Viking Weapons VS Heian Samurai Armour: Would Samurai Armour Keep you Safe?
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- Опубликовано: 9 сен 2024
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An armour (spelled armor in the US) is a protective covering that is used to prevent damage from being inflicted to an object, individual, or vehicle by weapons or projectiles, usually during combat, or from damage caused by a potentially dangerous environment or action.
The word "armour" began to appear in the Middle Ages as a derivative of Old French. It is dated from 1297 as a "mail, defensive covering worn in combat". The word originates from the Old French armure, itself derived from the Latin armatura meaning "arms and/or equipment", with the root armare meaning "arms or gear".
Armour has been used throughout recorded history. It has been made from a variety of materials, beginning with rudimentary leather protection and evolving through mail and metal plate into today's modern composites.
Significant factors in the development of armour include the economic and technological necessities of its production. For instance, plate armour first appeared in Medieval Europe when water-powered trip hammers made the formation of plates faster and cheaper.
Well-known armour types in European history include the lorica hamata, lorica squamata, and the lorica segmentata of the Roman legions, the mail hauberk of the early medieval age, and the full steel plate harness worn by later medieval and renaissance knights, and breast and back plates worn by heavy cavalry in several European countries until the first year of World War I (1914-15). The samurai warriors of feudal Japan utilised many types of armour for hundreds of years up to the 19th century.
The most iconic Japanese weapon is the katana; It is characterized by its particular appearance: a single-edged, curved blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip for grabbing with two hands.
The first use of "katana" (gatana) as a word to describe a long sword that was different from a tachi occurs in the Kamakura Period (1185-1333).
The katana became very popular amongst samurai due to the changing nature of close-combat warfare. The quicker draw of the sword was well suited to combat where victory depended heavily on short response times.
The katana was often paired with a smaller companion sword, such as a wakizashi, or it could also be worn with the tantō, a smaller, similarly shaped dagger. The pairing of a katana with a smaller sword is called the daishō.
The katana is generally defined as the standard sized, moderately curved (as opposed to the older "tachi" style featuring more curvature) Japanese sword with a blade length greater than 60 cm ( 23 1⁄2 inches).It is characterized by its distinctive appearance: a curved, slender, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard (tsuba) and long grip to accommodate two hands.
An armour (spelled armor in the US) is a protective covering that is used to prevent damage from being inflicted to an object, individual, or vehicle by weapons or projectiles, usually during combat, or from damage caused by a potentially dangerous environment or action.
The word "armour" began to appear in the Middle Ages as a derivative of Old French. It is dated from 1297 as a "mail, defensive covering worn in combat". The word originates from the Old French armure, itself derived from the Latin armatura meaning "arms and/or equipment", with the root armare meaning "arms or gear".
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#Metatron #Vikings #Samurai
NASA: We found a viking longship on Pluto
Me: Yeah, I kinda expected that tbh
It's just a big iceball; they'd be right at home anyway ^^
"As far as we know the Norse never reached Japan"
News: "Astroarchaologists discover a viking settlement on nearest Earth-like planet Proxima b"
Space vikings are a fantastic concept for an hollywood movie.
@@arx3516 That... sounds awesome. Set it in a time when space colonization is fairly new or expanding, and they raid settlements for water, food and air. An army of Vikings comes together to lay siege to Mars.
When you're fighting in space stations and ships, melee combat and shield walls actually makes sense. Close quarters, and missed shots from firearms might penetrate the wall and vent the whole place. But, fill the hallway with a shield wall and just slowly advance and take the whole thing might actually make sense.
@@arx3516 You could even shoehorn in horned helmets if you want. Maybe the horns are antennae for the radio, or an energy shield generator or something. Or maybe the Vikings are an alien species that has horns.
@@moreparrotsmoredereks2275 i imagine what they did in the Black Panther movie where wakandans were Masai with sci-fi weapons, so just stereotypical vikings with sci-fi weapons.
@@moreparrotsmoredereks2275 it sounds cool, to be honest i had an idea about a space version of the Iliad, where Troy is a whole planet besieged by the Acheans, and the battles are fought in space with battle ships and anthropomorfic mechs (like the ones in many super robot anime), and every main character pilots one, so the part in the original where Patroclos stole Achilles's armor to impersonate him in battle becomes Pateoclos stealing Achilles's mech. And obviously the mechs would look and fight like full armored hoplites.
Meanwhile, on a Viking longship, somewhere in space:
"Captain's log. Our saga into the great black sea continues apace. We raided and conquered the squid people of Assilax Prime and now they pay tribute to Odin. Next we will journey to Hajilon Seven where we shall bring the full might of Mjolnir to bear upon them, until they too pay us their tribute. Glory to the Vikings!" - translated.
Fun fact: Warhammer 40K is just an elaborate ruse to give mission reports on the Viking raids. Space Wolves is the code name. Not that subtle, but it's for officers to read, so can't be too complicated.
I got to bringing Mjolnir to bear on them and thought "yeah only Thor would be stupid enough to make that journey or cool enough to convince anyone to take it with him" lol
This is basically Mandalorians. Mandalorians are space Vikings and Klingons are space Imperial Japan.
I get the feeling that the Space Vikings would instead refer to space as Ginnungagap
Dude vikings in space is real. Johnny Alpha from Strontium Dogs had a great sidekick who was a frozen viking
If I was to ever travel backwards through time, I’d want the Metatron to go with me because he’s the world’s greatest badass of ancient weapons and armour! He’d clap all the historical cheeks and keep me safe!
Ahah your comments are always the best
@Metatron No, you’re the best of all time Metatron!!!
Historical wigs would be split!
Lol hel no Metatron would be pointing out all the mistakes the warriors had wrong in their weapons and armour! 😅
Alternatively, Cowboy Kent Rollins Jon Townsend, or Jaques Pepin.
For those who are curious, the runes on Metatron's jewelry are the Elder Futhark runes that form the alphabet. To be clear, these runes were used in the pre Viking Age for the Proto Germanic language. The runes used in the Viking era were called Younger Futhark and the runes used by Anglo Saxons were called Futhorck. Here is the chant
Fehu Uruz Þurisaz Ansuz Raidho Kenaz Gebo Wunjo Hagal Nauþiz Isa Jera Eihwaz Perþro Algiz Sowilo Teiwaz Berkano Ehwaz Mannaz Laguz Ingwaz Dagaz Othala
Another thing to be clear, at the end of this chant, most commonly Dagaz comes at the end because Dagaz means the end of one journey and the begining of another, and in the Norse society had a lot to do with cycles and everything
Hypothetical news story: "Viking longship found on pluto"
Me: "Well, yeah, they had the bifrost and all, of course they could travel through space"
"I put him on the ground, take the seax out and now I can really thrust."
Sax
@@richi7494 It's Seax
@@richi7494 Sax as far as I know is the Germanic spelling for a longer knife or just a knife.And Seax is the saxon spelling of knife.
So it really just depends on the type of knife.
Now am not really sure if am right but it's the best answer I have read about over the years
(Northworthy saga's and stories) a Viking and history channel have done a few video's on the subject.
@@thebelfastvikingmartinbrow3603 weird, because the name saxon comes from the sax (according to legend)
It's all about the context.
"I wouldn't be surprised if the vikings discoverd japan"
Who wouldn't?
Well they made their way into Eastern Russia. So they would have had to cross the rest of the land and build a longship.
@@MandalorV7
Viking ice ship FTW
He wouldn't. Guess you meant: Who would*
I'm sure they discovered Japanese people, they did do alot of trading in China and Mongolia.
@Merkava MK IV M the Japanese? It'd probably be just as much a surprise to them as it is to the native Americans who in recent years have learnt that the Vikings "discovered" America.
"Vikings never reached Japan"
Hairy Bearded Ainu people: Heavy sweat intensifies
lol...
although they have relation to Japanese already and east Asian near them, they have lot of face hair, is still funny idea.
I though that Ainu are related to the Inuit People, the Indigenous native Americans that are located in Alaska and Canada. And that is probably true if you consider that from Hokkaido to Alaska are only 4700 km.
@@ratiuvictor9533 They are asians, I know. But the fact that they are hairy, like the scandinavians, makes a very good joke.
They're asian insofar that they are from Asia. They're not ethnically the same as Japanese...
אבהו היהוד this.
0:11 I don't know why I expected a Sailor Moon style transformation sequence here...
Here's an idea for a future Halloween episode, make an episode on the subject of fear in culture, among warrior philosophy or anything. Idk, I just want to see you make a video about that :)
"The Noble Ones are here! I need to put on my armour!"
I legitimately thought that Metatron was going to transition into a 'magical girl', costume transformation scene.
I can't unsee this >_
Anyone else liking Metatron's videos without watching them first?
I appreciate thanks!
Ofcourse
Is there another way to do it?
Almost forgot it :D
Always
Have to admit, one off the better RUclips ads so far: "I've just successfully advertised onto myself".
I never knew you were saying noble ones until I turned on closed captions. I thought you were saying "number ones" and were a big Star Trek fan lol.
It'd be splendid if you'd been watching him since he started his channel and only now figured it out. My sense of irony would be overjoyed.
Raf, few points: a) Personally, I prefer the Battle of Stamford Bridge 25 September as the end of the Viking era, as that was the time and place where and when real Viking king - Harald Hardrada fell; b) T were the mainstream Japanese swords of the Kotō period between 900 and 1596. So, the first 100 years of fighting with Vikings the Japanese would have used ken. c) The earliest clear references to date from 1146 in the late Heian period, with one suggesting that the weapon had been recently developed. That´s 80 years after the battle of Stamford Bridge. It is a bit improbable that Viking raiders meet with naginata in any greater numbers. Nice weekend and Monday.
It’s debatable whether King Hardrada could be called a viking. He spent most of his life as Varangian Guard in the Byzantine Empire and converted Christianity.
@@genghiskhan6809 Anyway, he and his army were much more "Vikingiish" than Normans a Bretons in the army of William of Normandy.
@Fishy Vagina That´s more divisive than real. Christianity in the 11th cent. did have more in common with that old paganism. Look at Eddas or History of Goths.
@@morriganmhor5078 not all of christianity was close to pagan faiths, modern christianity is a patchwork of original christianity and pagan customs. The Anglo-Saxon christianity was different from Celtic christianity and so on, due to the nations adapting christianity in line with their customs, but Frankish or the christianity of those in Rome is closer to original christianity but still had a substantial bit of Roman/Hellenic faith vibes, but I think Roman/Hellenic faiths were dead by then or not exactly pagan due to it being used by the classical era folk. But yes, Viking christians were very much pagan at heart, they just avoided sacking temples and monasteries.
@@davidbernemojar1542 I am not speaking about modern "paganism" but about all the traditions that survived long after 1066.
Finally a topic that both my Viking loving friend and I can enjoy
I love how Metatron is always shouting out other guys videos from the Sword community. The wholesome Roman Samurai 😁
...the.....sword community........... Ummm.......no?
I almost liked this comment... until I saw you’d used the word wholesome 🤢
@@callumbiasnow4825 what's wrong with the word wholesome? :(
The bromance between Matt and Raf is rather wholesome
Great video! This era of samurai doesn't get a lot of attention. I would love to see more about the Heian Samurai's weapons vs. the Norse defenses, though!
I mean given that the Sengoku period was so awesome and bloody, it's not a surprise that it overshadows the Heian. But yeah, we do need more stuff on Heian period stuff.
The Yari wouldn’t actually be used in the Heian period, you’d be looking at Hoko which were socketed as opposed to having a long tang. Bit of a Spear nerd lol
@Michael Terrell II it’s not really a subject that gets spread a lot. And on the whole it hardly matters. The Naginata was a much better weapon at the time, especially from horse back.
Really the part that would effect war was when the foot soldiers would be organized enough for the better design of the yari to be of use.
@Michael Terrell II I can agree with that. I’m actually hoping on having a video out on that in the future.
Japanese polearm terms get really complex and yari can refer to a spear or halberd actually. Kinda like how katana refers to a sword/blade rather than a specific weapon.
@Michael Terrell II Very true! In reality what people like Metatron, Matt Easton, myself and so on are attempting to do is learn, and teach history with a modern mindset, while attempting to look at information with a old world mindset. Perhaps I should only speak for myself, I wouldn’t really want to put words in anyone’s mouth.
I hope that makes sense. 😅
@Michael Terrell II I really appreciate your words!
@@JapanatWar Naginata on Horseback, it seems that the slicing action of the Naginata wouldn't be as useful on a horse. I suppose it could work but I would worry about your knees or hips signaling to the horse, if you decided to swing it.
I'm not sure if you've done it before but I'd love for you to review episodes of the show 'Deadliest Warrior' in which alleged experts compare two similar styles of warrior, their weapons/armour and run a simulation on who would win. As much as I loved the show, I imagine there would be plenty for you to pick apart.
DW, may have to look for that soon. Been a while since the last viewing.
Metatron putting on his armour for his Noble Ones is like ReviewBrah putting on a suit for his viewers hahah. So wholesome
I think the shield spear combo would be harder to use in individual combat, would only be useful in a combat formation. Lindybeige has a great video where they try that
That would depend on the spear and shield type. The common spears used by Norse would do fine in one on one combat as they generally are around 5-6ft long. Not saying that it's ideal for spearman to not fight in formation but the Germanic peoples were use to fighting with spears in small scale skirmishes an raids in confined spaces.
It really depends on the length, but definitely 'knight' type of weapons are better for individual combat, like a pollax, dueling halberd or longsword.
Lindy beige is a discredited "historian" his videos are almost purely conjecture nowadays.
@@edwardliu111 Lindy is sometimes questionable in its accuracy, but a group of re-enactors trying it is quite convincing, and from my own experience in the past, a shield and a spear is much more unwieldy than a shield and a sword, the point of balance os the spread ir further away and with one hand you are locked into almost only thrusting, someone with a two handed weapon can put much more force in the impact and simply push the spear away
@@Sir.suspicious
the issue with re-enactors is that it approximates real combat about as well as Lasertag simulates real firefights.
The spears are meant to keep people at bay, because if there is a 1/4th chance you'll get stabbed, that is too great a risk for the average person who wants to go back home alive.
but when you're a re-enactor you're doing it for fun, and death is not on the mind.
Having done a bit of Viking re-enactment in my younger days I agree completely with your choices even though I don't remember fighting any Samurai....just lots of Norman looking Saxons.
i cant believe you made the exact video that relates to some art im working on right now, down to the time periods in question. awesome
As someone that has trained and fought with the spear, axe, and seax, these are very formidable weapons. in a shield wall, the seax is very easily wielded by the front row, over and above the opposing armies shields. we see this in skeletons, damage to the inner thigh bones. A shield and seax is a very formidable weapon in the hands of someone trained in combat.
"Vikings never reached Japan"
Well that's because Paradox haven't added Japan to CK3 yet
I think the "Bog axe" found in Novgorod (Thrand has a few videos featuring it) was a weapon specifically for use against the lamellar wearing Pechengs and Khazars. More relation to the czekan or war hammer than that of western viking broad axes. Similarly, the Rus and Varangians would have had access to lamellar and have experience in dealing with mounted, lamellar wearing archers. (They kicked the Khazars out of Kiev after all and may have eventually lead to the disappearance of the Pechengs)
Norseman tries to put japanese on the ground
Japanese twists norse wrist and says: Everyone need learn jujutsu!
The norseman gleefully agrees and counters with glima wrestling. The battle rages on.
@@falsebeliever8079 of course, he does:) This phrase is reference to one soviet movie, not overrating of samurais.
@@user-xg9dk1ny5k Ah, man! I have lost geek cred! I missed the reference AND the joke went over my head.
I have a feeling it's just turn into a wrestling knife fight
Norse man at arms hits the ground.
Samurai hears the sound of a bear roaring and charging towards him.
Samurai turns and see a 6ft 2in tall Viking Berserker in full mail coat and a Dane Axe with the skin of a bear on him like a coat.
The 5ft 5in talk Samurai. Fires soms arrows the big Viking blocks with a shield and keeps coming.
Finally it gets into close quarters. The Berserk uses his dane axe to hook and drag the Samurai , disarm him , swings in various directions aiming for weak areas and lightly armored areas. With the same level of skill as a master because he's been training from childhood.
The counter attacks do absolutely nothing to stop the Berserker. The Samurai is eventually killed by a blow to the face.
The face plates used by Samurai throughout most of their history was wood. And that's not stopping a Dane Axe.
To add to the problem Berserkers work in units of up to 12 Berserker brother's .
And just so you know Viking longbows draw weight is around 90 to 100lbs. So yeah the that's basically what would happen to the Samurai.
That is if the pack of Úlfhéðnar aka Óðinn's special warriors, and elite Viking forces doesn't kill the Samurai first. They are metaphorically associated with wolf pelts . Who are often the first to deploy from the long ships. And are known to be hamrammir (shape shifters). They don't wear a helmet or a mailcoat, bit their shield in a rage prior to each battle, kill enemies with just one blow, and are immune to fire or iron. Úlfhéðnar are exclusively males.
They are Úlfhéðnar are born. Not made. It is therefore a matter of developing underlying potential in the very few males who've got what it takes in their blood, genes, and spirit. These dormant Úlfhéðnar are normally selected during Berserkr training, or within specific military units and special forces, from the best among their peers. Úlfhéðnar can also be identified during any stage of training and development.
These men are used as scouts and special forces in addition to being shock troops. So the chances of seeing them coming outside of their role as shock troops is unlikely. Usually working in packs of 12 to 18.
Berserkers primary job is bodyguard but they also act as commanders and shock troops. Upon their lord or king's orders.
So numbers plus immunity to pain in battle means a Samurai is fairly screwed against either a Berserker or Úfhéðnar. Against your common man at arms sure but they are not the elite warriors of the same caliber as a Samurai in terms of either skill or social class. And you have to realize that Viking warrior's did not fear death they welcomed it. For they knew that death on the battlefield ment a seat in Óðinn's hall in Valhalla. And that was their ultimate goal.
Psychology plays an important role in battle. Even the best warriors often hold something back to protect himself. Vikings especially Berserkers and Úfhéðnar do not hold anything back. Every blow of an axe or sword is intended to kill . And neither fire or wounds from any weapon will stop them.
A Samurai in battle can still feel pain from the heavier blows with an axe he takes even the ones that don't make it through transfer kinetic energy that can break bones and dislocate joints.
I will add that the ringbrynja is used in the north because its ability to breath during winter, letting out condensed water. A tight armor would get freezing cold in the north. Its fast to get on and off, good mobility, but i think the breathability is a missing key why the vikings did like the ringmail/hauberk even if there was heavier plated/scaled around. Even is you were to fall into the ocean by accident, maybe even you could even slip out of the armor when swimming to survive the day. The horse was important to the vikings, but their real horse is the wooden seagoing type, and the real enemy was the hard winters and icy cold waters.
Hope anyone find this interesting.😊
The US Air Force has just gone public with the Stargate program.
Also there are Viking longships on 82974 different planets around the known galaxy.
I see you too are a man of culture.
Your pronounciation of atgeir was good. The "e" sound should sound like the "a" in Bad.
Are you sure about that? Because Old Norse "ei" sounds like "Say" not like "height". For instance Valheim Is not pronounced valhAim, of that I'm 100% sure.
@@metatronyt what a sweat
Ur power is to great
@@metatronyt Actually I was talking about modern Norwegian. As to its Old Norse pronounciation I have no idea. So no argument there.
@@falsebeliever8079 depends on where in Norway you are. Theres no "æ" sound in "ei" in todays vestern Norvegian either, and old Norse is more related to vestern Norwegian than easter Norwegian that still has influence from both Swedish and Danish, something that Western Norvegian does not have.
I'm pretty sure Old Norse didn't have a single pronunciation for the word either. Back then with less travel (despite the Vikings' fame for their travels) dialects were more distinct. And that's not even getting into the non-standardized spelling...
The Vikings discovered Pangea first.
No they arrived in North America before other Europeans. No one discovered pangea. There were no humans then.
@@robertjensen1438 Are you sure? Were you there? Do you have proof?
@@Kar4ever3 most dinosaurs wernt around for pangea. Pangea was the super continent where all of earth's land mass was connected. And as far as Columbus or the Vikings discovering north America. Well my people where all ready here.
@@robertjensen1438 I don't know....but..... if I was to take a guess..... the fact that Pangea WAS a super continent. And WAS millions upon millions years ago. And the Danes, of which you have a last name from, went on viking in the 800-1100's......... that might be the entire joke. But just spitballing here, not sure what past-me could ever have ment.
@@robertjensen1438 r/woosh
Reminds me of MatPat's For Honor video, that's how I found your channel!
The thumbnail is like:
Average Viking fan VS Average Samurai enjoyer
Just looked it up to make sure. Nope, the Norse never made it to Japan. They did reach the Middle East though. Wow, they even conducted raids in Iran.
Damn
Crazy isn't it?
That's what I find to be the most fascinating thing with them, you're seeing people who had a range that wouldn't be rivalled until the rise of the British, French and Spanish empires.
It's fascinating to see how much they influenced other cultures and were in turn influenced themselves.
Honestly, I would love to see a few videos of Metatron making some classic Italian dishes we could try at home.
Anyone else?
Just me?
Ok.
Me: "They'll probably find Norse runes on Mars"
Metatron, literally the next second: "You know how there's that rover now, on Mars?"
Me: 🤣
Great minds think alike, I guess. 😜
Hi Rafaello!
Why do some historians say that a contubernium had 8 men and a century had 80 men, if the word centuria is derived from a hundred (100 men)? Even in dictionaries the meaning of centuria is: company of a hundred soldiers commanded by a centurion in the old Roman military organization. Could you please clarify this for me?
Every 8 men have 2 slaves. Every 80 men have 20 slaves. The centurion Is in charge of 100 men, 80 of which are Soldiers.
Very interesting topic indeed. The Vikings however didnt just wear chainmail. They also used thick clothing. Which is called a "Krigs Kaftan" Which means "War Caftan", which is 2-4 layers of linen and wool. And thats underneath the "Ringbrynja (Chainmail)". And they on the outside of the chainmail, they were using a type of lamellar called "Birka Lamellàr".
Birka is a mix of different cultures so it's not reliable proof of viking lamellar. Not a lot of proof of gambesons either. Also, lamellar over chainmail? What the fuck are you thinking, man?
You're talking about kings and the highest of chieftains my guy. Your average viking wouldn't even be able to afford mail. In the records, chainmail is only ever having been recorded as being worn by vikings of great wealth or status.
@@rollothewalker5535 So why did it end up in Birka then, and even in the barracks? And not in Polen or eastern part of Russia? That does not make any sense.
Why have something in the armoury and not use it?
@@rollothewalker5535 And what the fuck Im thinking is that the chainmail will protect u from cuts and the lamellar from arrows and piercing damage.
And the vikings encountered countless of archers, and surely someone had to come up with anything tho counter arrows.
I know, shields was used for that. But what warriors that didnt use shield, Dane Axemen for example. Would they have to rely on dodging arrows?
Its very hard to "dodge" anything when u r in a line, without bumping into ur team mates.
We have only found "one" piece of armor. But that doesnt mean that we r finished finding armor that the vikings used.
And the vikings didnt just fight the english. They were also down in the midwest. And surely they had to have some kind of plate or scale armor. Cuz the majority of the time. They were mainly encountering archers.
And the vikings wasnt dumb. They were creative and impressionable. So they could find ways to get armor, even the ones that wasnt rich. They could just take a chainmail armor from the fallen enemy and use it themselves.
@@raphaelkhan1668 true, but that doesnt mean that they couldnt acquire it in other ways. Plus, the vikings were quite succsessful. But even the best of warriors needs armor.
U cant conquer anything without armor
I think if you’re talking about 6-8th century Japanese warriors, you need to talk about the crossbows. There’s multiple records about the manufacturing of proprietary Japanese crossbows, and top level discussions of preventing it from enemy Korean/Manchurian clans having hold of that secret. Although Kondei system (suspected precursor of samurai class) eventually flipped the whole war/weaponry scene, it is important to note crossbow in Ritsurei army period
lamellar armour has also been found in viking settlements in sweden, they are very similiar to the lamellar found in central asia at the time. so for the very elite of vikings we can imagine them wearing mail armour with a lamelar on top. we also have to imagine that vikings would have experience fighting enemies dressed in lamellar
The vikings were traders with the Turks, so what ever the Turks had around 900's to 1100's, the vikings also had.
@@krispalermo8133 yes but only the rich ones.
I think the Dane axe has a larger advantage than it might seem. Even if an opponent was wearing armor, I think it's very plausible that a full blow could knock someone off their feet, at which point I do believe the axe could make it through the armor.
You should show more pictures, Metty. It's no problem to google things I don't remember how they look like well, it would have been very convenient to have those on the screen... like heian armour so we could see where there are gaps or things like that.
Don't you think that most Japanese swords from that period would've been one-handed? I would imagine that very few katana were around yet, and that there mostly would've been tachi, and even some tsurugi early on. By the way, you really should do a video about the legendary sword associated with the creation mythology of the Japanese Empire, the Kusanagi no-Tsurugi. It would be such a perfect topic for you that you kind of owe it to us, Metatron!😀
Tachi are still two handed and tsurugi are A Kofun Period sword, since we are mostly talking about Heian Jidai, tsurugi would have been out of fashion by this time.
@@metatronyt Question. I know you may not see this since this is a very old post, but why is it that Japanese swords were usually two handed? I’m a practitioner of kendo but I don’t know why cavalry swords(like the tachi) would be two handed.
well, considering the Vikings would be a much larger person on average compared to that era samurai, i would wager knocking them down with the shield with brute force would be a good tactic. Shield is not only for defence, but can be used offensivly. Then finish them off on the ground with the axe, probably going for head blows or incapacitating limbs. Could even use the shield for throat blows. But, here we are talking about 1v1. I dont realy know much about that era tactics for Samurai, if they would be trying to get in to indevidual fights or support each other like the vikings most likely would
First of all, good video: it was interesting, enjoyable, and well thought out.
Secondly, there needs to be a part 2! Yes, to a certain degree you did address the Bushi/Samurai vs Viking, but truly the focus was mostly on the Viking vs Samurai. I.e. how could the Viking get past Samurai weapons and armour to defeat him, as opposed to how could the Samurai get past Viking weapons and armour to defeat him.
Also, bear in mind that historically it is agreed by historical peers of the Viking that the Norsemen who went raiding tended to be bigger, stronger, and more violent/aggressive (while tempering it with non-suicidal cleverness) than those that they fought against in Europe, let alone the Orientals who have always suffered a height/strength/leverage disadvantage against Europeans in general, let alone Vikings in particular.
The tone of the video pits the Viking as the underdog, and while I am personally a big fan of Samurai, I think it's fair to point out that the size/strength advantage of Vikings would be a significant factor in such a face-off. Also, Viking armour was very good against Europeans, and would fare similarly against Samurai.
That's a great breakdown but you can't conclude that the best way for them to fight is using their martial arts and a knife/dagger without mentioning their different forms
The "vikings" were renowned for using Glima which is still a thing today all over skandanavia, wrestling and striking which is a lot like japanese jujutsu, which is more grappling, wrestling and striking so they'd be about equal there too
The only difference would be in their training with the seax or tanto, japanese martial arts puts more of an emphesis on the use of weapons in the grapple.
So assuming equal skill and physical condition I feel the japanese would have the advantage in that area as well, only problem is that the sheer size of an average skandanavian would be unusually large in japan so the chances of an equal contest would've been low
One handed axes are severely underated as grapling weapon because you can grip it right next to the head and use it to punch with it. There is also the handle that can also ned it self for a respectable icepick still bash and as a hooking implement
"man dressed in Japanese Samurai armor drinks coke over pepsi"
This causes me distress
Fun Fact: The last samurai rebellion took place 8 years prior to Coke. The possibility of former samurai drinking coke is not impossible.
@@AsianTrix And one year before the Satsuma Rebellion, a Scotsman living in Kobe commercialized Lemonade, which became known in Japan by the iconic name "Ramune" (which is the way the Japanese say 'lemonade'). So the Samurai could have drank from soda bottles.
Bc Pepsi is horrible
Fascinating. Coke is now confirmed to be the drink of choice for the less...modern samurai
I didn't know the sax (?) was a dagger, I thought for a second that the vikings weaponized saxophones!
On the topic of the atgier, from the sagas it’s really not clear what the weapon actually looked like. Modern sources translate it as halberd (bit of a stretch). There’s a style of single edged spear/proto-glave from Kilmainham and Islandbridge in Ireland that could be the origin though
I am with you until the seax(sp). The point isn't designed for thrusting, or at least the ones I have seen anyway. More tool like? If they had a more chisel tip maybe? Interesting video though, thanks.
For me the only way a Viking to defeat a "Heian Samurai" is to get close enough and us their brute force to pounce on them.
Long range/sword fighting=Samurai
Physical built=Vikings
"I mean, I don't really know what to do with that information in my life..."
Love it!
the only way to settle such hypothetical questions is to pit a HEMA practitioner in 9th c. kit against a modern exponent of the Niponese MA in Heian kit.
I'm sure my favourite historical martial arts youtubers can arrange this . .
Nice vid! The difference in height would probably make a dramatic difference, though. I am no expert on euro-asian anthropology, but the norse were quite known to be tall (even by european standards), while the medieval asians, well... were quite the opposite. If you imagine going up against somebody with +10-30cm more reach, that changes the equasion a bit. (Just my two cents,)
One thing to note about tree felling axes: they're much thinner (and lighter) than splitting axes and general purpose choppers. A dedicated felling axe rarely weights more than 1.5Kg (usually closer to 1Kg), has a thin narrow blade profile and is usually mounted on a medium sized handle (60-90cm). A strong person can easily wield it one handed, though not as quickly and precisely as a dedicated weapon. In fact when using a felling axe for its intended purpose you're applying most of the force with your dominant arm, the other hand providing mostly control and balance.
Viking shield wall and spear. Allowing Vikings to close in if the sword gets stuck in the viking sheild. Also Vikings had a axe or seax as a side arm.
Watch as the mars rover finds evidence of Viking settlements on mars.
I found a bunch of Epic Loot's rings and pendants on aliexpress for 1/10th the cost. Same photos in some cases too.
Lost Vikings (SNES) might turn out to be historically accurate after all! (Except for the horned helmets of course!) :p
Interesting video, and I'll agree that for the most part you'd probably have to circumvent the armor, except to a lesser degree maybe if you used a Dane axe, you might not be able to cut through, but an axe of that size to the head will ruin anyone's day, helmet or no helmet. There is a couple of things I noticed though - here in Denmark the end of the Viking Era is commonly considered the battle of Stamford Bridge, not the battle of Hastings, and I believe the English see it the same way, even though the last Viking raid on England I know of happened in 1152. And, Matt Easton might not consider the seax as a battlefield weapon, but if we look at seax's we've found, some of them most certainly aren't for cutting up turnips or slicing bread, I mean, just look at the Beagnoth seax for example. Most of them probably weren't considered _main_ weapons, but some of them are much too long to be considered irrelevant in a fight. For what it's worth.
"... on Mars" that was a good one. Thank you.
Imagine the body size difference at the time though. The average height of the vikings were recorded to have been around 5'8-5'10, meanwhile in the Sengoku period it was recorded that the japanese height increased with the introduction of eggs and stuff like that which added more protein to their diets and even though that was the case, they were at best 5'4-5'5. HOWEVER that was the Sengoku period (1400-1600, roughly). We're talking pre-Sengoku period here so the average height of a japanese man during the viking period was probably.. 5' at best?
So the samurai would have to fight a big angry dude that is not only stronger but looks like a giant in comparison, let's just say there's a reason we have weight classes in martial arts lol.
Metatron: Noble ones! The Noble ones are here! I need to put on an armor!
Me: be not afraid, we will not harm you
First of all, compliment for including the Atgeir, a somewhat obscure and debated weapon many others content creators simply ignores. I personally love the Atgeir, even if is not clear what’s its form really was or even if really existed. But what about the samurai weapons against vikings armour? Well, must wait for next vid I guess
That ring does look stunning.
Tbh, Vikings, which had wood like ash, yew, oak even, etc. To make rather powerful selfbows (Single-wood bows), flat or longbow design, they could probably outshoot a medieval era Samurai archer. Because the Japanese had to compensate for lacking in bow wood to make a warbow by using lamination with bamboo, which in 900s, had a bamboo backing, and then in the 1100, had a bamboo belly and a backing. I think there's misconception of Yumi bows being only 35-40ish lbs, which in that case, would a viking archer pretty easily outshoot it, even if the Samurai used a horse, a hunter even, since people mainly hunted with a bow back in Northern Europe, besides trapping. Vikings also somewhat used javelins too.
Though this can also depend on the construction of the viking's bow and it's poundage, if it's shorter or longer. A viking warrior in the sagas, if I recall, comments about being offered a King's bow and denying it for 'being too weak for a king's bow'. Some, either loot or other, some Vikings also had hornbows, and thumb rings, either crafted by that specific area or taken as loot, as mentioned. Either or, just with the material
The samurai bow were made of wood and Bamboo(they weren’t lacking in wood there was more of an abundance of bamboo) and had draw weight in the late hundreds. Also these are warriors that have trained since early childhood to be able to shoot with these things on horseback. So I absolutely doubt that the Vikings would outshoot them samurai.
@@michaelterrell5061 Vikings, whilst having an agriculture of their own, tended to hunt and so forth throughout the winter, which likely family was taught to hunt through some way, be it trapping, using a spear for bigger animals and archery.
Whilst not necessarily on horseback, hunting was still quite practised alot more and required you to know how to shoot a specific spot of the animal and sneak up close to them/wait in hiding places like trees or even using skiis whilst shooting a bow, which Sami certainly did.
Yes, Japanese had wood, but the question is, is the wood comparable to ash, yew or elm? Most cultures which tended to do composite bows, didn't have alot of 'very good' bow wood, which they mixed other woods which had desirable properties for tension and compression. Tho vikings and also native americans, used sinew and such, they didn't exactly need to do composite bows with the available material.
Japanese, tended to rely their food being mostly on the agricultural side, tho can't deny that they didn't hunt at all. Not to mention the time when 'Yabusame', Japanese archery practised militarily, was started in 1192, very late/the Viking Age already having ended at that point.
However, the 'Emishi' people, in which they resisted *heavily* against the Japanese emperors and their people, did use to hunt AND also use mounted archery more commonly than it was during the time of Viking Age and before.
Which was the reason for Emishi to fight back well against heavy infantry. Which might've been descendants of Ainu people, which also practised hunting and archery, though not as much mounted archery.
As far as a fight between the two would go I think the viking takes it. The idea that heian period armor can tank hefty blows to the arms doesn't sit right with me, but most importantly I don't see how a heian period samurai could hurt the norseman provided we're not matching a peasant viking against the richest samurai. The shield is a pretty big deal if your main weapons are a bow, spear, or sword. And behind that is rivited mail and padding topped with a very dynamic helmet.
What’s worth mentioning is that the Japanese were always up until the last century or so a very small people, whereas the Norse, although smaller at the time, were among the largest in the world.
This could mean a big difference in muscle strength/mass that could just get the samurai steamrolled in melee. They would do well to use their horses, bows and lances effectively to avoid that situation.
I wonder about the differences in the average physicality of these 2 types of warriors. I'm pretty confident that on average Norsemen would have been taller, bigger and stronger than Heian period Bushi, that should also be a factor to consider, not just their weapons and armour.
The maile was generally a 4 in 1 pattern as in 4 riveted rings to 1 solid ring . This means they where also more difficult to pierce , plus wearing layers of thick cloth coats under their armor.
Another thing the viking era swords where designed to be used both to cut and stab.
As to the axe they vary in size . Fighting a Berserker with a Dane axe is suicide. Just ask the English at stafford bridge how easy it is to take down a Berserker in close combat. Hint it took them stabbing him from underneath the bridge.
So it would really depend on the skill as much as the weapons and armor.
Great video! I found this channel recently, and I’m really enjoying it. I wonder how a Viking shield wall would withstand a charge by Samurai, in the context of this video. Also… Chinese hook swords? Real thing or Hollywood invention? I think I still own a cheap stainless steel one somewhere…
A lot of people forget that the typical viking was more of a rader than a battlefield soldier. A viking wins if he can row his boat up a river and hit you hard where it hurts and disappear again.
Very good point.
Yep. The main problem with dealing with them was not too different from dealing with horse nomads in that they would just ignore where you were strong, hit where you were weak, and leave or entrench before you could challenge them with your main force. Interestingly, one of the tricks Alfred the Great used to deter them was constructing a larger string of small fortresses, which was very similar to what would later be used to deter the Western Mongol remnants.
This is an interesting dynamic tho given that the samurai of the Heian Period were most often fighting Emishi guerrilla warriors using hit and run tactics in the Tohoku Region so it's not like the Viking style of combat is unfamiliar to them.
@@just_radical I have no idea about different Japanese periods to be honest but I would love to see a more detailed 'what if scenario'.
First of, great video as always! Now for a bit of a long reply..
Are we looking at pure armor protection as "safe" or does "dead" still counts as not safe? I mean, sure I might not have penetrated the armor so in that sence the armor itself is still "safe" but if I can kill my opponent I still come out on top so to say, even if the armor itself is still intact, dead is dead. Just looking for clarification ^^
What about some good old anti-armor grappling? Sure we here in Scandinavia dont have that fancy (at this point semi-legendary) eastern stuff but we do have "Glima", basicly norse wrestling. Pair that up with a Seax and we got a simmular situation as with late medieval plate.
My choise would in this duel scenario be a daneaxe and a saex..I can still try to keep him away with the reach of the axe, I dont need to penetrate the armor to hurt him (blunt force trauma baby!) and I got a nimble knife for close-quaters. Lamellar, due to the many links, seems good for hack and slash protection but I dont know if it would be as good for blunt force absorbtion (as a one solid breatplate). To my mind you either would like to keep that angry dude with a katana far enough away since you have a reach advantage with the daneaxe or you close the distance as fast as possible, trying to negate the katana and make it close-quaters where my seax might have the advantage.
sidenote, it would be really interesting to see a video discussing the varangian guard! You know, a little bit of norse, a little bit of Rome.. since you are doing some viking-themed videos now and again :D
Arm locking grappling face slapping across the eyes wrestling is still grappling and blade cutting across the eyes.
The human body can only move so many different ways till all combat is just combat.
Seen plenty foam padded weapon combat with shields to see what real combat between different groups would have turn out like. A good shield wall nearly always wins.
What breaks up shield walls, really big guys code name ogres kicking the shield wall and the second row of spear maidens using hand axes to hook and drag the opponent behind the line to get dog packed.
We had a few women in our group grew up playing basketball and soccer along with tennis/ racket ball, in regards to speed, those women were untouchable. They pulled no hits and always dog pack who they attacked. When those three women went after you, it was game over. If you deflect or block two of them, the third always took you down.
At what point do we get an article claiming there's the remains of a Viking longboat on Mars...
Considering that the samurai would probably be using a two handed weapon and that the viking would probably have a bigger stature I would agree that closing the distance with a shield and then using grappling and stabbing (or possibly chopping with an one handed axe) to finish the job would be the best approach.
There have been cases of vikings having lamellar armor not as covered as samurai armor but they have found birkas and even Spaulders made of lamellar even skirts made of lamellar id imagine they may have learned this armor maybe when they went to the east when they met the russ and the Chinese though chainmail is more prominent when it comes to the vikings.
Aren't those pre "Viking?"
@@cegesh1459 im not a 100% sure I could be wrong im not an expert but they did find a few graves in Scandinavia with what was probably the plates that made up lamellar covering the warrior's chest region.
The Russ are Norse Vikings from Sweden. Bit yes the lamellar did get introduced from the east. Given it was probably introduced more so by Huns an Scythians in centuries earlier. The Romans had knowledge of it as well so it's not like it wasn't known about in Europe.
@@tylerrobbins8311 thank you for the correction learn something new everyday I guess I mixed the russ up with the slavs thats my bad.
@@warlord5295 It's all good, the Russ did assimilate completely into becoming the Russians so it's understandable. It's similar with the Normans of France in you had a region settled an ruled over by the Norse which over ceuntires assimilated.
Recently came across this channel and i have to say i'm hooked. I've been watching Metatron videos all day today. Awesome job!
To only compare armors and weapons isn't fair, you have to include their tactics too. Vikings was amazing blitzkrieg raiders. When facing an unprepared and unarmored enemy, you have no need for heavy armors, but just a good "chop-chop thingie". So if raiding Japanese locations using their very fast longboats, they'd remain near the shores and target random easy preys.... not allowing Japanese armies to put on their fancy armors, get prepared and move toward them (like Vikings did during their firsts campaigns in England, Scotland and France).
The Viking swords been developed from the Merovingian swords, who themselves from the Roman spatha. So Viking knew about plate and lamellar armors, but most likely had none due to their raiding tactics. It's like comparing a WW2 soldier VS a samouraï in a close combat.... of course the samouraï would win (even a Roman would)... even if the WW2 soldiers well knew about plate armors but had none because using very different tactics.
In such scenario, I guess that it would depend of who's surprising who. However, Vikings still had more mobility and was less likely to be surprised, except when they sieged or occupied cities (like they did in later campaigns).
The early tweezer handled curved swords; direct predecessors to the Tachi, and the straight Chokuto's were generally one handed swords roughly the same length as a Viking's sword. Though the former is no where near as robust, though they looked like mini Tachi's, the tweezer swords of the 8th and early 9th centuries has an incredibly strange welded on tang that best guess of experts was for shock absorption. Great video, hope you do some more that cover early japanese history, as there is a lot of oddity not known by Japanese enthusiast from those formative centuries.
Great video I love learning about Knights and Vikings and I think it is interesting like your videos
Can u do a video on sikh armour weapons and warfare, I know you will enjoy it afterall Sikhs never fought for money or land but so that they could stop the persecution of other people and Mughal invasions they fought bravely against cruelty and they barely had resources to do so but still were successful. Just look into it there is historical evidence of them defeating great number of bad people for example the battle of Chamkaur (40sikhs with almost no resources inside a weak fort vs 1million Mughals) the mughals had to return in fear . I know this because I am sikh and I have done plenty research.
Very cool! Cheers buddy 👍🏽🙏🏽
I see Metatron has the good taste to drink Coca-Cola. As an Atlantan, I approve. Unlike Vee, who yesterday was caught drinking Pepsi, that traitor! ;-P
Coke is for chads Pepsi for nerds
But I'm both, I drink root beer
What's a Vee?
Vee is a Romanian youtuber. He doesn't do weapons or history or things relevant to this community, he does current event punditry from the Eastern European perspective, but he is someone I sub to and he was drinking Pepsi and so it came to mind.
Apologies, but this company and all of its products are deleted from my shopping list now. I'm too white. And I liked Fanta and Sprite.
I'll just take this opportunity to recommend Shogun by James Clavell to anyone who hasn't read it. That is one hell of a gripping story
I liked the mini series more. Excellent actors and actresses!
Taipan is also good. Noble House is so-so.
well shield and spear was actually the vikings most common setup. Mostly because of their shield wall the spear was very effective, since even the ones behind was able to attack in shield wall, while protected against the arrows.
remember the basic viking shield wall had 3-4 rows of people stacking shields on top of each other.
I recently watched Seven Samurai, can you please look at the armour in the movie and maybe review the armour
Metatron, i got a question: Why would nobles or anyone even bother with bringing swords to a battlefield/war?
It is the weakest against armor in terms of impact and you can't trust through armor or mail, so why use it?
Spears have the range and trust, most it can do against armor is push back
Axes have the capability of chopping unarmoured parts and has enough power to effect armored oponents in terms of impact (blunt)
Maces has the most impact power against armour
Ofcourse you won't always be facing armored enemies but i can't really understand why you would want it other than status.
They're the equivalent of a soldier carrying a 9mm pistol in addition to their rifle. You don't bring it because you expect to use it, you bring it because you might have to. This is of course not counting two-handed war swords, which were primary weapons in their own.
Swords are incredibly easy to carry. In addition to that they are superior in the defense to any of the weapons you mentioned. Swords also have better reach than either one-handed axes or maces.
Vikings, samurai...is this foreshadowing that you're organizing a Community of the Sword For Honor tournament?
Metatron, veramente un vel video, la parte dell'arcipelago mi ha fatto ridere molto. Complimenti e continua col buon lavoro!
these highelfes in the background......
remembering me to the good old square-base times
0:43 well until the vikings tried to raid the Myre allowing the black stone legion to set up a puppet emperor
There’s a point to be made that Japanese armor was generally not made of high quality metal, and was often just mild iron lacquered to prevent rusting. The Vikings had pretty advanced metallurgy for their time period, and there is a good chance a well placed thrust with a steel ulfberht sword might be enough to puncture the layered sheets of softer iron that make up Japanese armor. Heian armor wasn’t invulnerable to Japanese weapons, so there should be no reason to just assume weapons from a contemporary European nation would fair any worse. While more rigid than mail armor, Japanese lamellar relied on leather strings to keep intact which could make it less resistant to the chopping of a Dane axe for example.
Swords of the Viking era generally were made of iron, even with higher end Metal doesn't equal penetration however the more likely of the two to have better Metallurgy would be Japan such as having Bigger furnaces, on that it's a myth about Japanese metallurgy being behind the rest of the world here's something that makes a
Comparison with metal work in later Europe,www.quora.com/Would-the-Japanese-forging-techniques-have-worked-in-Medieval-Europe-if-it-was-introduced-to-the-blacksmiths-there-If-so-how-would-European-swords-have-looked-like/answer/Luca-Nic-1?ch=10&share=dd5a5e27&srid=3z2sJ
Ulfberht wasn't something that was common and here's something to read on that sword.
www.tf.uni-kiel.de/matwis/amat/iss/kap_b/backbone/rb_4_3.html
Japanese warriors did not go for the armor itself with their weapons you ain't for the weak areas like any other armor, lamellar armor is also stronger against piercing and blunt force weapons than mail so that's even less of a reason, trying to cut or chop the courts just be a waste of time.
www.quora.com/How-durable-is-lamellar-armor-Is-cutting-the-lacings-really-a-viable-strategy-for-defeating-lamellar/answer/Luca-Nic-1
I could present a scenario of a dane axe failing to get through Japanese armor, but I'll send it in later. However, the quality of Japanese iron isn't bad. It was fairly consistent to what everyone was able to produce at the time since it was the pre-industrial age. It was either iron or steel scales. From what I know, mail armor was always made of either annealed wrought iron to low carbon steel. Riveting makes this invulnerable to cutting and slashing, and makes it last in the long run.
From what I know, high end steel was used mainly for swords, and the majority of swords then utilized some laminates structure or what not.
Oh, and Viking periods aren't that optimized for thrusting. It's strange since their spears without crucible steel, are able to achieve very fine points, but I've yet to see a sword with a tapered point. They're usually rounded for cutting sake.
Very well-thought out comparison, as always!
Keep in mind that the physical size of the people might come into play. Germanic people were known throughout the world as large and strong compared to others. The large the groups, however, the less that might matter. Also, from what I know the Japanese had superior leadership and organization.
It may be one of those debunkable archeological stories, but I’ve been told that Vikings were not very good sword makers. They made a lot of them but their blades were made cheap and fast without too much care to the quality, and that would explain why very few complete pristine Viking swords have been unearthed to this day. It seems that they rapidly disintegrated over time because the metal they were made of was not very good, at least in the long term.
I have an Irish sparth axe, a direct descendant of the Dane-axe. With a 5ft 10' haft I can confirm that it generates *a lot* of force at the business end. Not sure how lamminated armour is going to go against it but you're going to be shaking the poor guy up pretty bad underneath, and breaking his bones.
Just holding the thing makes one feel quite prepared to hurl some javelins at a Norman knight's horse, then charge in and batter him apart.
Physics says that the axe does impact with more force. It's basically conservation of momentum, with the weight at the end the impact is going to be higher.
As for a sword because the weight distribution is throughout and has a longer impact area the force is reduced, which is why we see Draw-cuts being so important to them.
In conclusion an axe is a much better anti-armour device than a sword.