Darksword Anduril Sword

The Darksword Anduril Sword is a BIG and HEAVY sword - the kind of thing you'd want to use if you were of exceptional build and strength and need to quickly clear through a room of pesky Orcs or something..

This might not appeal to everyone, but if it sounds like fun - you're going to love it..

The core of this review is an old one and the sword in question has been updated and upgraded significantly since, so where necessary we have added the new information accordingly.

Darksword Armory Anduril Sword Review

Review by Steve Walls, Atlanta, USA

Steel
Weight
Point of Balance
Price Range

1060 Carbon Steel
4lbs 4oz
6"
US$725

Aragorn is my all time favorite real good guy hero. I like a lot of Good/Evil hero's like Elric of Melnibone. But IMHO very few truly Good hero's are written as well as Aragorn.

It arrived well packaged as expected, thoroughly covered in some kind of preservative wrapped in plastic then newspaper. After Initial cleaning I was surprised at the mirror polish on the hilt fittings.

Dry handling is pretty good considering the weight. Compared to the Ranger (click here for the review of the ranger) it immediately feels light. But where the Ranger feels amazingly quick for it's heft, Anduril feels more like my other swords in that it definitely is more blade heavy. With it's lighter weight and more blade Presence it handles more like my lighter longswords. Of the two I much prefer to practice with Anduril.

Statistics and Data:

Blade length 36"
Grip length 4 5/8"
Pommel length 6 3/4"
Overall length 48 1/8"
Guard Width 10 3/8"

BLADE

Width

At Guard 2.3"
At 12" from guard 1.85"
At 24" from guard 1.58"
At 34" from guard 1.39"

Thickness

At Guard .2280"
At 12" from guard .2140"
At 24" from guard .2110"
At End of fuller .2035"
At 34" from guard .2050"

POB 6" from base of guard

COP/secondary vib node 23" from base of guard

And weight

4lb 4oz

Having read a lot about the difference in how a sword feels based on the amount of mass in the hilt components and it's distribution. I carefully weighed the components of Anduril and The Ranger to compare and I thought it worth sharing with you.

Anduril unsharpened (A)
Ranger sharpened (R)

Bare blade
A: 2lb 13oz :1276g
R: 2lbs 13.6oz :1291g

Pommel
A: 1lb 5oz :595g
R: 1lb 1.2oz :489g

Grip
A: 1.8oz :50g
R: 1lb 2.7oz :529g

Guard
A: 1lb 9oz:479g
R: 15.2oz :430g

Total
A: 5lb 5.2oz :2416g
R: 6lb 0.2oz :2726g

DESIGN, FIT and FINISH

The Blade

The blade has nice clean lines with some evidence of hammering. The polish is even with no evidence of grind marks. The steel shows what looks like a substantial Grain(the only word I could find to describe the appearance) under the polish. The characters on the blade are consistent and even. The edge is fairly consistent at 1mm. There is some variation in edge thickness corresponding to the hammer marks in the blade but while they are visible they are very small in dimension (0.01mm to 0.05mm).

The Grip

The grip is a nicely sculpted wood core with a glued on leather cover. Oval in cross section with an overall taper from guard to pommel.

The Pommel

Hexagon shaft with a smooth transition into the end design. The casting quality is good with only very minor flaws only on the inside edges of the design cutout. The polish is excellent.

The Guard

The Guard matches the pommel very well in design and finish. Of note is that while the guard fits SLIGHTLY loosely on the blade the visible space between blade and guard is minimal.

The Scabbard

A wood core scabbard with glossy black leather cover, with magnetic metal chape and throat. The fit between wood and metal parts is nothing special, functional.

PROS

Extremely strong and well tempered hand made and hammered blade

The ONLY one of its kind (all other Anduril Swords are made of stainless steel, or need to be custom made).

Faithful, fully functional replica of the Anduril Sword

Good handling for such a heavy blade

CONS

A few minor scuffs here and there

Basic scabbard is fairly simple, but possible to upgrade to a semi custom styled one if so desired at the time of purchase

Addendum: Cutting Tests

The video below was done with a semi-customized Darksword Anduril by Tom Kinder. Again, this is with the older model - the newer one is even better..

Recommended: Among the Anduril swords offered the carbon steel blade and accuracy to the film make this my 1st choice of those offered.

WHERE TO BUY

Sadly the Anduril was discontinued in mid 2014 and is no longer available to purchase.

STOP THE PRESS:
NEW Battle Ready Versions of the LoTR
Swords Now Available!

Yes, the ONLY battle ready versions of the Lord of the Rings inspired Anduril, Ranger Sword and others are available again from Darksword Armory - new and improved, and fully sharpened!

Click here to see the selection in our store