Thank you very much Gare! This period has always fascinated me, and I hope to be able to make some videos in a similar style to yours as I am currently learning how to make these shields so I think a shield-making video might be a nice addition to the list in future :) Cheers!
Great video! One note about the dyes/pigments available - from my research reds/yellows/browns would more often be obtained from soils/minerals such as ochre/umber and several plant sources remained unmentioned. Carmine was definitely not used, as this is derived from a beetle in modern day Mexico! Cheers and looking forward to the next video!
I just watched this video again and its still great. Very interesting and well presented. I've been subscribed to this channel a bit now and it's certainly one of the best on YT.
Its probably oak galls that you get black dye from. Rather than thhe bar (although perhaps that is also possible) There's a vid about them here ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-WHz3LuFyvek.html 1:37mins
Poplar is pretty soft. It is barely hardwood. I use it for making arrows when I don't have rivercane, which I greatly prefer. I would think that poplar would have two thin layers glued together. Hide glue, two layers of poplar and a few layers of linen with a rawhide edge would be fantastically strong and light.
thank you very much for the invite Hilbert. yes i did enjoy this vid as well. i like your subjective/objective approach to history. that shows a continual learning of topics. i try to approach in a similar fashion, i am never too educated on anything, my brain is my favorite tool, it needs frequent whetting. people like yourself, and other commentaries keep me in a constant education. please do keep up the good work, and thank you again for your efforts.
It's my pleasure Jeffrey :) I'm really glad you enjoyed this video and some of my other ones as well, I hope they continue to sate your educational appetite! I will endeavour to keep my videos to this standard and better, thank you for your kind words and feedback :)
An interesting point about shields being wrenched away with an axe. It makes me wonder about the evolution of Norman kite shields with the body strap. Maybe it was for just such a purpose, to prevent being wrench away? The strap would restrict vertical movement though, so to protect the legs they make the shield longer?...
"rand" in danish also means rim/edge of table. I love your vids!!! language, critical view and history - love it. You would love moesgaard museum in Århus in denmark - once a year 200 hundred men fight in armor similar "viking" armor
Excellent video, thank you. As a Norman descendant and of part welsh stock these would be historical pieces I'd like to see next though I'm strangely drawn to The Goths in fact any of the Germanic tribes.
crowsbaneful Thanks very much, I'm glad you are enjoying these videos! I'll certainly be making some videos on the Normans, and will most likely get round to the Goths too :)
I bought a book called Learn to Deaw Dragons by Lora S. Irish a few years ago. One of the drawings was of a Saxon dragon shield. It has two dragons on it
5:32 Bosses main purpose was to put your hand in the center of gravity so that the shield does not move around and it gives you more control. The other things are just added benefits rather than reasons. Shadiversity had some points on this in one of his videos (he made a round saxon shield) Though that may be why it's iron. But maybe you are right (we can never know)
have heard that for the holmgang the duelling shields were extra thin so they would break or trap ememy weapons (see videos on this site ex. ThegnThrand). The war shields would have been thicker and more durable because who wants a broken shield part way through a battle.
Hey man just two things,first it is normally great to link the videos you referred during the video in the description we like it and shows a lot of professionalism. Second do you have any documents or books that would be great for someone like me that wants to study what did the Anglo-Saxons eat/ recipes of that time?
I've just linked it in there now with the times for when I'm talking about the shields ;) But thank you for making sure, I am awfully forgetful with such things and it really helps when people hold me to my word on such matters! Hmm concerning Anglo-Saxon cuisine I'm afraid I'm not really too sure. From what I do know the poorer farming folk would have eaten various cereals such as rye, barley and wheat in various forms of bread, oats and porridge, growing vegetables in small patches and perhaps catching fish in the rivers. Meats, milks, creams and cheeses could be got from their livestock as well as meat and eggs from fowl that was kept. As compensation for my lack of knowledge on the subject, I've linked Regia Angolorum's Page about Food and Drink in the Anglo-Saxon Era. They are a very reliable source so I hope you can find what you are looking for here: regia.org/research/life/food.htm Thanks for commenting and for asking the question, I really hope you can find some answers in the above link :)
Hey, I really enjoyed this video and I was wondering if you would ever do a video about dark age Irish/dal riatan shields? Because I'd love to see if there were any differences in shape or construction to the Germanic shields
About holmgang, or dueling in general. You didn't mention tapering, which was done on shields, for maneuverability and because of how blade trapping mechanics work in duel. And tapering on a potentially clothless shield would grant both of the aforementioned advantages, but it was in a controlled environment. I don't think battle shields would be that simple to break.
Interesting video! Thanks! I'm still not sure how a convex shield is easier to control against a bearded ax once the ax is hooked over the edge. If anything, I would expect the sloping back of the shield to be easier for an ax to hold.
Partially split shields could be useful in trapping a weapon though. Weapon gets caught in the shield, and the warrior can use it to jerk their enemy's weapon away, possibly disarming them. Also, if you watch Skallagrim (youtube channel) test shields with replica medieval weapons, they don't exactly break all that easily. Some shields were built weaker, with the intention to break for reasons I detailed above. My theory is that the holmgang three shields had to do with tactics - some shields are built weak and some are strong, but the enemy doesn't know. So they would swap shields throughout the battle, hoping to trap the enemy weapon, or going for more defense with a stronger shield. Alternatively, it's possible that the winner of a holmgang might have won the shields of his enemy, so both sides just brought weaker cheaper shields to the duel, so that their family wouldn't be as poor. A properly made shield does take some skill to make. Considering shields were relied on as the sole defense (and offense too; shields can offend, certainly), chances are they would have consulted a specialist when possible/afforded, and probably a priest as well to bless the shield. Some shields were even family heirlooms, passed down just like weapons. Though even strong shields may eventually break, so do weapons. Why are there hardly any shields in burials? Wood rots, I guess? Also, re-attaching a bosse may have involved having to make new rivets, which definitely *takes time*.
I honestly don't know why they were used at all. Round shields not only allowed wedging a shield wall, but also gave advantages in one-on-one combat in terms of parrying, trapping, assaulting with the edge, and even throwing the shield so that the edge would impact. The only thing I can figure from the convex design is that it was more resistant to being hooked by an enemy axe, and I suppose it offered better arm protection, and less movement on impact. Convex design was maybe also a bit fundamentally stronger (though round shields could be built strong too; the convex design might have been cheaper - but this is conjecture). According to tests though, convex shields couldn't withstand a dane axe.
The shields the saxon use in last kingdom are incorrect The movie guy said its so the general public wouldn't get Vikings & A/S mixed up. In fact they were very similar to the Viking ones , both were round. I've never excavated & Norman type more shield But they were chribh then & not buried with grave goods by the late 11th century .
Botht Bord and Rand are used in modern danish to. Bord means table and Rand is one of the words ve use for edge. Oh and here is a video that is related to your video it might interest you. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-A8dhCQ4or_8.html
'Board' can still mean 'table' in English.Older editions of the Anglican Prayer Book called the altar 'God's board', and the 'board' who govern a corporation were originally so called because they met round a table. A 'board room' still contains a special table for such meetings.
So many Germanic languages use them I can't list them all haha xD I can just mention random ones I know like Dutch ;) Thank you for watching my videos and leaving a comment behind :) It's honestly my pleasure, thank you for the enthusiasm!
The Sagas? They aren't too bad when translated into English but I can imagine they would be a nightmare in Old Norse :D! I am going to make some videos about Iceland soon because I got a book about Viking Age Iceland for Sinterklaas, hope you'll like those ones ;)
henord87 also noticed that.... the hole convex shield for defence against hooking was especially stupid. I mean the curve has to be quite extreme to have any such effect... a few centimeters won't make any difference.
