I helped design and construct the fourth-floor exhibit on natural science there. It's a beautiful museum, and I'm happy to see so many people are interested in seeing these treasures. Prof. Marianne Vedeler is a gem.
Viking era (and earlier) sword grip lengths are a surprisingly contentious issue in the HEMA (historical European martial arts) world. There are two general opinions on how they're gripped: one side says the hand is jammed into the grip and the cross and pommel tightly hold your hand in place (this is how Indian tulwars are held, which deliver powerful cleaving blows, but limits the range of the cuts since you can't articulate your wrist or use a "handshake grip". Later medieval daggers generally have similarly short grips, although they are used almost exclusively for thrusting). The other side say you grip the sword by resting the pommel in the palm of the hand and wrapping the fingers around the grip and pommel. This is more comfortable than it sounds despite the fairly sharp angles on the edge of the pommels. Holding the sword like this allows you to point it better, for thrusting and more "nuanced" fencing, much closer to what is recorded in fighting manuals from the late 13thC. There are issues with this interpretation, but it undoubtably works. It was pioneered by a chap called Roland Warzecka, who has a channel here with videos covering this. Unfortunately, the majority of re-enactors use swords with ahistorically long grips to fit their (also ahistorical) padded gloves, which makes drawing conclusions from most re-enactment battles difficult.
That's super interesting! I often wonder about our interpretation of these sorts of issues. I mean, it would seem logical due to the size of the grip that it was designed for a hand to fit within. But then again it's not like there were super strict, or rather universal, martial training ideas that everyone would have followed. I never thought about the idea that there would be a disagreement. But I suppose when it comes to mastering anything (especially when life and death are on the line) the swords were designed the way they were for a deliberate purpose. How they were used on the other hand might be more murky than I originally thought. I mean if it worked well, it worked well. I also wonder about the pommel's capacity to distribute weight if the swords weren't held with the whole hand in the grip. I fenced for many years, but that sort of looser grip that allowed for more manipulation of the fingers and wrist supination is all under the assumption that armor and shields weren't something that had to be bypassed. So my knowledge is quite limited. It's too bad that so many re-enactors aren't using historic grips. That would really help get to the bottom of this. Or at least get a better sense of things. Anyway, thanks for sharing your knowledge about something I had never considered. It's very appreciated. HEMA looks like a blast, as well as being educational. It is something I want to get into.
I love this video idea. Always love seeing this museum and Oslo in general. My father line came from the Oslo region during the norse age before making their way down to northern scotland and england. 🇳🇴
The plans for the new exhibition are amazing. It will certainly be _the_ Viking Age Museum (which is also the new name). Crossing fingers the construction and installation goes smoothly!
there are a whole series of videos on how things were done in that age and doc has a series of videos at the historical sites and villages all over Scandinavia. . .
The second largest Norwegian Viking hoard "Slemmedalskatten" was found in my hometown Grimstad. It's temporarily coming "home" to the region to be displayed at the Kuben museum in Arendal, before going back to the new viking museum currently in construction in Oslo. There are local rumors the hoard was even larger, but that the person who found it sold coins etc. to private collectors. Grimstad is quite interesting when it comes to viking age, and there are stone circles by an old natural fortification "bygdeborg" (Tjoresteinen) very close to where the hoard was found. Further inland you can find runes carved into montain by a field etc. One of the oldest stone churches in Norway, "Fjære Kirke" is not far either, and was probably built on ancient holy grounds. (There are LOTS of archaeological finds nearby).
27:50 I do fence hema, german longsword to be specific, I gotta think the purpose was to have part of your palm on the pommel so you could use your wrist to rotate the blade easier.
I'm not a a hema or fencing guy, but I think the pommel on these swords are not for rotating the sword (not along it's axis at least, considering that a strike on the flat side of the blade might break your sword). But those swords definitely look like they're one-and-a-half hand type of things, in regards to the size and shape of the pommel. Like a proto-bastard sword, maybe. Of course, it could also be purely ceremonial sword. ... We should have Shadiversity try out a replica.
@@8bitRemakes What you say makes little sense, because if you rotate a sword along it's 2 primary axses, you would not be hitting with or presenting the flat of the blade rather its edges. Forget Schad check out Roland Warzecha or Matt Easton. Fact is we do not 100% know how these swords (and their pommels) were used and probably never will. However, the experimental archeaology of Roland Warzecha makes a lot of sense. My suspicision is that the pommels could ve used in different ways, so I think both are true.
I think both ideas are correct. One would expect warriors to use different techniques in different situations. One also has to ask the question "When?" As armor and fighting styles changed, so it is also very likely that the weapons and pommels changed.
Longswords, though popular today had a relatively short heyday (~200 years) "phenomenon" and are quite rare compared to other sword-types. Of course, they never completely disappeared. Yet, one would think Fighting with swords and bucklers was far more common and lasted for a much longer time than fighting with longswords. The "Vikings" fought mostly with spears, axes, shields and swords that are much shorter than a longsword. The fact that longswords were not around very long is intriguing. It would seem advantageous to have longer reach, but a longsword does not give you as much reach as a spear or polearm and it does not afford you the protection and offensive/deception capabilities of being able to use a shield. That seems to imply that the longsword was either a dueling weapon or that it was used in battle by warriors, who were heavily armored.
Have ethnical Norwegians access to their history? I would like to hear our Nordic history told by true Scandinavians. Otherwise it looks like an occupation.
I helped design and construct the fourth-floor exhibit on natural science there. It's a beautiful museum, and I'm happy to see so many people are interested in seeing these treasures. Prof. Marianne Vedeler is a gem.
I've been to that museum and it literally left me speechless. I'd go back in half a heartbeat.
I was in Oslo last week. HEading there again soon, I'll be make sure to stop by!
Viking era (and earlier) sword grip lengths are a surprisingly contentious issue in the HEMA (historical European martial arts) world. There are two general opinions on how they're gripped: one side says the hand is jammed into the grip and the cross and pommel tightly hold your hand in place (this is how Indian tulwars are held, which deliver powerful cleaving blows, but limits the range of the cuts since you can't articulate your wrist or use a "handshake grip". Later medieval daggers generally have similarly short grips, although they are used almost exclusively for thrusting).
The other side say you grip the sword by resting the pommel in the palm of the hand and wrapping the fingers around the grip and pommel. This is more comfortable than it sounds despite the fairly sharp angles on the edge of the pommels. Holding the sword like this allows you to point it better, for thrusting and more "nuanced" fencing, much closer to what is recorded in fighting manuals from the late 13thC. There are issues with this interpretation, but it undoubtably works. It was pioneered by a chap called Roland Warzecka, who has a channel here with videos covering this.
Unfortunately, the majority of re-enactors use swords with ahistorically long grips to fit their (also ahistorical) padded gloves, which makes drawing conclusions from most re-enactment battles difficult.
That's super interesting! I often wonder about our interpretation of these sorts of issues. I mean, it would seem logical due to the size of the grip that it was designed for a hand to fit within. But then again it's not like there were super strict, or rather universal, martial training ideas that everyone would have followed. I never thought about the idea that there would be a disagreement. But I suppose when it comes to mastering anything (especially when life and death are on the line) the swords were designed the way they were for a deliberate purpose. How they were used on the other hand might be more murky than I originally thought. I mean if it worked well, it worked well. I also wonder about the pommel's capacity to distribute weight if the swords weren't held with the whole hand in the grip.
I fenced for many years, but that sort of looser grip that allowed for more manipulation of the fingers and wrist supination is all under the assumption that armor and shields weren't something that had to be bypassed. So my knowledge is quite limited.
It's too bad that so many re-enactors aren't using historic grips. That would really help get to the bottom of this. Or at least get a better sense of things. Anyway, thanks for sharing your knowledge about something I had never considered. It's very appreciated.
HEMA looks like a blast, as well as being educational. It is something I want to get into.
HEMA is a bad joke
@@sikosis999 Oh... What makes you say that if you don't mind me asking?
@@sikosis999That's pretty insulting to HEMA practitioners. Why would you say that?
@@nocturne000I suspect he's just a troll.
I spent a very happy day in this museum on a cold and snowy February day this year. Loved it!
Beautiful artifacts. Old magic.
I was there last saturday. Lots of interesting stuff.
13:40 They're ancient fidget spinners, obviously.
I love this video idea. Always love seeing this museum and Oslo in general. My father line came from the Oslo region during the norse age before making their way down to northern scotland and england. 🇳🇴
A wonderful display. The trefoil Jellinge broach on the right really won me over. Want one. Sigh.
the viking museum in bygdøy is opening in 2 years i think. i hope u are coming back
The plans for the new exhibition are amazing. It will certainly be _the_ Viking Age Museum (which is also the new name). Crossing fingers the construction and installation goes smoothly!
,As a Jeweler I am fascinated as to HOW these items were created, tools used, etc....
there are a whole series of videos on how things were done in that age and doc has a series of videos at the historical sites and villages all over Scandinavia. . .
Jackson Crawford is just the coolest kind of nerd.
The second largest Norwegian Viking hoard "Slemmedalskatten" was found in my hometown Grimstad. It's temporarily coming "home" to the region to be displayed at the Kuben museum in Arendal, before going back to the new viking museum currently in construction in Oslo.
There are local rumors the hoard was even larger, but that the person who found it sold coins etc. to private collectors.
Grimstad is quite interesting when it comes to viking age, and there are stone circles by an old natural fortification "bygdeborg" (Tjoresteinen) very close to where the hoard was found. Further inland you can find runes carved into montain by a field etc. One of the oldest stone churches in Norway, "Fjære Kirke" is not far either, and was probably built on ancient holy grounds. (There are LOTS of archaeological finds nearby).
Fantastic i love archeology
6:56 So about 180,000 € just for the metal. The craftsmanship and historical value could perhaps raise the price by a smidge.
27:50 I do fence hema, german longsword to be specific, I gotta think the purpose was to have part of your palm on the pommel so you could use your wrist to rotate the blade easier.
I'm not a a hema or fencing guy, but I think the pommel on these swords are not for rotating the sword (not along it's axis at least, considering that a strike on the flat side of the blade might break your sword).
But those swords definitely look like they're one-and-a-half hand type of things, in regards to the size and shape of the pommel. Like a proto-bastard sword, maybe.
Of course, it could also be purely ceremonial sword.
... We should have Shadiversity try out a replica.
Being able to rotate the blade further is advantageous in dueling or fencing, but might be a bad thing when fighting as a group in close quarters.
@@8bitRemakes What you say makes little sense, because if you rotate a sword along it's 2 primary axses, you would not be hitting with or presenting the flat of the blade rather its edges. Forget Schad check out Roland Warzecha or Matt Easton. Fact is we do not 100% know how these swords (and their pommels) were used and probably never will. However, the experimental archeaology of Roland Warzecha makes a lot of sense. My suspicision is that the pommels could ve used in different ways, so I think both are true.
I think both ideas are correct. One would expect warriors to use different techniques in different situations. One also has to ask the question "When?" As armor and fighting styles changed, so it is also very likely that the weapons and pommels changed.
Longswords, though popular today had a relatively short heyday (~200 years) "phenomenon" and are quite rare compared to other sword-types. Of course, they never completely disappeared. Yet, one would think Fighting with swords and bucklers was far more common and lasted for a much longer time than fighting with longswords. The "Vikings" fought mostly with spears, axes, shields and swords that are much shorter than a longsword.
The fact that longswords were not around very long is intriguing. It would seem advantageous to have longer reach, but a longsword does not give you as much reach as a spear or polearm and it does not afford you the protection and offensive/deception capabilities of being able to use a shield.
That seems to imply that the longsword was either a dueling weapon or that it was used in battle by warriors, who were heavily armored.
Great video. Sometimes I wish you showed more of the live video recording to get a better idea of the size of these items!
the museum site has some videos
Thank you
28:14 Is it possible that the grip lengths were short because these were decorative swords, perhaps even specifically to be buried with?
Great video.
Bro watched a 29 minute video in 10 minutes
Are you in Oslo now? Having lectures?
5:20 "... really, really heavy big ones.. like 30cm long.." Yeah, she had to chuckle too 😅
Wait wait wait
Are you in Norway?!
isnt the viking helm there, in the university of oslo?
Gjermundsbuhelmet is in the Historical Museum in Oslo. The only viking helmet ever fond in the whole wourld.
Where is your hat?
Sea Vikings?!?!?!?
tredje etasje er det ikke?🤔
Have ethnical Norwegians access to their history? I would like to hear our Nordic history told by true Scandinavians. Otherwise it looks like an occupation.