Terry Pratchett's Self-Made Meteorite Sword

jamie writes "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... 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 fueled with damp sheep manure."

Of all the author's out there

[Pojut]

I'm the least surprised that it was Terry Pratchett that made himself a sword.

Re:Alzheimer

[VJ42]

This story is a complete fantasy. Pratchett has advanced Alzheimer

No, he's got a rare form of early onset Alzheimer's; it's still in it's relatively early stages so he's still quite in control of all his faculties & capable of making a sword - as evidenced by the fact that he had not one, but two books published this very year. However as Alzheimer's is degenerative how long he will remain free of dementia is not something that's been made public knowledge (if his doctors have even been able to give him a reliable estimate).

Authors love forging swords and knives

[Sedated2000]

I've read countless interviews from authors (especially fantasy authors) who make a habit of forging swords, knives and making bows and arrows. I suppose it goes along with the territory. Even Paolini who wrote the Eragon books has tried his hand at making weapons.

Re:Original Article

[Anonymous Coward]

Somehow, I don't think he wrote an article largely about the death of his mother and his thoughts on assisted suicide as a prank.

Meteorite?

[AnotherAnonymousUser]

Looking through the article, I'm seeing that he dug up iron ore; was the deposit meteoric in nature, or was there just nothing meteoric about it at all? Where do the meteorites come into play here? 81kg of meteorite is a hefty chunk of material...

Re:Original Article

[Rogerborg]

You might want to try that before spouting it as fact.

First, if you don't have room to draw a sword, how are you throwing the pilum that proceeds drawing it?

Second, you can draw a sword from the left hip, point down, raise your hand overhead, then either stab straight from there or rotate it point up without changing your grip. You can do this in the tightest close order shieldwall, with a sword in excess of the length of a gladius. Been there, reenacted that, many times.

Third, try drawing from your right hip. Go on, stand up and try it. If you draw in the natural orientation (thumb down), where does your elbow go? <Morbo>JOINTS DO NOT WORK THAT WAY</Morbo>. Alternatively, you can draw with your thumb up and then have to juggle the sword to flip it over. It's always a more awkward draw, under any circumstances, and never takes less room than drawing across your body.

Where this myth came from, I have no idea, but I've yet to see any real world evidence that it's anything other than a myth, and that includes demonstrations from Roman reenactors trying desperately (and often hilariously) to justify it.