galadhir

Well, I didn't expect getting a sword for sword dancing to be so hard.

I really wanted a sword like this A sword that looked like a sword - like you could sharpen it and then it would be a weapon.

Unfortunately the only sword that was in my price range and was available in the UK is aluminium with a paint coating. But I thought I could live with it, and the lightness of aluminium was a bonus considering my fibromyalgia. See the grey sword here.

So I ordered it and waited what felt like months for it to arrive. The receipt said that within 3-4 days I would get an email with a tracking code, but I did not get such an email. I waited for ten days, then I went on the website to see if there was a contact number and found their chat.

Someone on the chat told me that he would find my tracking number and that the sword would undoubtedly be with me soon. I waited a couple of days to see if it would arrive.

Then I checked the tracking code and found that the tracking number was linked to a Mr Ahmed Hussain in an entirely different county from me.

I tried to get back on the chat only to find that the chat box had disappeared.

This was beginning to feel suspicious.

Then I went on holiday with my family, and my son - on hearing the saga so far - dug around in the trustpilot ratings for this website (the only one that still had swords available out of every other sword retailer I had found.) He said that their ratings were abysmal and most people reported either getting broken swords or not receiving anything at all.

He then found a new sword on a site I had not discovered. It was 40" long and made of iron, which would have been very long and heavy, but what was I to do?

Their website said it would arrive in 3-4 days, and by now I was desperate. I figured I could stop the payment on the first sword, so I bought the new sword.

I got home from the holiday and the first sword was there on the doorstep.

grey sword

Two swords! I thought. I suppose I can sell one of them on Ebay. Other belly dancers must also be desperate in the face of this sword shortage.

Then - while I waited for the real sword to arrive - I practiced with my horrible grey sword and developed something of an emotional bond to it.

It is in fact exactly the right size for me, and easy to balance, and relatively light on the head. I liked it, apart from the paint job.

So, more than four days passed. Eventually I began to wonder where the other sword was, and I went to look on the receipt for that too. With a more careful reading, I realized that it said that it would arrive 3-4 days after posting - with no promises about how long it would take them to post it. The receipt also said that they would send me an email to confirm when they sent it.

They had not sent me an email. Therefore they had not even put it in the post yet.

I leapt to my computer and sent them an email asking if I could cancel the order, and they replied the same day, re-listed the sword on their website and refunded me the price.

Good! I finally had a sword, and only one sword.

But the more I practiced with it, the more I came to hate the fact that it was silver like a silver car. There were even metallic sparkles in the paint just like metallic-finish auto paint. And the hilt was the same colour as the blade, as though the blade was part of the hilt fittings.

I wondered if I could paint over the blade with chrome effect paint, but further research suggested that there just isn't a paint that looks like metal. It's all going to be disappointingly matte.

Time to break out the gold leaf

I bought a gilding kit, a book of gold leaf and a book of silver leaf and did a hack job of covering both blade and hilt with thin layers of metal.

Result - behold the shiny sword!

Silver Sword

This will certainly catch the light and flash as I dance. It isn't the sword that I wanted, but it is now a sword that I think I can love. And I bet no one else will have one like this :)