Cuchulaine Sword "Claidheamh Cuchulainn"

The Blade is 26" of Marquenched 150 layer pattern welded crucible O1/L6. The fittings are silicon bronze and the gripp and scabbard are carved from selectively harvested yukatan walnut. The scabbard portrays the begetting of the Iron Age Irish hero Cuchulainn's name. His child name was Setanta, he was invited to a feast with the King at the forge of a smith named Chulainn, but being young and irresponsible he arrived very late for the feast and by the time he arrived the gates were locked and Chulainn's monstrous forge hound was prowling the perimeter of the enclosure to protect it from brigands and raiders. When young Setanta arrived the hound attacked him, but instead of being devoured the young hero killed the hound. The Smith, having let the hound out to guard his stock and not knowing that young Setanta was on the way, was heart broken to find his hound dashed to bits at the hand of a child; now he would be ruined, for the raiders would surely steal his cattle without the fierce hound to guard them. Young Setanta, being an honorable young man, undertook to guard Chulainn's forge and livestock for a year and a day as his payment for the killing of the hound, and from then on he was known as Cuchullainn, the hound (cu) of Chullainn. The knotwork depicting Setanta struggling with the hound is my own design somewhat inspired by an image from the book of kells which I carved in the ancient pictish mode.