# Where are all the swords from the middle ages? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 26, 2018, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-swords-from-the-middle-ages/807518 "2018-01-26T12:13:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-swords-from-the-middle-ages/807518/1 "2018-01-26T12:13:17Z")
Have they all rusted away into nothingness I guess? ---
**Author:** ![Malden\_Capell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malden_capell/32/5274_2.png) [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-swords-from-the-middle-ages/807518/2 "2018-01-26T12:38:22Z")
There’s a fair few in the Tower of London… Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-swords-from-the-middle-ages/807518/3 "2018-01-26T12:44:10Z")
“And they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks…” Weapons represented an enormous investment in quality iron and steel. Why let it rust away? Or for another matter, why leave them in the hands of the peasant levy, where they might be used in a future revolt? It’s far better to make them into farming implements or other useful tools. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-swords-from-the-middle-ages/807518/4 "2018-01-26T13:19:46Z")
There was a thread on this just a few months ago. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-swords-from-the-middle-ages/807518/5 "2018-01-26T13:38:03Z")
Built thrones? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-swords-from-the-middle-ages/807518/6 "2018-01-26T14:22:54Z")
Where are all the Medieval waffle irons ? Same answer. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-swords-from-the-middle-ages/807518/7 "2018-01-26T14:49:36Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > There was a thread on this just a few months ago. Did it also rust away into nothingness? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-swords-from-the-middle-ages/807518/8 "2018-01-26T15:47:20Z")
Here’s [one](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sword-found-in-excalibur-lake_us_59ae946ee4b0b5e53100b997). ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-swords-from-the-middle-ages/807518/9 "2018-01-26T15:53:51Z")
Here’s the [thread from last year](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=823973). ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-swords-from-the-middle-ages/807518/10 "2018-01-26T16:12:29Z")
The biggest factor is that in older times, people just didn’t value ‘random old stuff’ for it’s age and didn’t have the concept of historical value (without archaeology, there’s not much to learn from an old sword). Fully metal weapons were pretty valuable for their metal, so would tend to get reused or melted down to make new weapons or tools. The old threads go into more detail, but basically the fact that they were swords of a certain era was not considered important unless they were usable as a sword. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-swords-from-the-middle-ages/807518/11 "2018-01-26T19:50:34Z")
If a sword belonged to a very significant personality, sometimes it was preserved. See [Joyeuse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyeuse) (sword of Charlemagne) and [Tizona](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tizona) (sword of El Cid). ---
**Author:** ![busterpickle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@busterpickle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/busterpickle)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-swords-from-the-middle-ages/807518/12 "2018-01-26T20:10:55Z")
That had to be a lot of work back then. Those surface deposits will go quick and then one is mining for it, by hand. Then the fuel required to get the temp high enough to refine the ore. That’s a lot of wood/charcoal/peat what have you. Ha! Medieval price list: [http://faculty.goucher.edu/eng240/medieval\_prices.html](http://faculty.goucher.edu/eng240/medieval_prices.html) It would have been nice if he had determined a constant currency for each. Any ways… tools seem to be worth more than weapons. So, if you weren’t using that sword, you can make a hammer with it and actually do day-to-day work. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-swords-from-the-middle-ages/807518/13 "2018-01-26T20:24:02Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > Fully metal weapons were pretty valuable for their metal, so would tend to get reused or melted down to make new weapons or tools. Especially in wartime. I understand many Japanese swords were melted down during WWII. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-swords-from-the-middle-ages/807518/14 "2018-01-26T21:52:40Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Here’s [one](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sword-found-in-excalibur-lake_us_59ae946ee4b0b5e53100b997). Cute little girls, swimmin’ in ponds fishin’ out swords is no basis for a system of government.