through the 
cavernous warehouse. Here, 15 workers forge 
swords coveted by collectors who long for a piece of medieval history.

"When you hold it in your hand, it's an amazing 
feeling, a feeling of power," said customer 
Gabriel Ghazarian. "The sword has always been a 
symbol of honor, of courage and virtue. Even 
though it's obsolete, that symbol remains."

Albion Swords is the largest producer of swords 
in the U.S., making about 1,000 per year for 
annual sales of $1 million. It re-creates blades 
and hilts with painstaking accuracy, so history 
buffs can own swords with the same weight, 
dimensions and intricacy as those wielded by 
8thcentury Vikings or 16th-century Swedish knights.
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Full text online at <http://tinyurl.com/34mozy>
-- YIS
-- Britton Morgan

end

                 - - Roy B. Scherer
  [ 8 N. Sheppard Street, Richmond, VA 23221; (804) 355-7612 ]
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         "[T]here is nothing more difficult to 
take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more 
uncertain in its success, than to take the lead 
in the introduction of a new order of things. 
Because the innovator has for enemies all those 
who have done well under the old conditions, and 
lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under 
the new. This coolness arises partly from fear of 
the opponents, who have the laws on their side, 
and partly from the incredulity of men, who do 
not readily believe in new things until they have 
had a long experience of them."
         Nicolò Machiavelli, THE PRINCE, c. 1505
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