M187/66 Cavalry sword
This sword is actually a copy of the Danish M1843, but with brass instead of iron mountings as on the Danish version.. Kongsberg first made a very limited series of 50 with brass mountings in 1852. After some minor changes a new limited series was produced in 1854, still with the brass mounting.
In 1857 the virtually same sword was put into production again, but this time with an iron hilt. Then in 1866 one found that the top of the guard plate that almost had ended in a point, should be rounded off to lighten the sword somewhat and to protect the soldier’s wrist if the sword should be hit hard from beneath, therefor at last the M1857/66 as the final production model.
It amazes me that Norway was allowed to approve a Danish sword when in a union with Sweden, Denmark’s arch enemy for centuries. On the other hand, Norway was already starting to move further and further from Swedish dominance and building fortresses along the border to Sweden was well under way.
