Throat lacerations, perforated organs, and pierced hearts are just some of the complications that performers can suffer when swallowing swords, but despite these dangers, only 29 deaths from this ancient art form have been recorded in the past 150 years.
“ Is it genuine ? ” Sword swallowers have in all likelihood been asked that question more than any other character of performer . The solvent is undeniably yes .
Courtesy of Dan MeyerAn 10 - ray of sword swallower Dan Meyer with a sword down his pharynx .
The history of sword swallow , however , is a picayune less certain . No one know who exactly first decide that thrust a long piece of metallic element down their pharynx would be a full theme — or how many citizenry failed before that first sword swallower succeeded .
Courtesy of Dan MeyerAn X-ray of sword swallower Dan Meyer with a sword down his throat.
However , it ’s conceive that brand swallowing dates back about 4,000 years to the fakirs and priest-doctor non-Christian priest of ancient India . take back a blade demonstrated impregnability , top executive , and a connection with their gods .
Over the centuries , sword swallowing go around across the continents , from ancient Rome and Greece to medieval Europe . The art form remain a pop circus act even today — despite the dangers it dumbfound .
Inside The Lethal History Of Sword Swallowing
Sword swallowing seemingly develop in India around 4,000 years ago , and by the first century C.E. , it had spread to Greece and Rome .
A later second - C reference to the stunt as amusement was made by Roman author and philosopher Apuleius inMetamorphoses , also calledThe Golden Ass . The novel ’s teller tells of a performer he learn in Athens who “ swallowed up a two hand sword with a very cracking edge ” and “ a chasing spear with the point downward . ”
British Library ArchiveAn Native American juggler swallow a sword , circa 1873 .
British Library ArchiveAn Indian juggler swallowing a sword, circa 1873.
By the eighth C , brand swallowing had become a pop act insangaku , a Japanese gymnastic street theater that also boast juggling , tightrope walking , contortion , and other feats . Similarly , the nontextual matter form was adopted by European jongleurs — stray entertainer who traveled from spot to stead to perform — during the Middle Ages .
In the early 1800s , an Indian company starring Ramo Samee wow audiences in London . In 1813,The Timesmarveled that “ the swallowing of the sword , and the novelty of the other performances , have attract the attention of the public beyond any affair that has appear in the metropolis for many years past . ”
Another Amerind performer , Sena Sama , may have been among the first to bring sword swallowing to America in 1817 , first perform in New York and then along the East Coast . The prowess then circularize slowly but steadily over the decades as dime bag museums and various circuses germinate across the country .
Collection of Dan MeyerChevalier Cliquot stands with his magnificent sword board.
Sword Swallowers Take The Modern Stage
One of the most famous brand swallowers from this metre was Fred McLone , well known as Chevalier Cliquot . In summation to reportedly swallowing up to 14 swords at once , he also amazed audiences by partially swallow a bayonet sword weighed down with two 18 - lbf. dumbbells . To make things just a little more dangerous , he ’d provide the rest of the blade to be shot down his throat by the backlash of a fired rifle , as reported in an 1896 issue ofThe Strand Magazine .
Collection of Dan MeyerChevalier Cliquot stick out with his glorious sword board .
Cliquot ’s apprentice , Delno Fritz , perform a similar bayonet act and was known to swallow a dozen blade at a time . However , his defy feats were n’t circumscribe to blades — he also swallowed watches bind to concatenation that attestant could try ticking inside him . On one occasion , however , as he was pulling the mountain range from his throat , it fall apart , forget the watch lodged in his esophagus . Fortunately , a physician in the crowd rush forth , pull a set of forceps from his pocket , and safely extract the watch before Fritz ’s clock time ran out .
Courtesy of Robert Way and Scott BellingerDelno Fritz with a mouthful of swords and plenty more waiting on his board.
While Fritz survived his mishap , his sword - swallowing wife , Maud D’Auldin , was n’t as fortunate after an accident with a nicked vane . The couple was performing for King George V and Queen Mary when an consultation member accidentally damaged the brand during a distinctive crowd inspection of the steel . The tiny fault prove fatal . When D’Auldin was withdrawing the unsay blade , it pinch her gorge , leading to her death .
Courtesy of Robert Way and Scott BellingerDelno Fritz with a mouthful of swords and spate more waiting on his board .
Despite the calamity , Fritz soon coach a new better half : his niece , Edna Price . The two performed together with the Ringling Brothers and the Barnum & Bailey Circus in the early 1920s . Price kick the bucket on to build up a calling traverse nearly 20 years as a star in various circuses and Ripley ’s Believe It Or Not ! Odditoriums . Robert Ripley himself forebode her the “ Queen of Sword Swallowers ” — a deserving title for her ability to swallow up to 12 swords at a meter . Price was also one of the first women to take back a Ne tube that illuminated her pharynx from within .
Photo by Echo Roo McNeillGigi DeLuxe swallows the 20-inch blade of a giant pair of shears.
Other steel swallowers continued shocking audiences with daring exploit , often live on beyond swords to rise their stunts were tangible . For example , John “ Lucky ” Ball get down a corkscrew - shaped sword , Mimi Garneau downed a helping hand saw , and Captain Don Leslie gulp screwdriver and rock oil dipstick .
pic by Echo Roo McNeillGigi DeLuxe live with the 20 - in blade of a giant pair of shear .
Sword swallowing has continue to be a popular form of amusement into the 20th and twenty-first century . Red Stuart has been swallowing a Ford Model A railway car axle for more than 50 years , and Gigi DeLuxe adds giant shears to her repertory . Dan Meyer , the United States President of the Sword Swallowers Association International , has even pulled a car by a bury brand , shove a vane heated to 1,500 arcdegree Fahrenheit down his gullet , and push down a 30 - in blade in an marine museum skirt by 88 sharks .
Schiffer PublishingCo-author Dan Meyer is seen on the cover ofTo the Hilt: A Sword Swallower’s History of Sword Swallowing. The book features more than 80 historical bios and photos and dozens of remarkable tales from modern-day performers.
However , blade swallowing is n’t something the modal person should try at base .
The Dangers Of This Deadly Art Form
These stories and more than 100 others are featured in the new bookTo the Hilt : A Sword Swallower ’s History of Sword Swallowing(Schiffer Publishing ) , co - write by me and aforementioned steel swallower Dan Meyer . We hope the leger catch you but does n’t inspire you . After all , swallowing a sword is not only 100 percent real — it ’s 100 per centum grave .
Schiffer PublishingCo - author Dan Meyer is seen on the cover ofTo the Hilt : A Sword Swallower ’s History of Sword Swallowing . The book features more than 80 diachronic bios and pic and dozens of remarkable story from New - day performers .
steel swallowing takes thoroughgoing genial dedication and intense forcible training . performing artist must learn to suppress their muzzle reflex , voyage a 90 - grade turn down the throat , array the blade into the esophagus , slip it through the upper esophageal sphincter , flip spread out the epiglottis , nudge the beating heart aside , shape past the sternum , liver , and kidneys , and subdue the retch innate reflex before at long last reach the bottom of the stomach .
Then , of course , they need to safely remove the sword — or their calling could suddenly come to a tragic end . That ’s why any aspire sword swallower should get wind from an experient wise man . After all , the art only stays active if the performers do , too .
After read about the history of steel swallowing , go insidethe tragical stories of nine “ freak show ” performers . Then , calculate through44 vintage picture of other circus “ freak ” throughout story .
