The majestic Albion Chieftain - Scottish greatsword reviewed, test cutting, compared
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- čas přidán 25. 07. 2024
- #sword #medieval #claymore
The Albion Chieftain is a discontinued sword, one of the few (only?) Next Generation models that made it to production but was cut short due to difficulties in making it. This one was loaned to me by my friend Brian for the purposes of this review.
There might be some audio sync issues during the handling section - I apologize for them if so.
Metropolitan Museum of Art Basket-Hilted Sword: www.metmuseum.org/art/collect...
Cleveland Museum of Art Basket-Hilt Broadsword: www.clevelandart.org/art/1916...
Albion's Duke is the same blade as the Chieftain with a different hilt.
The Duke on Albion's website: albion-swords.com/product/the...
The Duke on Kult of Athena: www.kultofathena.com/product/...
Sword measurements photo gallery: photos.app.goo.gl/8EDa3rQFLjw...
00:00 Intro
02:18 Historical Overview
04:44 Hilt
09:23 Blade
14:13 Cutting
18:17 Handling & Comparisons
25:12 Bottom Line
27:37 Outro
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I absolutely love this! Thank you so much! I might be a bit partial because this is my sword, but this is my favorite review that I've ever seen on any sword by any reviewer -- and you've already reviewed two swords that I've previously owned (the Cold Steel Hand and a Half and the Albion Arn). I'm so excited for the Vassal, I hope it does half as well. And you're very very welcome, the pleasure is mine! It was an honor to see this piece broken down with such elegance and detail.
It looks absolutely amazing!
Excellent review! Easily one of the most thorough sword reviews I've come across, and thanks to Brian for lending it to you. The Chieftain is not one of the Albions I've been tempted by, but I know it is highly sought after. My favorite of the larger Albions are the Sempach (which I own) and the Landgraf. It's hard to find reviews of either online, but I just love the Type XVII blade design.
Thanks! I do have a customized Sempach/Langraf I'm going to get around to reviewing eventually. I agree that a well-done type XVII blade is a thing of beauty. There's something so elegant about them (Oakeshott rolling over in his grave right now...)
Awesome overview Kyle. A really pretty sword that certainly would take some getting used to in order to get the most out of it. I appreciate that there is more consistent thrust-testing being done, even when the sword does not intuitively look like it would be either great at 'aiming' or particularly excel at penetration. Keep up the awesome sword reviews!
Always enjoy the reviews and the friends you have who loan you swords. I like seeing a lot of swords that you don’t normally see reviewed much online.
Glad you like them!
Thanks Brian
You're very welcome, thank you for your interest and being part of this amazing community that creates the desire for us to share this kind of cool stuff!
Years ago before he died the late great Hank Reinhart wrote a short essay on the term Claymore. For those who don't know Hank Reinhart was a authority on swords. His research concluded that the term was applied to both the Scottish basket hilt and the 2-hander.
If I remember too I'll find the essay & type it out here.
There’s a Claymore being sold on Arms and Armor that hasn’t had any reviews on from what I’ve seen either on their website or on CZcams. The wait time is up to a year right now, but it’s probably worth looking into if you ever get a chance to do so.
Very thorough review as always, Kyle! The Chieftain is an immensely impressive sword and I count myself very lucky to call one my own. This is one sword that my widow will have to sell one day, because I certainly won't as long as I still have a pulse. The blued hilt on the Principe looks extremely good, I might have to attack mine with a bit of cold blueing sometime.
Thanks! I don't blame you - I never would have put this sword on my list, but now that I've handled it, I certainly would like to own one!
Very cool sword. I had a Duke on order, though I just switched it to a Maximilian. I wish Albion would make another Claymore. Personally, I’ve never had an issue with that term, because it tells people what you’re talking about, despite the potential lack of historical validity.
So cool!
Cool video as always. Interested, you mentioned that you’re pretty on top of the sale/trade market of second hand swords, do you have any suggestions as places to find good quality ‘used’ swords? Thanks
The SBG forum is the primary location, but also several different Facebook groups. Then some ebay monitoring as well.
Just to poke a wee hole in the historical overview, I would argue against these being 13-14th century at all. I know of only one or two XIIIa's in Scottish archaeology from that period, and all of them are conventional hilts - more akin to the Duke and Steward models by Albion.
The earliest example of a quatrefoil hilt sword I'm aware of is in Glasgow museums, and that's dated to 1500, +/- a few years. The forward swept guard without the quatrefoils is found earlier, in half-lang swords with XI, XII, XIII and even XVII blades, but they're generally much more compact. The overwhelming majority of these, as such, are 16th century, and possibly even 17th century for a few very late ones - the last record of use is the Battle of Killikrankie, in 1689.
And for pronunciation, Claidheamh is pronounced Claive, or maybe Cleve, like "cleveland". Mhor, is just like "more".
Can't review what I said in the video right now, but if I'm remembering correctly, I mentioned that the blade style - XIIIa - was in use in the 13th-14th centuries. I certainly intended to say that, so if I misspoke, that's my bad.
@@alientude ah, I might've interpreted "the blade" as the whole sword there. Was mostly listening in the background while working on stuff
But it is a Claymore! The assertion that this term has been erroneously applied to the large two handed sword of the Scots is in fact a victorian era myth. They were notoriously sloppy in their research. Anyone who speaks Gaelic knows it's a load of debunker nonsense.
Because you're weak, it's like watching winnie the poo swing a sword. Kinda sound like winnie the poo.
Thank you.
Winnie the Pooh is extremely OP, have you ever seen him down a jar of honey? I'd take this as a compliment! If that little dude started swinging swords the Hundred Acre Wood would be in a world of hurt.
Feel better now?