Swords and more

Swords of the Medieval Knight

The swords of medieval Europe were greatly influenced by the Viking swords of the 11th century and earlier.

To the Vikings, the sword was a symbol of great power, with warriors naming swords and passing them down through generations.

The early medieval sword a derivative of the Viking sword, a weapon developed for cutting rather than thrusting, with the emphasis on the sharp edges.

Such swords would have been up to 2 feet 6 inches long with a slightly rounded point.

These swords would often also have the name of the sword-smith chiseled into one side of the blade.

Function

The main function was a slashing weapon.

It was only after 1250 with the advent of plate armor that swords with truly sharp points began to appear.

A number of grave finds from all over northern Europe attest to the effectiveness of the sword when armor wasn't in the way. Skulls with great slices through them, often from one side to the other have been excavated . Some even show new smoother bone growth demonstrating that the injured party lived on after such a horrific injury.

The sword was not sharp as a razor but were honed to a fine edge. They were both hard and flexible, being capable of a thrust if necessary.

PARTS OF A SWORD

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The metal crossguard was slotted on to the tang and secured by the grip. This was formed from two pieces of wood or horn channeled out to take the metal tang, then glued over it and probably covered in leather and perhaps bound with thongs.

The pommel was slotted over the end of the tang which was then hammered over to secure it.

Fuller

A rounded hollow or ‘fuller’ running down the blade to near the point enabled the blade to be made lighter and thus easier to wield without in any way impairing its strength.

Hilts

Sword hilts were fairly short, since the sword was meant to be used in one hand.

Cross guard

The hand was protected by a simple metal cross-guard. The crossguard was often straight but might curve towards the blade slightly.

The handle was usually made of wood but the cross guard was made of iron.

Grips

Although no grips survive they were almost certainly of wood and were probably bound with interlaced thongs of cord or leather.

Tangs

Striking with a sword creates a shock that might affect the swrd itself. A relatively soft tang absorbed the energy preventing the blade from shattering in the crossguard area

Fuller

Down the centre ran the fuller, not a blood channel but a method of lightening the blade without weakening it.

Grips

From the Norman Conquest till the end of the 12th Century, the grip of the swords was usually of wood, covered with skin, but sometimes of bone.

The grips of swords were made of several materials. Horn, wood, and antler, sometimes wrapped with leather or even bound with cord

Pommel

The pommel’s purpose was to act as a counterweight to the blade, making the sword easier to wield. The pomme also prevented the hand from sliding off the grip, was usually either shaped like a tea--cosy or like a brazil nut.

More rarely a simple disc pommel might be seen

The pommel by and large defines the date of the sword and the site where it was most likely to have been made. The Vikings tended to go for swords with 3 or 5 lobed pommels and the Anglo-Saxons for 'Cocked Hat' styles, such as the one on the left, although there is a certain amount of cross-over. Later on, the 'Brazil Nut' style found favour via the Normans.

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A Brazil nut type pommel from a Norman sword

Construction

The best swords of the period were forged in a process known as “Pattern-welding”. Many continued to be pattern-welded until after the Norman Conquest.

Rods of iron and carburised iron (a soft, impure form of steel) were beaten and twisted together to form a sandwich which was then twisted with similar sandwiches to form the blade, hammered out and flattened and shaped.

The twisting of the metals meant that when the blade was finished and polished, a wavy line was seen running down its length, the pattern.

Sword makers’ names were sometimes engraved on the blade: the name ‘Ulfberht’ appeared in the tenth century, ‘Ingelri’ from about 1050 together with the name ‘Gicelin’.

The most common smith's name when set into the narrow fullers of the longer swords and their derivatives was: 'GICELIN ME FECIT'.

Because high-quality homogenous steel was rare, the process of pattern-welding used both a strip of homogenous steel and a bar of wrought iron. The strip of steel would be bent upon itself to form a V shape and would be hammer-welded into place along the wrought iron bar, which formed the center of the sword.

Depending on how it was forged, the bent and hammered steel would form different patterns down the blade, which could be accentuated using acid during the polishing of the sword.

Pattern-welding continued until after the Conquest and was replaced with simpler techniques that could produce swords nearly as strong as pattern-welded swords.

Some swords had tough steel edges welded on to improve their sharpness.

Sword blades might be decorated. Grooves were cut into the blade and the decoration was hammered into the heated surface.

Other metals were also used for decoration: latten (which was a type of brass), silver, pewter or tin. Well-written religious phrases in latten or white metal were especially seen, some misspelt or obscure, usually on the long swords or their derivatives. Crosses might flank an inscription. Rarer decoration came in the form of symbolic pictographs and mystical designs.

It is impossible to know which methods were favored the most, since different smiths favored different combinations.

Some felt that honey was a better medium for quenching because it created less bubbles. Similarly, the reaction of quenching could differ from sword to sword within the same smithy.

Swords in the 11th Century

By the 11th century, blades had started to become lighter and better at piercing, thus becoming more effective against mail armor. The type in use in the 10th century and into the 11th century was a double--edged cutting or slashing sword.

Scabbards

Scabbards from this period would have been worn on the left hip of the belt, and were made of two strips of wood held together with animal glue, wrapped in leather and lined with fleece.

The tip of the scabbard might have a chape to prevent scuffing, the mouth a locket.

The scabbard might have occasionally been angled slightly back by joining it with a suspension strap to the side of the sword belt

The outside was sometimes covered in a thin skin of leather sewn on the reverse side creating a watertight covering.

Lots of glue was used to fix this all in place, and over the top of all this a few layers of some form of varnish or shellac were applied to finally seal the whole thing.

Swordbelts

Swords were carried by a belt that could be worn inside or outside the hauberk.

The Tapestry shows that most wore them inside. Several figures are seen in which the scabbard itself is worn under the mail, the lower end protruding from the skirt or through a slit, the sword hilt similarly emerging from another slit at the hip.

In the 10th and early 11th century some may have been hung from a baldric over the right shoulder.

Norman Swords

A knight's sword was his most prized weapon. The sword was often named and was handed down from generation to generation.

The typical sword of a Norman soldier was a very simple and serviceable weapon with a double-edged, straight blade just over a yard long tapering to a point.

Description

By !066, a high-quality knightly sword would have been light (2 to 3 lbs.) and well balanced, and a formidable weapon when wielded from the elevated position of a warhorse's back.

Norman swords normally had a broad, double-edged blade.

The blades were between 72 – 80 cm (29" - 32") long and about 7.5 cm (3") broad at their widest with a shallow but broad groove or fuller down the centre of both sides to lighten the blade without losing any strength.

Weights of the sword

The heaviest practical swords in existence weighed around six or seven pounds, and these weights can only be attributed to swords at the very highest end of the size and length spectrum l

The overwhelming majority of swords in history weighed less than half of these oversized swords.

For example, most medieval European swords--in spite of their undeserved reputation for clumsiness and heaviness--weighed between 2 and 3.5 pounds

The quillons were generally straight

A good sword made of steel was unlikely to break

Use in battle

The blade was intended to cut not pierce.

Striking blade against blade was usually avoided.

This would destroy a sharp blade. The subsequent large nicks in the blade would be impossible to remove short of fire welding in a section to patch the damaged area.

Most skilled fighters would use the side—not the edge—of the blade to block attacks. Instead, the side of the sword should be used to block attacks, or blade swings should be dodged completely without direct contact.

“Locking” swords in battle was avoided

Popular media often shows two mortal enemies “lock” blades at some point during their duel, accompanied with much teeth gritting, muscle bulging, and vocal straining.

Realistically, sword locks did not happen.

Should one occur, one combatant would use their free hand to grab the other’s sword arm and thrust it out of the way in order to create a fatal opening.

Otherwise, one opponent could use the lock as a lever to push the blades to one side and cut across their opponent’s neck. “Locked” blades are trapped blades—a death sentence for one opponent or the other—and not a practical or realistic technique mid-battle.

The norm was to aim for the body… not the blade

The usual targets were the mail and any exposed flesh.

A swing at an opponent’s sword actually leaves the attacker open to a direct strike to the torso. The aim of the warrior is to strike his or her opponent’s torso or head. Arms and legs are incredibly difficult to strike, and directly focusing on an opponent’s blade instead of his/her torso is folly at its finest.

Striking a wooden shield could trap the blade in the timber, another thing to be avoided.

Helmets would also not do the edges of your blade much good, even if you did stun your opponent.

Against armor, the heavy weight of the blade was used to break bones and crush internal organs.

A number of grave finds from all over northern Europe attest to the effectiveness of the sword when armor wasn't in the way. Skulls with great slices through them, often from one side to the other have been excavated .

Some even show new smoother bone growth demonstrating that the injured party lived on after such a horrific injury.

Swords had to be cleaned directly after use

Blood is actually the sword’s greatest enemy. The iron within blood causes it to rust. Swords must be cleaned as soon as possible in order to prevent this from happening.

Fingerprints can also cause a blade to rust; a person should never directly touch the blade of their sword.

How to Take Care of Swords

Clean the blade of the sword

use a clean cloth or towel. Oil the blade. After cleaning, it's time to apply oil. Leave a thin film of oil on the blade.

Clean the handle and more

Note that wooden parts of the sword will also be handled; therefore, clean the handle and the scabbard with special lacquer, varnish, or wax.

Wax leather elements of the sword.

In order to take care of leather scabbards, and sheaths and handles that are covered in leather, some form of wax or vven animal fat was used.