I ran into some longsword-fencing nerds, a happenstance that I’m sure will shock and surprise you, at the local swordfighting school. One asked me to make an exact foam replica of her real steel sparring longsword, which she was training with. This seemed like a great idea.

The keen-eyed might note some text along the blade – when I asked if she wanted any particular inscription/inlay, she asked me, as the crafter of the sword, to pick one adjective and one noun from the Dwarf Fortress Word List, generating it a name in the same way that the craftdwarves of Dwarf Fortress name their mastercrafted creations.

I suggested Kìrarbisól, meaning Righteous Peace, or Gostanggongith, meaning Awe-Inspiring Squid.

We went with both, one on each side.

It’s quite challenging to make a boffer this long (four feet!) that is strong, light, and safe. As far as I know, it can’t be done with the normal fiberglass rods. It is, just barely, possible with carbon fiber cores. This design uses a single-block foam crafting method, very carefully cut out along the entire blade length. The handle is wrapped in faux leather, with extra struts along the internals of the handle to match the shape of the original.

As an aside, at that same event I also got a request from another longsword-fencer for a replica of the “Struggle Bat” from Kingdom Hearts 2, the 2005 video game (it is also in “Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days,” a totally normal way to name an entry in a video game series). He requested that it use my luminescent technique to make it glow. Here’s that:

I am delighted by the diversity of nerdiness.