Joe lost his father in 2008. His father had been a widower, living alone at the time of his death, and it fell to Joe and his siblings to remove their father’s belongings and sell the family home.
One day, as he was cleaning out the attic, Joe spotted
something unusual tucked back under an eave. Surprised, he reached down and picked
up a thirty-inch sword in a thin, narrow scabbard.
The grip was wrapped in colored leather strips. A bronze chain connected the pommel and cross-guard. The hilt was bronze. The steel blade was dull and, at its thickest point, maybe three-quarters of an inch wide. More ornamental than functional, the whole weapon looked tarnished with age.
The grip was wrapped in colored leather strips. A bronze chain connected the pommel and cross-guard. The hilt was bronze. The steel blade was dull and, at its thickest point, maybe three-quarters of an inch wide. More ornamental than functional, the whole weapon looked tarnished with age.
Joe retreated down the stairs and stood puzzled. Why was
there a sword in his father’s attic? Where had it come from? How long had it
been there?
He took the sword home. A closer examination revealed several
interesting characteristics. The pommel was molded into the shape of a knight’s
helmet. One side of the scabbard was stamped with the image of a knight holding
a lance. The other side depicted a knight standing under a palm tree. On the
cross-guard was a bronze plate. On the plate was a robed and haloed figure. Around
the figure were the words, “Apostle of Love.”
After doing some digging, Joe concluded the sword would have
been worn by a member of The Knights of St. John, an international charitable
organization. But Joe was certain his father had not been a member. He questioned
relatives and friends but found no one who could shed light on the sword or how
his father had come into its possession.
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