Course delivery and schedule
The course includes 7 x 90-minute sessions with plenty of opportunity for further conversations and networking during breaks and mealtimes.
Aims of the course
The course will allow you to:
- Understand the historical reasons for the very high cost and fetishisation of swords;
- Trace in outline the magical sword from Excalibur to Andúril;
- Explore recent fantasy deconstructions of the magical sword.
Course content
The course begins with a practical question: What’s in a sword? The answers include not only iron, steel, and the materials of the hilt and pommel, but a considerable anterior industry providing raw iron, complex tools, and huge quantities of charcoal: good swords were and are as costly as luxury cars, and much of the fetishisation of them as inherited and violently practical objects initially arises from how advanced a technological work a good sword is.
In the second and third sessions, we will look at the emergence and tale of Excalibur, and the lore that accretes around it, in Malory and, rather differently, T. H. White. That in turn was one source that informs Tolkien’s major blade in The Lord of the Rings, Narsil, re-forged as Andúril; we will also consider other magical blades in Middle-earth, including Sting and the blade of Westerness that Merry uses so tellingly on the Witch-King of Angmar.
The fifth session centres on discussion around the fighter’s perspective, both in real terms and from the film-producers' angle. Historically, how have swords developed, and how have myth and ‘magic’ developed around them? And what of their counterpart, armour, and the other weapons present on historical battlefields?
The fourth and sixth sessions are practical ones with Magnus Sigurdsson Hardradi, using (if weather permits) a portable forge, or talking to film-footage of Magnus forging if not, so students can see what is truly involved in hammering red-hot metal into the desired shape; and, using replica weapons, discover carefully why balance of both body and sword matters, back-scabbards are not a good idea, and some swords have very particular shapes.
- The forge session at least will necessarily be outside, so please dress appropriately.
- Health and safety considerations will be paramount, but sensible behaviour is required: even practice blades can do damage if people are careless.
- Photographs may be taken only with explicit permission.
The final session will consider some more recent variations on and deconstructions of the topos, Philip Pullman’s ‘Subtle Knife’, largely a narrative convenience, and Lois McMaster Bujold’s The Sharing Knife, a far more radical challenge to the mystique of the magical sword.
Presentation of the course
Each literary session will have 35–40 minutes of formal instruction, with PowerPoint images, followed by open discussion.
The practical sessions will be organised as necessary for health and safety, but students will be allowed as much hands-on experience as is practicable. Please note that the timing of these session may necessarily vary from the formal schedule.
Course programme
Friday
Please plan to arrive between 16:30 and 18:30. You can meet other course participants in the Terrace Bar which opens at 18:15. Tea and coffee making facilities are available in the study bedrooms.
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19:00
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Dinner
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20:30 – 22:00
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What’s in a Sword? (Dr John Lennard) |
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22:00
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Terrace Bar open for informal discussion
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Saturday
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07:30
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Breakfast (for residents only)
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09:00 – 10:30
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Excalibur in Malory and T H White (Dr John Lennard) |
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10:30
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Coffee
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11:00 – 12:30
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Narsil, Andúril, and Other Blades of Middle-earth (Dr John Lennard)
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12:30
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Free time
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13:00
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Lunch
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14:00
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Free time
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16:00
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Tea
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16:30 - 18:00
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Forgework: how swords are made* (Magnus Sigurdsson Hardradi)
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18:00 – 18:30
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Free time
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18:30
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Dinner
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20:00 – 21:30
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The fighter’s perspective: the power of the sword (Discussion session: Magnus Sigurdsson Hardradi and Dr John Lennard)
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21:30
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Terrace Bar open for informal discussion
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Sunday
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07:30
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Breakfast (for residents only)
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09:00 – 10:30
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Wielding long sharp things safely (handling session) (Magnus Sigurdsson Hardradi)
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10:30
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Coffee
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11:00 – 12:30
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Deconstructing Magical Swords: Pullman and Bujold (Dr John Lennard)
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12:45
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Lunch
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Departure after lunch
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Course materials
Course materials include the course syllabus, detailed timetable, reading list and tutor biography. Once these materials are available, you can download them from the Documents section below.
We will also email these to you before your course starts. Please check your spam folder if you have not received them.
Please note that our weekend courses are non-credit bearing and there is no formal assessment.
