I’m Roland Warzecha — professional illustrator and swordsman. The name Dimicator comes from the Latin for “sword fighter.” I share cutting-edge research into historical martial arts, focusing in particular on Viking and high medieval sword-and-shield combat. My work is carried out in collaboration with museums, fellow martial artists, and scholars around the world.
Grind, Sharpen, Polish – The Lost Craft of Sword Polishing
A Mirror of Men
Hello blade enthusiasts.
When in the 5th century King Theodric was presented with gifts in the form of precious swords, it were neither their exquisite hilts, nor their sharpness that he admired most. Instead, he marvelled at the finely polished surfaces of the blades, and he even praised the polishing media that turned them into what he called “a mirror of men”.
This appreciation of a skillfully executed blade polish that perfectly reflects the light, and at the same time reveals a blade's composition, is still vibrant in Japan even today. In Europe, it is lost. Yet the master craftsmen who were specialised in polishing blades (German: Schwertfeger) are still to be seen in a number of period illustrations. Their tools remained unchanged for centuries.
Today’s newsletter is dedicated to their forgotten craft.
Ground-Breaking Work
Archaeologist and swordsman Dr Stefan Mäder is a leading expert in the largely neglected field of historical sword polishing and blade surface treatment. It was the subject of his PhD thesis in 2001, and later yielded a ground-breaking book: "Stähle, Steine, Schlangen" (Solothurn, 2009).
The book is out of print, unfortunately. However, Stefan offers a free PDF on his academia.edu pages.
| Get the PDF |
Crossing Boundaries
Stefan’s work is unique in a number of ways. He has a reputation for thinking out of the box which I really appreciate. He is a hands-on researcher who learned the art of Japanese sword polishing, plus he is a veteran kendo practitioner. Regularly travelling to Japan and speaking the language certainly helped with gaining expertise regarding Japanese weapons and sword arts. These skills faciltated his intercultural and interdiscipliary approach to the study of the sword which was quite innovative at the time.
In addition, Stefan has a strong interest in the spiritual aspects of the sword. He does not shy away from researching and interpreting symbolism and mythology which is sometimes frowned upon as being being too conjectural and even esoteric. However, nobody seriously doubts the deeper cultural meaning of the sword beyond its technical function as a weapon, and it is people like Stefan who open up new fascinating perspectives.
Now he shares some of his research and practical insights in a video lecture which was a contribution to a conference at Belluno in 2021. As a connoisseur of Japanese swords and crafts, he also draws interesting comparisons between European and Japanese traditions. He kindly gave permission to share this 25 minute lecture (in English)with you here.
Don't miss it – it is facinating. See plenty of period depictions and blades (including a wonderful Italian late 14th century one), and learn why an unfortunate historical sword polisher was returned to his family in four baskets!
| Go to video |
Historical Polishing Tools & Agents
As you can learn from Stefan's lecture, medieval European sword polishers used different tools than their Asian colleagues. In 2019, Dr Florian Messner reconstructed a historical polishing bench plus tools like the ones seen in the 14th century miniature above and elsewhere. He used them to test various historical abrasive agents on blades. He shares his insights in a respective paper which also contains many images.
| Read the article |
Personal Attempts
I have yet to construct my own polishing bench. So when I hand-polished the sword that Götz Breitenbücher made for me, I used a modern polishing paste and improvised tools. I am very pleased with the result. The pattern-welded blade structure shows in a much more subtle and discreet way than the much more obvious black and silvery textures created by etching which is what we are accustomed to see today. As etching basically means intentionally pitting a blade, the surface is enlarged and thus more prone to corrosion than a polished one.
The subtlety of patterns on a polished blade has a very intimate character. The texture can only be made out from up close, and it changes depending on lighting. This makes historical descriptions that compare early medieval blade patterns to running rivers or winding snakes much more comprehensible. It also means that most blade inscriptions, pattern-welded ones in particular, would equally only be revealed to the human eye on close inspection. This feels very appropriate for apotropaic charms or invocations in particular.
At the time, I wrote a post about it.
| Go to post |
So, that's it for today. Take care, and keep your blade shiny.
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Yours,
Roland
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Dimicator
I’m Roland Warzecha — professional illustrator and swordsman. The name Dimicator comes from the Latin for “sword fighter.” I share cutting-edge research into historical martial arts, focusing in particular on Viking and high medieval sword-and-shield combat. My work is carried out in collaboration with museums, fellow martial artists, and scholars around the world.
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Hello fellow bucklerista, You are most welcome to sign up for an action-packed weekend of sword & buckler fencing with practitioners from all over the world. The next BBB are scheduled for the weekend of 30/31 May 2026. Find info on the event and registration here: Go to Event Post We are looking forward to fencing and celebrating international friendship with you at the Berlin Buckler Bouts. Ralf, Roland & the Twerchhau team Attendees of the 24th BBB. Get the group photo here.