In 1994, Dorothy Bretag came into a small inheritance. As she considered how to invest the money, her daughter asked her what she loved.

Her answer: swords.

It stemmed from watching classic swashbuckler movies about pirates and knights when she was a child.

So she and her husband, Mel, opened Prince of Blades in their west-side home and began buying and selling swords.

Now 75, Dorothy is a sword-swinging great-grandma and not slowing down.

In December, she celebrated 20 years in business at 1641 W. Colorado Ave., where she has a tiny storefront and still lives in the back.

And she proudly declares that she practices her swordplay – 100 swings from above her head – in the alley behind her home every other day or so.

“I’ve got great muscles,” Dorothy said, rating herself “fairly skilled” at handling medieval weaponry after more than four years of training in the art of swordplay.

In fact, Dorothy is as excited as ever about her business, especially as swords enjoy a renaissance due to the popularity of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” films, the “Hobbit” trilogy, the “Game of Thrones” books and TV series and a variety of Samurai-related films.

“We’re finding a lot of people love swords,” Dorothy said. “And they want real swords. Battle-ready swords. Not just wall-hangers that look pretty but break if you use them. People want the real thing. Carbon steel. With an edge.”

I assumed Dorothy must have spent years immersed in swords and studied the market before launching her business. And, as usual, I was wrong.

“I’m a sword-lover from the word go,” she said. “Swinging that sword around looked wonderful. But I didn’t own any. It really was a whim. I had no market research or anything.”

Dorothy simply followed her instinct about the viability of a sword business.

“If I’m fascinated by them, imagine what other people feel,” she said. “I just imagined walking into a store and holding a real sword.”

So she started buying swords, helmets, spears, throwing axes and knives. Soon she had chain whips, maces, pool cues with concealed knives, walking sticks that double as axes, throwing stars, “Wolverine” claws, crossbow pistols, blow guns and more.

If it has an edge or a point and it can be swung or thrown, Dorothy probably sells it at Prince of Blades.

“We get into a lot of different types of weapons,” she said. “We sold so many at Christmas; we really armed the community.”

Her little shop is well-stocked. In fact, Jack Sparrow would feel right at home among her weaponry.

Japanese swords are on one side of the shop and medieval swords on the other.

She can supply “Hobbit” fans with their very own Sword of Gandalf or the Orcrist or the color-changing Sting sword preferred by Bilbo Baggins.

Her merchandise ranges from $2 pocket knives to $500 Japanese swords. She even has foam swords made for live-action role playing.

Besides selling swords and weapons, Prince of Blades specializes in sharpening things.

In the early days, sharpening customers sustained Dorothy and her late husband, Mel, until sword sales picked up. Mel handled the sharpening end of the business, and he did it all: swords, knives, commercial cutlery, kitchen utensils, axes and even chain saws.

I wondered what in Dorothy’s background prepared her for her reign as queen of the Prince of Blades. I really couldn’t find anything.

She’s the daughter of a Polish immigrant who came to the U.S. at age 9, became a carpenter and, with his wife and brother, moved around the country working on major Depression-era public works projects including the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River on the border of Nevada and Arizona and the Grand Coulee on the Columbia River in Washington. That’s where Dorothy was born in 1939.

Dorothy’s maternal grandparents lived in Crowley, east of Pueblo, drawing the family to Colorado. They eventually settled in Colorado Springs, where her father worked on military bases including Camp Carson, Ent Air Force Base, NORAD and Peterson Field.

Dorothy’s early claim to fame was winning the Miss USO 1961 crown while volunteering with the nonprofit organization that supports U.S. troops.

“I got to ride in a parade downtown in a convertible.”

Like many USO women, she married a soldier she met at one of the mixers. Her marriage produced two daughters and took her around the country. But the marriage ended quickly, and she returned to Colorado Springs, where she met Mel, a disabled former sheriff’s deputy and Chicago cop. During their long marriage, they ran a pawnshop in Fountain and another briefly in Colorado Springs.

“The pawnshop was Mel’s business,” Dorothy said. “But this one is all mine.”

Prince of Blades wasn’t always a thriving business; some years were lean, she said. But they survived. And Dorothy carried on after Mel died in 2013.

“I wouldn’t think of retiring for anything,” Dorothy said. “This isn’t work. If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.”

As she said it, she swung a large sword over her head, deftly brought it around and, wearing a big smile, stopped it directly in front of my nose.

I think she made her point.

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