Tempered Medieval Arming Sword
When someone refers to a "medieval" sword, they are generally speaking of a sword that would have been
carried by either a knight or a soldier during the Middle Ages. Although the exact start and end dates
of the medieval age has been disputed for years, all Strongblade references (unless otherwise noted)
refer to the period between 500 A.D. (around the time the Roman Empire was ending) to about 1500 AD
(around the time when the renaissance was beginning).
Although forging techniques and aesthetic qualities changed quite a bit throughout this time period, the swords themselves remained relatively unchanged. In fact, some swords were passed down through families, or changed hands through battle, for hundreds of years. Favorite hilts were often re-bladed when the original blade broke or wore out, and sometimes a good blade was transferred to a new hilt.
Medieval swords ranged in length, but when Strongblade refers to a medieval sword, we are usually referring to a blade that is less than 38 inches or so -- what was generally referred to as an "Arming Sword", or a knights secondary sword. These swords were almost always worn by the knight except in combat (when the knight would usually bring a larger battle sword). Swords of longer length from that time period are sometimes referred to as "Infantry Swords," "Battle Swords", "Hand-and-a-Half Swords" or "Two-Handed Swords", depending on the style and who was wielding them.
Medieval swords almost always have pommels (often using a variation of the standard "disk" pommel), usually have well defined crosses (or quillons), and typically have long fullers (indented grooves running along the blade). Of the many medieval swords that have been excavated or found, quite a few have engravings on the blades. Usually, these engravings were of a religious nature, with sacred phrases or sketches etched into the blade and usually filled with another metal, like silver.
The most common forging technique during the early medieval ages was known as "Pattern Welding". This is a technique of folding metal and grinding/pounding it down into itself repeatedly. Pattern-welding caused visible "waves" and patterns in the metal, thus giving it its name. Asian (particularly Japanese) smiths took this technique further, and are generally regarded as having "perfected" the style, although Japanese forging techniques are quite different from the original pattern welding of the middle ages.
See Strongblade's Tempered Medieval Arming Sword