On the 16th April 1999, some of my friends and I made a visit to the Museum of National Antiquities (Historiska museet) and the Royal Armoury (Livrustkammaren), both in Stockholm, in order to study original swords. Thanks to the forthcoming attitude from the museum personnel, we were allowed to see something not granted to everybody. Here follows pictures of some of the swords we studied. Unfortunately, the picture quality isn't the best due to my rather simple camera.

On 2 July, 1999, I visited the Royal Armouries in Leeds, England, where I had the chance to handle the three relatively well-known swords described here. I would like to express my gratitude to the Board of Trustees of the Armouries for the kindness shown me on my visit, and for the permission to photograph the swords.

During a visit to the Länsmuséet (County museum) in Skara, Sweden, 24 July 2000, I had the opportunity to take a closer look at two medieval swords. They were in pretty bad condition and kept in storage.

On 9 March, 2001, I visited Jönköpings Läns Museum (the County Museum in Jönköping, Sweden) in order to look at some of the swords kept there. Thanks to archaeologist Kristina Jansson for all the help!

On 26 September, 2001, I had the opportunity to handle four medieval swords while visiting the Wallace Collection in London, one of the most famous collections of arms and armour in the world. Thanks to the arms and armour curator, David Edge, for taking the time to let me view some of the most depicted swprds in the world. Thanks to his assistant, James, for help with copying catalogue entries and taking some of the photos.