Winter has arrived.
Preorder Ice, the Sword of Eddard Stark, here.
Maybe my previous post was too soon, the pictures got here quicker than first thought.
Tommorow (Saturday), at around noon eastern time, Ice will go on sale.
I, for one, love the sword. I know some people didn’t like the writing on the hilt, but that is what GRRM wanted, and I rather like it too, to be honest. Yes, it repeats what is on the plaque, but the Starks didn’t have a fancy plaque.
What I most love about the sword is the white grip. This was GRRM’s original idea, and I think it was genius. I’ve never seen a sword with a white grip, and it just makes it fit for me so well with the feeling of The North. I just find it so pretty, of the swords we’ve made so far, this is hands down my favorite. Needle and Longclaw were necessarily simple, with Needle being a gift for a girl, and Longclaw being remade from the meager resources at Castle Black. Ice though, Ice is a sword that matches the prestige of it’s owner.
As a preview I wanted to share with you my favorite part. This is a glimpse of the grip, the 24k antique gold rings and the genuine antiqued silver wolf cuff. I hope you find it as pretty as I do.
Damascus Longclaw might not make it by Thanksgiving afterall. There were some done, but we had a few concerns, and had them redo something. This is an expensive sword, the last thing we want to to send one out that isn’t perfect. As much as I want to pull my hair out over delays, I think waiting is better than rushing. Hopefully everyone who buys this sword will cherish it for years (and hopefully it will appreciate in value for you as well, as I think it will) so what is a few more weeks? Still, we’re only talking about a portion of the lot, anyone who ordered now wouldn’t get fulfillment from this portion and wouldn’t get it until 2011 unfortunately.
On the ICE front. Ice will be open for preorders by the end of the first week of November, within about 2 weeks. A plethora of pictures will be released by that time.