This Is Why Terry Pratchett Is Cooler Than You

[Liar]

You don't have a home made space sword.

Terry Pratchett creates a sword with meteorites

By NewsCore, September 20, 2010

ENGLISH fantasy author Sir Terry Pratchett says he was so excited after being knighted by the Queen that he decided to make his own sword to equip himself for his new status.

It was not enough, however, simply to find some metal and get a blacksmith to bash it into shape.

Pratchett, believing the sword would not truly be his own unless it was made from metal he had produced, found a field with deposits of iron ore near his home in Wiltshire, west of London.

He gathered the deposits and smelted the iron ore himself.

The author, 62, who has sold about 65 million copies of his books, which include the Discworld series, said: "Most of my life I've been producing stuff which is intangible and so it's amazing the achievement you feel when you have made something which is really real."

With help from his friend Jake Keen — an expert on ancient metal-making techniques — the author dug up 81kg of ore and smelted it in the grounds of his house, using a makeshift kiln built from clay and hay and fuelled with damp sheep manure.

Pratchett, who has Alzheimer's disease, also said he had thrown in "several pieces of meteorites — thunderbolt iron, you see — highly magical, you’ve got to chuck that stuff in whether you believe in it or not".

After days of hammering the metal into bars, he took it to a blacksmith, whom he helped to shape it into a blade, which was finished with silverwork.

Pratchett has stored the sword, which he completed last year, in a secret location, apparently concerned about the authorities taking an interest in it.

He said: "It annoys me that knights aren’t allowed to carry their swords. That would be knife crime."


Read more: http://www.news.com.au/technology/t...es/story-e6frfro0-1225926584339#ixzz105vWesF2

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Damn, that's exactly what I wanted to do, forge a sword from meteorite iron. Unfortunately, I can't afford it so I'm glad Sir Terry did. My only disappointment is the lack of picture . . .

 

[Miss_Pixie]

That is so epic, there are no words.... I can't decide if he's insane or so advanced my brain can't keep up...

 

[Austin8]

http://static02.mediaite.com/geekosystem/uploads/2010/09/Terrys-Sword.jpeg​

Just how cool is legendary fantasy author Sir Terry Pratchett? In early 2009, he was knighted, reportedly saying on the occasion that “you can’t ask a fantasy writer not to want a knighthood. You know, for two pins I’d get myself a horse and a sword.” This year, he took his new station of Knight Bachelor seriously: Pratchett took it upon himself to forge a sword using more than 175 pounds of iron ore found in a deposit near his home in Wiltshire. For good measure, he added several chunks of meteorite — “thunderbolt iron” for their “highly magical” properties: “you’ve got to chuck that stuff in whether you believe in it or not.”

news.com.au:

With help from his friend Jake Keen — an expert on ancient metal-making techniques — the author dug up 81kg of ore and smelted it in the grounds of his house, using a makeshift kiln built from clay and hay and fuelled with damp sheep manure.

…

After days of hammering the metal into bars, he took it to a blacksmith, whom he helped to shape it into a blade, which was finished with silverwork.

Pratchett: “Most of my life I’ve been producing stuff which is intangible and so it’s amazing the achievement you feel when you have made something which is really real.”

(via news.com.au. title pic via Discworld News)

http://www.geekosystem.com/terry-pratchett-sword/

 

[jayce1066]

Coolest thing I've read in ages.

 

[Austin8]

Coolest thing I've read in ages.

It's pretty awesome, Thanks for posting it Liar.

 

[Handley_Page]

You don't have a home made space sword.

It would be nice to see a few replicas on the market.

However:-

". . . . made from metal he had produced, found a field with deposits of iron ore near his home in Wiltshire, west of London."

I do wish writers would do their geography well. That's like saying Los Angeles is west of New York. True, but bloody useless. Wiltshire is a county (think of it as the English equivalent of a State); where it's located is immaterial (it's in the South of England).

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Thanx, Austin. It looks more ornamental than practical but being a projectile weapons kind of bear, what do I know?

 

[Handley_Page]

Thanx, Austin. It looks more ornamental than practical but being a projectile weapons kind of bear, what do I know?

You could tie it to a staff and use it as a spear perhaps ?

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I'd just use it to cut the release rope on a trebuchet. 200 lb. stone balls at 800 meters, my kind of medieval warfare!

 

[Miss_Pixie]

TMNT built a trbuchet that could launch pumpkins....

 

[Verdad]

Does it have a name? A magical sword should.

 

[The_Fool]

Looks like a gladius with a tighter taper

 

[oggbashan]

TMNT built a trbuchet that could launch pumpkins....

Warwick Castle and Dover Castle have full-sized trebuchets. The one at Warwick is demonstrated daily, on an island from which the public are temporarily excluded. They don't use it at full power because its range is greater than the length of the island.

At nearby Kenilworth Castle they have found some of the granite balls used in a trebuchet when the castle was besieged. Those balls are about two feet in diameter and very heavy.

Og

 

[R. Richard]

I don't have a space sword. However, I have dated any number of girls who wore space panties. Well, at least they thought that their ass was out of this world.