A short article on Shields

SHIELDS

Shields have been used universally by warriors.

The shield was often a symbol of status and function; to abandon it was a disgrace.

The shield makes a good umbrella, a table, and a dry place to sit.

If the warrior died in combat, the body would be removed from the field by means of the shield.

From the first to the tenth century round shields seem to have been the norm, being either flat or 'watchglass' shaped in cross-section. They are always shown with a boss and often have wooden or metal bands on the back to strengthen them.

Construction

Shields were often made of linden (lime) wood although other timbers may also have been used such as alder and poplar.

These timbers are not very dense and are light in the hand.

They also have a characteristic in that they are not inclined to split unlike oak. Also, the fibers of the timber bind around blades preventing the blade from cutting any deeper unless a lot more pressure is applied.

All the examples found have been of planked construction although there is some evidence to suggest a plyed construction would make the 'watchglass' shape easier to make.

Some shields were edged with a rim of sewn thick leather or hide to strengthen them whilst others were possibly faced with leather or rawhide.

Practical tests have shown that lime wood shields are naturally very good at absorbing blows and resist splitting, and they are particularly good at trapping spears when you parry with them.

Saxons sometimes referred to the shield as a 'net of spears').

Size

Round shields seem to have varied in size from around 45 – 120 cm (18" - 48") in diameter but the smaller and more manageable 75 – 90 cm (30" - 36") is by far the most common.

The smaller shield sizes come from the pagan period for the Saxons and the larger sizes from the 10th and 11th centuries.

By the beginning of the eleventh century the bottom edge of the shield evolved downwards to cover the upper leg giving rise the kite shield.

The Kite shield seems to vary between 1.0 - 1.5 m (3'6" - 5') in length with about 1.2 m (4') being the commonest.

Paint/designs

Most shields are shown in illuminations as being painted a single color although some have a design painted onto them; the commonest designs are simple crosses or derivations of sun wheels or segments.

The few round shields that survived have complicated designs painted on them and sometimes very ornate silver and gold work applied around the boss and the strap anchors.

The term 'leather covered‘ is a phrase writers used from that period. The Romans had leather shield bags/ covers to protect them from the elements and were fairly elaborate with specially sewn parts in the shape of the boss, and their unit symbols on them.

Late Roman shield finds, the shield from Nydam and a fragment from the Isle of Man all have paint applied directly to the wooden surface.

Later Shield decorations

Shield decorations vary and although most Norman shields seem to have been plain, showing only the metal boss or a couple of rivets (probably for the straps), some are decorated with mythical animals,

Several illuminations show shields decorated in various patterns, from mono colored kite shields to striped and split markings.

Red, green and blue seem to be the most common color-wise

Here’s a short summary of shield design from Norman knights depicted in the Bayeux tapestry: 16 are plain, 7 show mythical beasts such as dragons (1 shows a bird), 12 have a curved crosses which are also depicted on some of the Anglo-Saxon shields, 2 have “normal” crosses and 1 have different colored triangles running down the side of the rim.

Twelfth-century shields often had a flattened top but frequently retained rounded corners. Many were curved to the wearer. The strap arrangements differed little from the previous century and are often simplified in art. Straps, probably of metal, are sometimes seen on shield faces, radiating from the boss in a decorative design which also strengthened the shield.

Such designs also passed into heraldic usage.

Carrying a shield

All shields apart from the early small ones were hung over the shoulder via a shoulder strap of leather. This is not essential for use with the round shield but is imperative if you are riding with any type of shield.

Your left hand is needed to 'neck rein' with, leaving you with little other than a slung shield to cover your left side. In the other hand is the weapon.

The art of cavalry riding is to organize your horse so that your shield side is facing the enemy, and only wheeling round to strike him. The momentum of a cantering horse is enough to make it very difficult for a foot soldier to parry your blows, necessitating him to ward off your attack with his shield, unless he has some friends with spears...

Spears and shields

Practical tests have shown that lime wood shields are naturally very good at absorbing blows and resist splitting, and they are particularly good at trapping spears when you parry with them (the Saxons sometimes referred to the shield as a 'net of spears').

The spears of this period, sharp as they were, would remain stuck in a shield if even a moderate thrust was caught.

However, a spear stuck in your shield renders the shield fairly ineffective, but also can render the spear useless to you, so most attacks would have been fended aside using the edge of the shield.

The spears of this period, sharp as they were, would remain stuck in a shield if even a moderate thrust was caught.

Also, the fibers of the timber bind around blades preventing the blade from cutting any deeper unless a lot more pressure is applied.

KITE SHIELDS

A kite shield was a distinct type of shield from the 10–12th centuries.

It was either a reverse teardrop shape or later on, flat-topped. The tapering point extended down to either a distinct or rounded point.

The top of the shield was slightly rounded, and the bottom tapered into a point. This design was useful on horseback and provided extra protection against crushing and ranged attacks to which mail armor at the time was poorly suited.

There is evidence for both flat and curved kite shields, with the curved being most likely, and most having bosses.

It is debatable whether or not these bosses were used in the same fashion as round shields; i.e. center gripped.

The tendency in re-enactment is to wear them crossbraced, as if you were still riding. This is because if the shield is held near the boss, the lower section acts like a pendulum making it difficult to operate.

Modifications to the kite shield occurred gradually, the top first being truncated, then the tail shortened and the resultant smaller shield that developed is referred to as a heater shield.

Straps

the kite shield predominantly features enarmes, leather straps used to grip the shield tight to the arm.

Unlike a boss, or centralized grip, this allows a greater degree of weight distribution along the arm, rather than the weight pulling on the wrist.

It also allowed the horse's reins to be gripped with the liberated left hand.

Kite shields were strapped in a variety of different patterns:

- a simple left-right grip (where the left side strap is looser than the right, thus allowing an arm to be slid in and then grip the right strap)

- top-bottom (the same configuration but with the loose strap below the tight strap)

- and various cross-bracing (where two straps meet in an x shape).

Boss

The shield sometimes featured a domed metal centerpiece (shield boss), but it has been generally accepted that this was decorative rather than providing protection for the hand as on a round shield. However, the addition of a boss may have made the deflection of incoming blows easier.

A number of kite shields featured no boss.

Construction

The shield was usually made from stout but light wood, such as lime, and faced in either leather or toughened fabric, such as canvas.

Most shields featured some form of reinforced rim, generally toughened leather, although some historians believe the rims on certain shields would have been constructed from metal.

It could also be slung across the back with a guige strap when not in use.

The kite-shaped shield was made of wood. None has survived, so any reconstruction is based on earlier circular shields and later surviving examples.

A drawing of a now vanished 12th-century shield from Norway suggests that it was made from planks (presumably) glued side by side.

However, surviving 13th-century shields, including one which may have originally been made in the late 12th century, are constructed from a single piece of wood.

The leather covering is again hypothetical.

It is also just possible that in the 11th century some kite shields were even of laminated construction.

Though those seen on the Tapestry appear flat (since dinner is eaten off them) others may have been slightly curved to the wearer (as Anna Comnena noted of those carried by Italian Normans).

The borders of kite shields may have been painted but numerous depictions with dots or circles suggest that, like circular shields, they had some form of edging. On 13th-century shields depictions of such edges again become rare, often remaining only as a heraldic border.

Shield straps (brases or enarmes) appear to have a variety of shapes. Many on the Bayeux Tapestry are shown as a simple strap across the top edge, but some strap for the forearm was presumably necessary also. Other depictions are more complex, several showing a pair of crossed straps for the hand, a common method represented elsewhere and continued into the 12th century and beyond.

The kite shield could easily be slung over the back of knights performing hit-and-run maneuvers into enemy lines, thus protecting the rider and some parts of the horse’s flank and back, when being showered with projectiles on their way back from the battle line.

The rectangle of straps, occasionally in the form of a diamond, is more confined to the Bayeux Tapestry.

It may be assumed that a stuffed pad was nailed on to protect at least the fist and possibly the forearm, as seen on surviving 13th-century shields.

The guige strap was probably provided with a buckle to adjust the length, though these are rarely seen in art. Some brases may also have been adjustable.

The iron, bronze or brass boss was a throwback to the circular shield but as it was no longer in a central position the shield was held by straps, relegating the boss to a decorative role.

The rivet heads would be seen on the inside of the shield unless covered by the pad. Some shields might have been entirely covered on the inside by parchment or even leather. The rivet heads of the straps would be seen on the outer face.

Examples of Norman shields at Hastings

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The shield wall at Hastings

The shield wall at the battle of Hastings was to all intense purposes solid and impenetrable, even to the hardiest cavalry rider and horse.

The Saxons were very numerous, semiprofessional if not professional troops who were not fazed by seeing the enemy. They had chosen a good spot on top of Caldbec Hill making any attack have to work its way up the hillside.

Even the cavalry charges had lost steam by the shield wall, but the crucial thing was that there was no chance for them to penetrate those defenses.

The men were perhaps ten deep in places, and no horse will even accidentally break through. Moreover, the rider would certainly come to grief as well. All those spears projecting out of the wall would have meant instant death.

So William's men had only one option, and that was to ride shield side facing the wall and lob their javelins into the seething mass. It didn't matter whether they hit a body as long as they hit something, and there was plenty to hit. The momentum of the horse now moving along the line from left to right as you look up the hill, on fairy level ground meant the they hardly needed to throw the javelins.

However, if they made the slightest mistake, then the shield wall would have them for breakfast.

Having traversed the wall and avoided all of the missiles that were returned, they then had to return to the bottom of the field to 'reload' with another javelin. Having rested to catch their breaths, it was time to sally back up the hill and relive the excitement of the previous trip.

All of this eventually ground down the Saxons, as they were unable to come into actual contact with William's cavalrymen. The Bayeux Tapestry bears out all of these points, and the interesting thing is that the French never learned this lesson themselves, much to their cost at Crecy, Agincourt and Poitiers.