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LONGCLAW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDERSeptember 22, 2008
 For everyone who has ever dreamed of serving in the Night’s Watch and standing with a blade in hand to face the darkness rising in the north… or who’s just wanted a full-size replica of some of the weapons wielded by their favorite characters in A Song of Ice and Fire… Valyrian Steel has just announced that their long-awaited version of Longclaw is now available for preorder. The estimated shipping date is the fourth quarter of 2008.Officially licensed and designed in close consultation with yours truly, Valyrian Steel’s version of Longclaw is a hand-and-a-half “bastard sword,” 39 inches long with three fullers. It features a stylized wolf head pommel, made to resemble Jon’s direwolf Ghost. The replica is a limited edition of 2500 pieces, which each blade individually laser serialized with the edition number. Each sword also comes with a wooden display plaque and a certificate of authenticity signed by me.
For more information, check out Valyrian Steel’s website.
“Valyrian Steel” is a subsidiary of Jalic, Inc., of East Lansing, Michigan. Jalic is a new company, but its owner and proprietor, Chris Beasley, has long been involved with making and selling swords, knives, and fighting steel and brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the project. “This is a new business for us and this line of swords will be our first,” Chris writes, “however, we are dedicated to delivering to collectors a top of the line display sword in both quality and aesthetics. The lead designer for our sword line is a 20 year veteran of sword & knife design. He has worked on reproductions from the Lord of the Rings movies, has his own line of fantasy swords, and has had his works featured in dozens of other movies and TV shows.”
“Depending on the success of the line we will expand into other arms or armor from the series or possibly produce an even more limited line of battle-ready reproductions,” Chris tells me. They’re already hard at work on Arya’s Needle, and other blades will follow.
Valyrian Steel’s package will also include a brief history of Longclaw:
“For five centuries the Valyrian steel sword Longclaw was carried by the Lords of Bear Island in the service of the Starks of Winterfell. Passed from father to son, the hand-and-a-half sword—called a bastard sword by the uncouth—had a great history while in their possession. That came to an end, however, when the last lord of the House, Jorah Mormont, was disgraced and fled Lord Stark’s justice. Jorah went into exile, but left behind the sword which then found its way back to his father, Jeor, the Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch.
Longclaw was kept out of sight, until the fateful night came when a wight—a dead man brought to life by creatures out of nightmarish legend—sought to throttle the Old Bear in his sleep. It was his squire, Jon Snow, and Snow’s albino direwolf Ghost who rescued him by setting the wight ablaze. Though part of Lord Jeor’s apartments were burned down following this, the fire would need to have burned a hundred times hotter to harm the blade that was forged in old Valyria before the Doom. The ancient silver bear’s head pommel and the hilt was burned, but these were replaced at the Old Bear’s command with something befitting Snow. Given the sword, now adorned with a wolf’s head pommel, and the opportunity to rename it as a gift. Jon Snow responded that wolves have claws just as bears do, and kept the proud name as it was.”
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Longclaw is the first release from Valyrian Steel, but it will not be the last.