Stories

Royal Armouries special edition E11 Stormtrooper blaster

Royal Armouries special edition E11 Stormtrooper blaster

One of the most iconic objects in the Star Wars universe is the E11 Stormtrooper blaster. Originally designed and built by film armourers Bapty...

Armour in popular culture

Much of the public perception of arms and armour is coloured by popular culture, yet many museums have been slow to appreciate and preserve the won...

Did Sir Winston Churchill’s gun inspire Star Wars?

Sir Winston Churchill is more famous for defeating evil empires than giving them style tips, but a recent discovery by the Royal Armouries’ Senio...

Star Wars blasters at the Royal Armouries

The Royal Armouries is on a mission to buy a pair of iconic blasters used in the original Star Wars movies for the national collection of arms and...

The oldest known European fencing manual in existence

One of the oldest and most enigmatic treasures in the Royal Armouries archives is the Royal Armouries I.33 manuscript, a surviving example of a Fec...

The first play of Manuscript I.33

View video footage of thoughts and interpretations around the first play in I.33. I.33 is the oldest known European fencing manual in existence. I...

Original ‘Star Wars’ blasters

“Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no substitute for a good blaster at your side…”Han Solo – ‘Star Wars A New Hope’ (1977) In this post, ...

Swords of ‘Middle Earth’

Four heroic swords based on weapons used in the epic ‘The Lord of the Rings’ film trilogy went on display at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds in...

Swords in popular culture

In the world of arms and armour, the objects featured in contemporary popular culture are often underrepresented. Much of the public perception of ...

Swords in “Game of Thrones”

Stefan Maeder gives us a fascinating insight into the swords of HBO’s epic retelling of George R.R. Martin’s “A Game of Thrones”. Swords and symb...

The ‘writhen hilt’ sword

In this blog post, Assistant Curator Scot Hurst traces the fascinating history of the writhen hilt sword, from the hands of two of the world’s most...