The reason I bring it up is a (minuscule) amount of personal experience: I've had the chance to practice/play fight with a replica bronze sword & shield against

The reason I bring it up is a (minuscule) amount of personal experience: I've had the chance to practice/play fight with a replica bronze sword & shield against an opponent. We were expressly forbidden from parrying with the swords and it surprised me just how physically demanding the parries were against the shield, largely I think due to the ringing. Regaining control after the impact of the sword was hard. That said, the craftsmanship of the sword I used was nothing like the one in the TFA and it didn't have a handle cast onto the blade, nor such an intricate design. I don't know how accurate the shield were to the time period (one was leather bound, the tower shield was not) but they didn't have metal rims and shield bosses.