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Arms & Armor Sigmund Ringeck's Knightly Art of the Longsword by David Lindholm and Peter Svärd $49.95 / Paladin Press / 2003 David Lindholm and Peter Svärd, two Swedish members of John Clements' Association for Renaissance Martial Arts (ARMA), have undertaken this translation of Sigmund Ringeck's influential 15th-century treatise on the German school of longsword fencing, wrestling, and dagger fighting-a difficult task, but one whose importance is made evident by the fact that this is the second Ringeck translation to come out in as many years. Overall, Lindholm's and Svärd's work earns high marks. They might have been able to explain matters more clearly if they had more background in the ongoing tradition of fencing. Even so, they stick to the source material (the original text of which is provided alongside the translation), and make a valiant effort at organizing the sometimes cryptic subject matter, cross-referencing it with other, later exponents of the same tradition of swordsmanship, such as Talhoffer and Meyer's. Being Swedes, their mastery of English and both medieval and modern German is more than enough to pull off a successful translation, and Svärd's illustrations depicting the actions in the text are clear and diagramatic (the original manuscript was not illustrated). Overall, this is a good and useful book, certainly among the best of recent interpretations of medieval works on arms.The hard work put in shows through, the publisher's presentation is professional, and it is sure to be enjoyed by anyone with an interest in the subject. To gain a better understanding of the material, this book is best read in parallel to Christian Tobler's translation of Ringeck (Chivalry Bookshelf, 2002). —Ken Mondschein

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