In the final stage, metalworkers add a decorated guard of iron or other metals at the sword's hilt. Next ... katana's handle is as much of a work of art as the blade itself.

Archaeologists have uncovered a unique fragment of a Viking sword near Witmarsum, a village in northern Netherlands.

The bronze sword with an octagonal hilt was found in a grave in the southern town of Nördlingen. It is thought to be from the late 14th Century BC. Its condition is so good "it almost still ...