Always fancied a handy little meat cleaver to cut short this month’s upcoming team meeting? Or a swift Samurai blade for your mother-in-law’s next visit? You’ve come to the right place. Cutting implements of all shapes, sizes and styles populate Toledo’s shop windows. The good old Romans turned the city into a major centre of weapons manufacture and metal work two thousand years ago. No good trying to subjugate barbarians with a fistful of toothpicks, is it?!
Today, Toledo’s sharp’n’shiny wares are mostly for decoration. And for the film industry. Ever wondered about the origins of the swords, daggers and knives wielded by heroes and baddies in productions like Lord of the Rings, Conan and Xena Warrior Princess? Well, most of these props were made in Toledo.
Ha! I didn’t know film props were made here. I like that factoid.
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How could you have missed that?!? We haven’t been hanging around sword shops for long enough, I guess. I blame the distracting power of the cakes.
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I brought a sword back for my brother that got lost on the plane and then took a trip around the US before finally making it to my parents’ house. It was a beautiful sword!
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Boys like those kinds of things, don’t they??? My brother was ogling them in fascination when he was here for a visit. I must confess, I don’t really get it… lol.
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Ahha. A random conversation with Monsieur this weekend about where to buy the best kitchen knives outside of Japan led to him extolling the virtues of Toledo swords. God only knows where he picked that up factoid, but pretty sure not from reading your blog… (though I knew if Ha. A random conversation with Monsieur this weekend about where to buy the best kitchen knives outside of Japan led to him extolling the virtues of Toledo swords. God only knows where he picked that up factoid, but pretty sure not from reading your blog… (though I knew if swords were still a thing, you’d have covered them 🙂 Anyway – are Toledo knives still at the cutting edge? (sorry, could not resist). Is it worth a trip there one day to get some really nice ones?
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Hello 🙂 Well, Toledo is worth a visit… and there’s certainly a fantastic number of knife shops, but is the quality really that much better than what you could get in John Lewis? I doubt it…
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excuse-me but I’m going to Toledo this month and I would like to know the name of some shops or the main street where they are so I could take a look over their prices on internet and manage the money I will spend on my travel. That picture with the “cismeros” plaque, do you know its name ??? Thank you sooooooo much!
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Hi Leandro! Aw, I don’t know the name of this particular shop off the top of my head, but you will find LOTS of these shops in Toledo, they are all over the old town, and the prices are all pretty similar. If you’re looking for a sword or a knife, you will definitely find something. It’s the perfect month for a visit to Toledo, it won’t be too hot, nor too cold. You’ll have a good time 🙂
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I have been trying to find the exact adress of the Lord of the rings shop, do u happen to know it? I couldn’t find it on-line
Thank u
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Unfortunately, no… I think the street is Calle Hombre De Palo, and the Postcode 45002…not sure if this is helpful….
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Seems like a pretty cut throat city 🙂 You’ve missed a lot of cake lately. 😦 You keep popping up on posts that don’t have any 🙂
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My cake consumption hasn’t gone down (had to slices this morning), but my posting frequency is in a dire state. I need a kick up the arse (thanks for that) – I’ve got two half-written ones just sitting in my draft folder!
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Crack on, girl! 🙂
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Actually, neither the Lord of the Rings swords nor the rings were made in Toledo. They were made in New Zealand. The swords were made by Peter Lyon in Weta Workshop and the rings by Jens Hansen.
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I guess that would lower their carbon footprint significantly – I approve 😉
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