Who I am

For those of you who doesn't know me, I would like to tell you who I am and why I have created this website. My name is Björn Hellqvist; I was born in 1965 in Jönköping, a city in the southern part of Sweden. Since 1987, I've been living in Skövde, a town some 90 km Northwest of Jönköping. I'm an optometrist by profession. My interest for swords has been there since I was a small boy playing with plastic knights, reading "Prince Valiant" and watching "Ivanhoe" (1952 vintage). In the beginning of the 80's, I bought a crappy decorative sword which took a set if I swung it too hard. About a year later, I got myself a Prussian 1857 pattern infantry private's hanger (short-sword). I bought something sword-shaped about every other year until I joined the Society for Creative Anachronism in 1987. In 1989, I ordered my first "real" sword from a SCA member. It was a sword of my own design with fine balance and my coat-of-arms decorating the pommel. Now I was really keen on this sword thing and in 1991 I bought my first Del Tin sword (a 2151). A few years later, I tried to get some friends to join me in an order from Del Tin, but too many chickened out to make it worth the trouble. Later, in 1996, I managed to assemble an order which led to an increase in the size of my collection. Nowadays I order a couple of times every year, making my collection grow even more (to the horror of my fiancée). I do have a few other hobbies, like reading (Fantasy, SF, thrillers, history (the Middle Ages and the 20th century), the history of warfare, etc), gaming (role-playing games, board- and wargames - preferably with maps and dice; not on the PC) and mucking around in a couple of re-enactment/living history groups.

My interest for swords has led to some unexpected but pleasant effects. I have had the opportunity to handle real, antique swords in the Museum of National Antiquities and the Royal Armoury in Stockholm and in the Royal Armouries in Leeds, England. As a member of the Sword Forum Magazine Online, I've conducted research and written articles on several historical swords. I have been able to realise a few dreams, like when I finally got a good, new-made katana, something I had wanted since I was 14 and saw "Yojimbo" and "The Seven Samurai". Furthermore, I've learned to know people much more knowledgeable than me, like the excellent smith Peter Johnsson. I have the ambition to learn medieval swordsmanship techniques. I want to make my website to be the premier Internet resource on swords in Swedish and hopefully spread the knowledge about an almost mythical weapon. I hope you find your visit rewarding and informative!