I love how these swords, and the Sutton Hu recreation from the last video, have such artistically composed pattern welding. Not just random, like most modern pattern welded blades.
Some other channels have better lighting, better cameras, better sound and better editing. But THIS channel always has by far the best content, to a very high standard always. Absolutely loved these recent ones, even more than usual.
Both Swords are amazing pieces, I love the pattern-welding also, very elaborate amazing work. I have two swords with horn grip, there is something about horn that just makes them more beautiful. I especially like the the three ribs in the middle of the one Migration sword. This was a Very interesting video, I have studied swords for over 28 years, and I am still learning.
Really beautifull blades. Those patterns are really gorgeous. The craftsmen who made the original swords must have taken great pride in the craftsmanship.
These swords seem to have a very, um, "regal" look to them. I really like their design, you get a real sense of what the original would have looked like. Great swords!
Gorgeous swords. Love the mixing of materials in the handle section and the almost overly complex construction. It is a shame we know so little about the style of fighting used in this era. Though it seems very shield reliant looking at the swords construction it also seems focused on individual "duel"-style due to how tip heavy they are which suggests larger swinging motions and therefore almost negates any close formation esque fighting.
5chr4pn3ll You can make a tight cut even with a tip heavy sword, it's just a question of recovery and fatigue build up. You can afford to have a heavy sword if you have a huge piece of wood to defend yourself.
Ranziel1 "You can make a tight cut even with a tip heavy sword" Of course but if tight cuts was the style of fighting at the time, they would make swords that were suited for that right?
5chr4pn3ll You should look up Roland Warzecha by searching Dimicator. Matt has mentioned him a few times. He is doing great work in researching the fighting styles of this time.
Thinking about the hairbands on your viking sword and how they helped your grip. Do you think that viking and saxon warriors could have done the same thing, wrapping their horn or bone grips with expendable cord or leather? Certainly that wouldn't have survived to today if they had. All these pretty horn grips may have been hidden under a nice grippy wrap.
There is a guy on Deviantart by the name of Jarkko that makes migration and viking era swords that are breathtakingly beautiful. I don't know what his prices are but his work is stunning.
Kudos to the Anglo-Saxons. There is a reason why smiths and part. Blacksmiths/Bladesmiths were highly regarded. The amount of skill and knowledge required would impress any modern smith.
Very interested in the evolution of the spatha into these swords - as mentioned the lineage seems direct and doesn't break until the arming sword. Did spatha have fullers? Were they ever pattern welded? What about Byzantine spatha that are contemporary to these swords? Thx!
Matt Lentzner Most spatha were not pattern welded and some did have fullers, but multiple narrow ones rather than one broad one. Actually some people question whether the spatha really 'evolved' into these swords, as they are quite different things.
scholagladiatoria Would love to see a discussion on this topic regarding the relationship between spatha and migration era swords. I'm sure part of the problem is that what does 'spatha' refer to? Celtic swords? Roman cavalry swords? or the late imperial foot soldier's? That's a span of ~500 years.
scholagladiatoria Considering that one handed double edged swords like that were already used by the celts(la tene culture,etc) before the spatha it seems logical that it wasn't the spatha.
Letum Mors Yes, but isn't the spatha a derivative of those swords? It didn't appear in a vacuum. I guess the German tribes could have acquired the sword making technology directly from the Celts which would make the spatha an offshoot instead of an ancestor. But on the other hand, what sword were the German auxiliaries using? And what swords were being produced in Gaul as a fully Romanized region? Hard to imagine there wasn't a lot of cross-fertilization going on.
mlentzner Of course but as said it wouldn't mean it derived from it,just that it has similar roots. Honestly a lot of "reasearch" about how the Spatha is the ancestor of those swords sucks and is influnced by heavy and sadly typical:Romans are awesome they must have done it thinking!!!.... Germanic tribes used longer double edged swords(celtic desgins mostly) before the spatha was used by the romans.
This fanbase gets so flustered if you bring up japanese swords, it's adorable. Also I have to recommend the youtube subtitles/cc option for this video.
slowpokebr549 It seems to be voice recognition software and it isn't especially good at it. It definitely isn't able to handle their accents. Highly amusing though 10/10
ZarlanTheGreen I wasn't trying to say i like one more then the other, I can just as easily say European swords have a beauty that isn't present in Japanese swords. I was mostly just pointing out that there are different artistic aesthetics expressed in each. Personally, I'm a fan of shamshirs, I like the simple lines and intricate engravings on the better examples
Big Thanks to Paul Mortimer for taking the time to come do this series with you. I'm looking forward to watching your collaborations and the hearing the insights you will glean from each other analyzing weapons from different perspectives in the future. Mutually beneficial to your respective research, I'm sure.
The pommel decoration seems rather to be a man's face and hands on one side and his arse being attacked by beasts on the other. Or perhaps that's just my medieval childishness of drawing bums and willies in bibles.
RyanRyzzo I...would not be surprised if you were actually right. Looking at it again, that IS what it looks like. And not everything has to be super-noble and meaningful after all. People had a dirty sense of humor throughout all of history, and showing a guy scared out of his wits because a couple beasts are about to bite him in the ass would probably be good for a chuckle for the guy who was about to go and put his life on the line in pitched combat...
i love 3 things about the first sword. the pommel cap is a man naked bent over. notice is butt and feet on the back, and face and hand. (someone else pointed this out.) 1). 2). i love the gold inlay on the area closes to the hilt. 3. the design is absolutely breathtaking. i wish i could recreate it.
The idea occurred to me that the horn layer in the hilt and pommel may have acted to absorb impacts better than homogeneous metal? Also horn may have been cheaper than metal, if that was a consideration. Every ounce may have counted to a Dark Age smith.
scholagladiatoria I read that in darkage Scandinavia, all free men sould have a basic form of "military"arms at all time. was it the same way in brittan. if so, a thougt crossed my mind, a way of showing wealth and status may have been to put Money in making the hilt of your sword nice and expensive.
Exploatores Swords were already a display of wealth in scandinavia during the dark ages and viking era. Swords were much too expensive for everyone to own.. The axe and shield combo is iconic for the vikings for a reason. In general, axes costs a fraction of sword, and they can be used in peacetime as tools.
***** a Wood axe may work as a weapon and a good battleaxe would not be any good att doing any Wood work. If a sword was a sign that you belonged to the wealthiest, why did some do an expensive hilt on them ?
Exploatores In Britain after the settlement period freemen were organised into Fyrds or citizen militias for defending there Burh or Shire, so it can be assumed that most of the freemen would have had weapons. It can be assumed that the sword held high culture symbolism and feature in myths from this time such as Beowulf. Interestingly in Beowulf the kings sword melts (after touching cursed blood) leaving only the Hilt, prompting a speech from the king to the hero about humility and the corruption of wealth and boastful pride. If the decorative hilts were to show off wealth then it is cutting symbolism indeed.
Exploatores An axe will still be cheaper than a sword at any rate, historical finds have proven that over and over again. Like what ***** said, having a fancier hilt than the next chief or warlord just shows people that you've got more money than him, and a better swordsmith. And just to clarify, viking age battle axes and work axes were very similar in shape and overall geometry... Large 2 handed axes, like the dane axes though... Well those were purely weapons of war, but that goes for most large 2 handed axes.
Horn must make for a very slippery grip when wet, muddy, sweaty or bloody. I've some antique straight razors with horn scales, and it is hard to distinguish from polished plastic. I would expect them to do artistic carvings or scrimshaw to beautify them and add texture to hold on to.
The balance of the blade isn't that much important as they'd be fighting with shields and using those to block and parry. The point of balance is there to give it a bigger chopping advantage and the tip is not designed for stabbing focus.
louie wallenberg I wanted to say the same. The ballance is depending on the favored guard position (no pointing to the enemy, no parries). I guess the same applies for the kopis and the spartan sword (leave shaped straight blade, not the 300-sh!t).
I saw the pommel cap differently. It looked to me like the bent over man's face was on one side, and his backside and legs were on the other. You fellows said it was two creatures on the back. I'm certainly not going to argue.
The Damascus steel! Of course, this kind of steel have not any connections with the "pulad" (real damascus steel). I don't know how this kind of steel is called in England. In Poland is known as "dziwer" [djiver] It means:Chipped together different species of iron and steel. ("dziwer" is not a typical Polish word! Sounds really strange, so most probably comes from one of the languages of the Orient or the Great Steppe. (South Ukraine, South Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Mongolia)). But no matter the name. This steel is beautiful and very useful! Those swords are really the masterpieces of Anglo-Saxon blacksmiths! And they are still calling this times - "The Dark Age"! "The dark" is present science...
6:21 "The sword wants to go _that_ way, so actually it's pulling away from that rivet head..." But when the sword wants to go that way, that means the blade pivots, which means that rivet head is pivoting _into_ the index finger, not away from it. Still, this is going to be much less of an issue when you actually connect with a target.
Both my Saxon and Viking ancestors were really on to something. I'm not sure they knew what they had in the patterns they make. They're in my blood and both you and them are taking me to school showing me what to do for the next part of my hybrid weapon I'm designing. Something straight out of a syfi fantasy I can't tell you what I'm going to do with it, but what I can tell you is that it will be a sort of conductor.
From a knife maker's perspective, the horn layer could just have been included as a design element or, since it's sandwiched between the layers of metal, it could have been used as a stable shock-absorbing buffer material. As an organic substance, the horn is also moderately able to expand or contract in response to moisture. Thus it could have been used as a way to keep the hilt and pommel pieces tight, preventing rattle and keeping loosening of the parts from leading to further damage. Not sure if that's it. Does seem to make sense though. Anyone have a different take?
Bo Zo gloves can bring their own drawbacks in certain conditions, particularly in wet conditions. Also keep in mind historical peoples can be presumed to have more heavily calloused hands, since muscle power was the usual method for most tasks.
are there any proper studies of these swords going on in terms of shape, balance, proportion like there was with the medieval swords and the oakshott research? id love one of these for sword and buckler i love the look!
Reminds me of the Chinese "Jian", sometimes referred to as a "Tai Chi Sword". From wiki (lol): Though there is significant variation in length, balance, and weight of the jian from different periods, within any given period the general purpose of the jian is to be a multipurpose cut and thrust weapon capable of stabbing, as well as making both precise cuts and slashes, as opposed to specializing in one form of use. I don't know how well it would thrust but they look like they could make some pretty precise cuts
Yeah its a bit of a stretch. There was another video discussing the agility of "clunky" looking longswords. I guess I'm wondering whether the weight being farther forward would effect the length/ surface area for "effective cutting" (increase or decrease)?
thetravelermotion A curve in the blade would affect the cutting surface and focus more of the impact force into a smaller area, making for effective cutting. In this case the balance being heavier higher in the blade makes it impact harder which boosts the impact force in large chopping motions. Moving the center of balance of the blade farther from the hand does reduce its maneuverability to some degree though.
Ah so its the opposite you can hit harder but its less maneuverable. That makes sense the weight is more forward so strikes are heavier and more choppy.
thetravelermotion Right, as a general rule for maximizing cutting you want as much force as possible to be distributed to the smallest area possible. Hence, curved swords balanced away from the hand tend to be the best. A straight sword with balance towards the hand will have the best agility and ease of accuracy and will be more ideal for thrusting.
with the time period and the fact that the character on the pommel seemingly having 1 eye im lead to believe this character to be Odin or as he relates to the Anglo Saxons pre christianity Woden.
In how far is the paralel edges a result of the pattern welding? It must be easier to get a pleasing result if the blade is mostly paralel (though not impossible to make it all taper) so how much is the feel a result of the construction? (that would still mean the use would be not so limited by the feel that they would choose a different constrcution) even though some aspects are important or ideal in use, the construction method can affect the design significantly as well.
scholagladiatoria You said that the ribs on the grip are influencing the way that you hold and use your viking style sword. Any consideration as to how that rib might also play into how you hold the longsword and how you use it?
louie wallenberg Katanas are swords designed to be made from all but cast iron. They're bound to be shitty in due to the time and place they were made in. Kriegsmessers are roughly what you'd get if you made a katana from decent metal.
scholagladiatoria do you know what steel types the originals had? i once heard that they had only two distinct types of steel to create that look. a low phosphorous steel (good) and a high phosphorous steel (bad). and is there any explanation why they did that pattern welding? beyond the looks? (i heard from a smith who does pattern welding and even smelting ore with original bloomerys, that you even need more good mono steel for that pattern welding with another bad steel, than you would need to make the whole blade from just mono steel)
From what I have gleaned is that pattern welding was a way of increasing the structural stability of a blade constructed from less than ideal metallurgical material. if I'm not mistaken the historical examples are differentially hardened as well(harder at the edge than in the rest of the blade).
A little off topic here, just something I thought of one time. In modern times there are some people who collect ancient weapons, like swords and other medieval weapons, there's still a big market for military surplus firearms. There are reenactors who create (sort of) accurate weaponry for wars long past, like world war 1 and 2, and plenty of medieval and ancient warfare groups. Has there been evidence of people back in times like the napoleonic period collecting older weaponry for the sake of having them?
Vinland dude there are people who collect pop bottles I think that it is safe to assume that amongst those with the means to acquire such there would be a percentage of those who did.
What exactly does pattern welding do to the sword? What was the benefit of it at the time and does it offer any benefit compared to later swords with better steel?
its a debated thing but widely accepted is demascus steel truly doesnt exist. but what you see called damascus is indeed pattern welded. true damascus is supposed to be like woots but with a sepcific way made in the area of Damascus. at least from what i gather from light reading. so in short what you see as damascus today is the vernacular for pattern welded.
use this for your research maybe. in modern times we often share udeas of our "personal" patterns. someone right now is making a ballerina pattern welded blade in order to sell for a charity cause. He's shared his idea and many will probably copy it. but it will be only sold as his "patented" weld. he more than likely wont patent it. although it will be bad in the community and in the honor if you stole someones design. i can see this being the same in the 11th century. or any time. i would venture far enough to say, to steal or try to steal a design would cause a fued and maybe a war amongst shops.
God, absolutely putting other pattern welded swords and knives to shame. I can't help but look at most modern pattern-welded "damascus" blades and be disappointed.
That bloke on the hilt looks like hes wearing mail on his head. My sound isn't working and I forgot what you said on my first watch. Is my observation accurate?
You can see why smiths were held in such high esteem. Beautiful swords.
I love how these swords, and the Sutton Hu recreation from the last video, have such artistically composed pattern welding. Not just random, like most modern pattern welded blades.
I'm a fan of all swords, but I think the migration era/viking swords are sort of the most beautiful "type". I just love the proportions.
The blade of the first sword is the most beautiful blade I have ever seen in my life. It is literally porn. The artistic erotic kind.
That is the most gorgeous pattern I've ever seen in damascus.
Very beautiful swords; I especially like the patterns on the blade.
Some other channels have better lighting, better cameras, better sound and better editing. But THIS channel always has by far the best content, to a very high standard always. Absolutely loved these recent ones, even more than usual.
And the best shwings you'll hear on RUclips.
Gorgeous pattern welding, these blow my mind!!
Both Swords are amazing pieces, I love the pattern-welding also, very elaborate amazing work. I have two swords with horn grip, there is something about horn that just makes them more beautiful. I especially like the the three ribs in the middle of the one Migration sword. This was a Very interesting video, I have studied swords for over 28 years, and I am still learning.
Really beautifull blades. Those patterns are really gorgeous. The craftsmen who made the original swords must have taken great pride in the craftsmanship.
You two make a great team!
These swords seem to have a very, um, "regal" look to them. I really like their design, you get a real sense of what the original would have looked like. Great swords!
These European pattern welded swords are some of the most beautiful sword types ever made.
Matt, great video.your channel is really a "class act", as they say.Sometimes i almost forget how really good you are at this. Thank-you, Dante.
Such beautiful swords. Thanks for making the effort to display them.
Great series of videos Matt, appreciate you showing us these.
pattern welding is so amazing to see
That's such a beautiful pattern!
Gorgeous swords. Love the mixing of materials in the handle section and the almost overly complex construction.
It is a shame we know so little about the style of fighting used in this era. Though it seems very shield reliant looking at the swords construction it also seems focused on individual "duel"-style due to how tip heavy they are which suggests larger swinging motions and therefore almost negates any close formation esque fighting.
5chr4pn3ll You can make a tight cut even with a tip heavy sword, it's just a question of recovery and fatigue build up. You can afford to have a heavy sword if you have a huge piece of wood to defend yourself.
Ranziel1 "You can make a tight cut even with a tip heavy sword"
Of course but if tight cuts was the style of fighting at the time, they would make swords that were suited for that right?
5chr4pn3ll You should look up Roland Warzecha by searching Dimicator. Matt has mentioned him a few times. He is doing great work in researching the fighting styles of this time.
Thinking about the hairbands on your viking sword and how they helped your grip.
Do you think that viking and saxon warriors could have done the same thing, wrapping their horn or bone grips with expendable cord or leather? Certainly that wouldn't have survived to today if they had. All these pretty horn grips may have been hidden under a nice grippy wrap.
Twisted poison ivy pattern as it's called in Beowulf.
Amazing work !
The sandwich construction of the hilt and pommel is for shock absorption, reduced weight, and thermal stability. The handle end got a lot of use.
Really interesting videos. Thank you, Matt!
There is a guy on Deviantart by the name of Jarkko that makes migration and viking era swords that are breathtakingly beautiful. I don't know what his prices are but his work is stunning.
This kind of blade is so pretty imo.
I'm not very easily impressed, but these are bad ass swords!
I especially liked the pommel on the first sword.
Kudos to the Anglo-Saxons. There is a reason why smiths and part. Blacksmiths/Bladesmiths were highly regarded. The amount of skill and knowledge required would impress any modern smith.
Very interested in the evolution of the spatha into these swords - as mentioned the lineage seems direct and doesn't break until the arming sword. Did spatha have fullers? Were they ever pattern welded? What about Byzantine spatha that are contemporary to these swords? Thx!
Matt Lentzner Most spatha were not pattern welded and some did have fullers, but multiple narrow ones rather than one broad one. Actually some people question whether the spatha really 'evolved' into these swords, as they are quite different things.
scholagladiatoria Would love to see a discussion on this topic regarding the relationship between spatha and migration era swords. I'm sure part of the problem is that what does 'spatha' refer to? Celtic swords? Roman cavalry swords? or the late imperial foot soldier's? That's a span of ~500 years.
scholagladiatoria Considering that one handed double edged swords like that were already used by the celts(la tene culture,etc) before the spatha it seems logical that it wasn't the spatha.
Letum Mors Yes, but isn't the spatha a derivative of those swords? It didn't appear in a vacuum. I guess the German tribes could have acquired the sword making technology directly from the Celts which would make the spatha an offshoot instead of an ancestor. But on the other hand, what sword were the German auxiliaries using? And what swords were being produced in Gaul as a fully Romanized region? Hard to imagine there wasn't a lot of cross-fertilization going on.
mlentzner Of course but as said it wouldn't mean it derived from it,just that it has similar roots.
Honestly a lot of "reasearch" about how the Spatha is the ancestor of those swords sucks and is influnced by heavy and sadly typical:Romans are awesome they must have done it thinking!!!....
Germanic tribes used longer double edged swords(celtic desgins mostly) before the spatha was used by the romans.
This era is actually SUPER interesting to me. Would like more videos on earlier history. I realize that it is harder to research though.
This fanbase gets so flustered if you bring up japanese swords, it's adorable.
Also I have to recommend the youtube subtitles/cc option for this video.
Jet Black I'm going to go back and watch some of these videos with the captions on now. Do you suppose they are meant to be as funny as they are?
Jet Black A+ for the subtitle tip, but when it comes to Japanese swords I think they have a form of beauty that just isn't present in European swords
slowpokebr549 It seems to be voice recognition software and it isn't especially good at it. It definitely isn't able to handle their accents. Highly amusing though 10/10
Andrew Casey They're a novelty for Westerners who fetishize Japanese culture.
ZarlanTheGreen
I wasn't trying to say i like one more then the other, I can just as easily say European swords have a beauty that isn't present in Japanese swords. I was mostly just pointing out that there are different artistic aesthetics expressed in each. Personally, I'm a fan of shamshirs, I like the simple lines and intricate engravings on the better examples
now that is some lovely swords!
Big Thanks to Paul Mortimer for taking the time to come do this series with you. I'm looking forward to watching your collaborations and the hearing the insights you will glean from each other analyzing weapons from different perspectives in the future. Mutually beneficial to your respective research, I'm sure.
The pommel decoration seems rather to be a man's face and hands on one side and his arse being attacked by beasts on the other.
Or perhaps that's just my medieval childishness of drawing bums and willies in bibles.
RyanRyzzo I...would not be surprised if you were actually right. Looking at it again, that IS what it looks like. And not everything has to be super-noble and meaningful after all. People had a dirty sense of humor throughout all of history, and showing a guy scared out of his wits because a couple beasts are about to bite him in the ass would probably be good for a chuckle for the guy who was about to go and put his life on the line in pitched combat...
a man trapped in the sword attacked by demons
Who buys these swords
i love 3 things about the first sword. the pommel cap is a man naked bent over. notice is butt and feet on the back, and face and hand. (someone else pointed this out.) 1).
2). i love the gold inlay on the area closes to the hilt.
3. the design is absolutely breathtaking. i wish i could recreate it.
Pollington would own those swords lol. That's awesome, and thanks for showing off these blades!
The idea occurred to me that the horn layer in the hilt and pommel may have acted to absorb impacts better than homogeneous metal? Also horn may have been cheaper than metal, if that was a consideration. Every ounce may have counted to a Dark Age smith.
folded over a million times
***** And a GOD in each tank.
*****
magnificent
Knechtor Fun fact: folding over 300 times would create 2^300 layers, a number larger than the number of atoms in the known universe.
Son H Oh yeah? How can there be more layers in the sword than there are atoms in the sword?
Plumjelly Think about it, you'll figure it out. Get out a piece of thin paper and try to fold it in half 300 times ;)
scholagladiatoria I read that in darkage Scandinavia, all free men sould have a basic form of "military"arms at all time. was it the same way in brittan. if so, a thougt crossed my mind, a way of showing wealth and status may have been to put Money in making the hilt of your sword nice and expensive.
Exploatores
Swords were already a display of wealth in scandinavia during the dark ages and viking era.
Swords were much too expensive for everyone to own..
The axe and shield combo is iconic for the vikings for a reason. In general, axes costs a fraction of sword, and they can be used in peacetime as tools.
***** a Wood axe may work as a weapon and a good battleaxe would not be any good att doing any Wood work. If a sword was a sign that you belonged to the wealthiest, why did some do an expensive hilt on them ?
Exploatores In Britain after the settlement period freemen were organised into Fyrds or citizen militias for defending there Burh or Shire, so it can be assumed that most of the freemen would have had weapons. It can be assumed that the sword held high culture symbolism and feature in myths from this time such as Beowulf. Interestingly in Beowulf the kings sword melts (after touching cursed blood) leaving only the Hilt, prompting a speech from the king to the hero about humility and the corruption of wealth and boastful pride.
If the decorative hilts were to show off wealth then it is cutting symbolism indeed.
Exploatores An axe will still be cheaper than a sword at any rate, historical finds have proven that over and over again.
Like what ***** said, having a fancier hilt than the next chief or warlord just shows people that you've got more money than him, and a better swordsmith.
And just to clarify, viking age battle axes and work axes were very similar in shape and overall geometry... Large 2 handed axes, like the dane axes though... Well those were purely weapons of war, but that goes for most large 2 handed axes.
Horn must make for a very slippery grip when wet, muddy, sweaty or bloody. I've some antique straight razors with horn scales, and it is hard to distinguish from polished plastic. I would expect them to do artistic carvings or scrimshaw to beautify them and add texture to hold on to.
GunFun ZS Fair assessment. Something worth testing forsure
6:45 ribbed for his pleasure
The balance of the blade isn't that much important as they'd be fighting with shields and using those to block and parry. The point of balance is there to give it a bigger chopping advantage and the tip is not designed for stabbing focus.
louie wallenberg I wanted to say the same. The ballance is depending on the favored guard position (no pointing to the enemy, no parries). I guess the same applies for the kopis and the spartan sword (leave shaped straight blade, not the 300-sh!t).
Paul Binns! I have a sword from that guy :D 10 years old, has seen many battles every year and still in perfect condition.
I saw the pommel cap differently. It looked to me like the bent over man's face was on one side, and his backside and legs were on the other. You fellows said it was two creatures on the back. I'm certainly not going to argue.
I just love when matt uploads sword porn like this amazing video
Beautiful.
You read some old stories where it says 'he was clove through the helm to his breastbone'.. you can sure believe it seeing those swords.
The Damascus steel! Of course, this kind of steel have not any connections with the "pulad" (real damascus steel). I don't know how this kind of steel is called in England. In Poland is known as "dziwer" [djiver] It means:Chipped together different species of iron and steel. ("dziwer" is not a typical Polish word! Sounds really strange, so most probably comes from one of the languages of the Orient or the Great Steppe. (South Ukraine, South Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Mongolia)). But no matter the name. This steel is beautiful and very useful! Those swords are really the masterpieces of Anglo-Saxon blacksmiths! And they are still calling this times - "The Dark Age"! "The dark" is present science...
Tomasz Wójcik the term dark ages refers to the lack of documentation to accompany archeological artifacts.
There is even an inlay / inscription on the Base of the first sword shown in close up.
Very interesting! So does this also give your thoughts on Roland Warzecha's theory on gripping Viking swords?
6:21 "The sword wants to go _that_ way, so actually it's pulling away from that rivet head..."
But when the sword wants to go that way, that means the blade pivots, which means that rivet head is pivoting _into_ the index finger, not away from it. Still, this is going to be much less of an issue when you actually connect with a target.
Beautiful swords
thankyou for showing those swords
scholagladiatoria What is the weight of these swords and the Sutton hoo sword? Is there an average weight for this period Anglo-saxon swords?
Such beauty. Who could not appreciate these?
(My wife thinks I’m crazy about knives, lol. She is right, its jus the way she says it...)
Both my Saxon and Viking ancestors were really on to something. I'm not sure they knew what they had in the patterns they make. They're in my blood and both you and them are taking me to school showing me what to do for the next part of my hybrid weapon I'm designing. Something straight out of a syfi fantasy I can't tell you what I'm going to do with it, but what I can tell you is that it will be a sort of conductor.
Ribbed for your enemy's displeasure!
From a knife maker's perspective, the horn layer could just have been included as a design element or, since it's sandwiched between the layers of metal, it could have been used as a stable shock-absorbing buffer material. As an organic substance, the horn is also moderately able to expand or contract in response to moisture. Thus it could have been used as a way to keep the hilt and pommel pieces tight, preventing rattle and keeping loosening of the parts from leading to further damage. Not sure if that's it. Does seem to make sense though. Anyone have a different take?
How much would something like that cost to get made? Suppose were talking thousands? Great vid as usual thanks. Drop the intro sound though lol.
So amazing.
With gloves, I'd think the rivet heads would be even less trouble.
Bo Zo gloves can bring their own drawbacks in certain conditions, particularly in wet conditions. Also keep in mind historical peoples can be presumed to have more heavily calloused hands, since muscle power was the usual method for most tasks.
12:36 For a second I thought Matt was going to hit him XD
Brilliant thanks
are there any proper studies of these swords going on in terms of shape, balance, proportion like there was with the medieval swords and the oakshott research? id love one of these for sword and buckler i love the look!
Could be that the organic handles were part of a higher production motive (cheaper). Maybe more swords existed in the later period?
Have you ever made a video on ancient Celtic swords and helmets/armor?
Reminds me of the Chinese "Jian", sometimes referred to as a "Tai Chi Sword". From wiki (lol):
Though there is significant variation in length, balance, and weight of the jian from different periods, within any given period the general purpose of the jian is to be a multipurpose cut and thrust weapon capable of stabbing, as well as making both precise cuts and slashes, as opposed to specializing in one form of use.
I don't know how well it would thrust but they look like they could make some pretty precise cuts
thetravelermotion Jians are generally quite slender, especially compared to these swords which are designed for chopping.
Yeah its a bit of a stretch. There was another video discussing the agility of "clunky" looking longswords. I guess I'm wondering whether the weight being farther forward would effect the length/ surface area for "effective cutting" (increase or decrease)?
thetravelermotion A curve in the blade would affect the cutting surface and focus more of the impact force into a smaller area, making for effective cutting.
In this case the balance being heavier higher in the blade makes it impact harder which boosts the impact force in large chopping motions. Moving the center of balance of the blade farther from the hand does reduce its maneuverability to some degree though.
Ah so its the opposite you can hit harder but its less maneuverable. That makes sense the weight is more forward so strikes are heavier and more choppy.
thetravelermotion Right, as a general rule for maximizing cutting you want as much force as possible to be distributed to the smallest area possible. Hence, curved swords balanced away from the hand tend to be the best. A straight sword with balance towards the hand will have the best agility and ease of accuracy and will be more ideal for thrusting.
with the time period and the fact that the character on the pommel seemingly having 1 eye im lead to believe this character to be Odin or as he relates to the Anglo Saxons pre christianity Woden.
The "stubble" on the mans face could be a mail coif perhaps?
In how far is the paralel edges a result of the pattern welding? It must be easier to get a pleasing result if the blade is mostly paralel (though not impossible to make it all taper)
so how much is the feel a result of the construction? (that would still mean the use would be not so limited by the feel that they would choose a different constrcution)
even though some aspects are important or ideal in use, the construction method can affect the design significantly as well.
scholagladiatoria You said that the ribs on the grip are influencing the way that you hold and use your viking style sword. Any consideration as to how that rib might also play into how you hold the longsword and how you use it?
This is how you make a sword, no silly katana's... These are fucking SWORDS.
louie wallenberg
Katanas are swords designed to be made from all but cast iron.
They're bound to be shitty in due to the time and place they were made in.
Kriegsmessers are roughly what you'd get if you made a katana from decent metal.
louie wallenberg pretty sure katanas are still swords. infact, i'm almost certain that all swords are swords.
Does Vince Evans still makes these ? Some say he is retired doing more commercial blades..
Thank god someone who calls it pattern welding.
In terms of making the individual plates the compound guard is actually easier to make
soundfxmaster true to a point ,you need to be quite precise in your alignment and tolerances or else use will dismantle the entire construction.
scholagladiatoria do you know what steel types the originals had?
i once heard that they had only two distinct types of steel to create that look. a low phosphorous steel (good) and a high phosphorous steel (bad).
and is there any explanation why they did that pattern welding? beyond the looks? (i heard from a smith who does pattern welding and even smelting ore with original bloomerys, that you even need more good mono steel for that pattern welding with another bad steel, than you would need to make the whole blade from just mono steel)
From what I have gleaned is that pattern welding was a way of increasing the structural stability of a blade constructed from less than ideal metallurgical material. if I'm not mistaken the historical examples are differentially hardened as well(harder at the edge than in the rest of the blade).
thans beautiful
You don't want the guard or hilt to heavy. Having it one piece is a weight that would have a longer blade.
At 5:21, is that a Jesus Fish inscribed into the sword? Whether it is or isn't, what does the "E" looking Rune mean in conjunction with it?
Does the upper guard have any function in combat? Or is it a design and construction thing?
Can you report weights for the swords? Thnx
Would I be right in saying that those beasts you are referring to are boar?
A little off topic here, just something I thought of one time.
In modern times there are some people who collect ancient weapons, like swords and other medieval weapons, there's still a big market for military surplus firearms. There are reenactors who create (sort of) accurate weaponry for wars long past, like world war 1 and 2, and plenty of medieval and ancient warfare groups.
Has there been evidence of people back in times like the napoleonic period collecting older weaponry for the sake of having them?
Vinland dude there are people who collect pop bottles I think that it is safe to assume that amongst those with the means to acquire such there would be a percentage of those who did.
What exactly does pattern welding do to the sword? What was the benefit of it at the time and does it offer any benefit compared to later swords with better steel?
My understanding is that it distributes carbon throughout the blade
how were the frankish swords?
since when is there a sound in your intro :O !
The grain of the edges bear a resemblance to Damascus steel. Any relation?
Richie Demo No. Real Damascus steel is a crucible steel.
+scholagladiatoria Was crucible steel pattern welded also?
+Rostislav Melnyk No
+Rostislav Melnyk no but Damascus is
its a debated thing but widely accepted is demascus steel truly doesnt exist. but what you see called damascus is indeed pattern welded. true damascus is supposed to be like woots but with a sepcific way made in the area of Damascus.
at least from what i gather from light reading.
so in short what you see as damascus today is the vernacular for pattern welded.
Matt, I love your channel but I hate the new intro video. The grinding sword sound sends shivers down my spine.
The design on the blade seems like chains over a background full of seeds ;p
Beautiful and very informative.
Wow
use this for your research maybe. in modern times we often share udeas of our "personal" patterns. someone right now is making a ballerina pattern welded blade in order to sell for a charity cause. He's shared his idea and many will probably copy it. but it will be only sold as his "patented" weld. he more than likely wont patent it. although it will be bad in the community and in the honor if you stole someones design. i can see this being the same in the 11th century. or any time. i would venture far enough to say, to steal or try to steal a design would cause a fued and maybe a war amongst shops.
God, absolutely putting other pattern welded swords and knives to shame.
I can't help but look at most modern pattern-welded "damascus" blades and be disappointed.
how is the Anglo-Saxon pattern-welded swords compare to damacus steel sword are the very stiff
sky4eyes You mean pattern welded arabian and perisan swords or do you mean swords made from imported wootz?Damascus steel doesn't exist.
The 12th and 13th century seem to be a gap in what you cover. Is there an archeological reason for this, or personal interest, or what?
That bloke on the hilt looks like hes wearing mail on his head. My sound isn't working and I forgot what you said on my first watch. Is my observation accurate?
You should have closed with closeups of the patterns.
Valyrian steel spathas. Very cool
Vikings were vain, geez. Fancy swords, fancy hair with a fringe. Proto-scene kids if you ask me.
Why did you say Where's Waldo when you are British? You should be ashamed of yourself!