Hedeby Viking Museum Combat Demos

For the fourth year in succession, Viking enthusiasts and practitioners of historical swordsmanship from various countries met to train and celebrate together at the Wikinger Häuser Haithabu haithabu.de/de... on the weekend of 17/18 September 2022.
The underlying approach to early medieval fighting arts is based on in-depth research into the material culture, related sources, martial arts principles and constant practice and experimentation.
Special thanks to all participants and the museum staff and direction.
Music: "Renaissance" by Audionautix, KZbin Audio Library
Patrons can watch an extended 14-minute version with twice as many fights here: / video-of-hedeby-72278044
Find hundreds of related posts here: / posts

[@swordandshield]

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[@swordandshield]

For the fourth year in succession, Viking enthusiasts and practitioners of historical swordsmanship from various countries met to train and celebrate together at the Wikinger Häuser Haithabu haithabu.de/de/dauerausstellung on the weekend of 17/18 September 2022. The underlying approach to early medieval fighting arts is based on in-depth research into the material culture, related sources, martial arts principles and constant practice and experimentation. Special thanks to all participants and the museum staff and direction. Music: "Renaissance" by Audionautix, KZbin Audio Library Patrons can watch an extended 14-minute version with twice as many fights here: www.patreon.com/posts/video-of-hedeby-72278044 Find hundreds of related posts here: www.patreon.com/Dimicator/posts

[@atune2682]

niice im gonna visit next year!

[@Davlavi]

This channel deserves way more views. Keep up the great videos.🙏🙏

[@trevorswansonbtw]

I could watch these for hours

[@ianhathaway602]

It's hard not to to think that this must be the closest anyone has got to reconstructing viking sword and shield combat. Quite remarkable!

[@swordandshield]

I take this as a great compliment to my fellow sword & shield fighters and myself. Thank you.

[@ianhathaway602]

@@swordandshield it is! What you are doing just makes so much sense, considering the equipment they used and the very human desire not to get stabbed. I am already making plans to come see the event next year :)

[@swordandshield]

@@ianhathaway602 You are most welcome. Plus, there are very interesting sites and museums in the vicinity.

[@lwfschultz]

euh, no! Equipment wise yes, and you just can't imagine how much I admire Roland's work also and follow since about 2006 (i33 and all his history), but please... I totally get the safety first and yet still visible agility n prowess in this, but in the real life it was a mix of strength, speed, "skill" (practice), and mindgame, with a tiny differnce, but in this order increasing of importance (strength being the less important still highly required). Until speed and strength is missing this won't be a slowmo fight just a fuzzy strange buckler like dance, also I get it that all the equipment was tested and we know it is useless to hit hard a shield otherwise your weapon will most probably get stuck. However you could still imply some more ferocity as that would bring up other results, regarding how shield n sword as material and your grip and ability to counter as a human is affected.

[@norseatheart1086]

Sure, until you start to consider the opponents. Nobody fights like this, and the vikings didnt either. Maybe they spared like this against one another to train agility, but on a battlefield against Saxons or other opponents? Absolutely not.

[@trikk9964]

... thank-you for the video, Roland. It's a rare pleasure...

[@smeghead765]

All the clashing of swords and shields makes for a great ASMR style video.

[@carlburnett9199]

This looks fantastic!

[@eddys.3524]

Nice to see a video by you again, Roland. I missed them. I guess what is shown is more the duelling style of Viking fighting. I wonder, is there also research into combat-style fighting using a shield-wall? Could you, one time, also show examples of that?

[@swordandshield]

Reconstructing formation fighting in a convincing manner would indeed be most interesting. Yet this will be a huge challenge: shields interact with sharp weapons very differently than the usual blunts do. Using blunts exclusively would thus quickly yield wrong results, in particular when spears are being introduced. But using spears in this context - even blunts - is extremely challenging in regards to safety. Plus, such experimentation can only be run with fit and skilled martial artists that have absolute trust and faith into each other's capabilities and mind set. And finally, we do not even know what formations looked like, and if they used flat shields in this context at all. The Franks and Saxons definitely did not, and they had good reasons to prefer domed shields. Throughout history, any military that focused on formation fighting and cavalry, exclusively used curved or domed shields. So when Scandinavians still preferred flat shields, then it must have been because their favourite context of action was streamlined for this type of shield. I would imagine that, next to dueling, flat round shields work really well in raids and querilla fighting, which is where the Vikings had there greatest successes. So rather than dealing with the ominous shield wall, we will start looking into fighting in small bands first. By the way, I have no idea where the term 'shield wall' comes from. I know the word 'skjaldborgr' which means shield fortress, but this evokes an entirely different image, doesn't it?

[@eddys.3524]

@@swordandshield Roland, thanks for the elaborate answer. I never guessed recreating formation fighting would bbe so complicated as you pointed out. The complexity as you've described gives me the impression that even with experienced martial artists the risk of injury could be unacceptably high using metal blunts or even sharps. Safety first, isn't it? So, using more friendly "weapons" would introduce unwanted artifacts, but you've got to start somewhere, would be my approach, unless the unwanted artifacts would be too numerous. I clearly am not an expert in this field so don't judge my idea's too harshly.

[@swordandshield]

@@eddys.3524 well, I have the same questions as you do, and I guess I am too curious to let safety concerns stop me. After all, they must have trained in some fashion, too. There are a couple of qualified people I know who feel the same. We will see …

[@maizjsj]

Those shields look really uncomfortable to wield and to fight against. That's actually kind of neat

[@Bullski123]

And they are very thin and light,so they dont wear your arm/shoulder down and you can use it easier as a secondary weapon as seen on this video,-they use the shield just as much,if not more than the primary weapon. In show fights/eastern style you want noise and rough treatment of your equipment,especially the shields,so u want some thickness and padding on them,but not too much that they are too heavy to hold

[@historyismetal2187]

Yeeesss this is amazing 👏 🙀 😯 😮

[@mr31337]

Awesome! LARPing while doing the tai chi versions of viking fighting! 👍

[@swordandshield]

Hahaha, well, my fellow geeks and practitioners could likely explain to you at length the differences between 'living history' and LARP, and why there are inevitable overlaps between martial arts from different cultures. But I will not, and just say thank you for what I take as a compliment.

[@atune2682]

Hedeby Haithabu niice lets go

[@defaultytuser]

I wished this video was an hour long. Thanks Roland!

[@KyleOber]

Based

[@happy_camper]

Experiential context!

[@merbau7887]

Those duels looking funny

[@Elfrendar]

Very good! Is there any book about Viking fighting style you can recommend us?

[@swordandshield]

There are a couple of recommendable books on Viking military, however none on fighting technique per se. I guess I have to write it myself!

[@extrasmack]

@@swordandshield please get on that task posthaste, Mr. Warzecha. We're all anxiously awaiting such a tome of knowledge being brought into existence.

[@swordandshield]

@@extrasmack I shall!

[@dyslexickangaroo141]

@@swordandshield What books would you recommend on Viking military.

[@swordandshield]

@@dyslexickangaroo141 'Vikings at War' by Hjardar & Vike is a good start.

[@rya7642]

Dude with the axe be busting shields. That's not a Dane axe though

[@swordandshield]

To see what actually happens when a sharp Dane axe hits a shield take a look here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rma0mHxmo7yiedk Effectively attaching a table top to your weapon is never a good idea. To learn more about Dane axes, consult this excellent article: sagy.vikingove.cz/en/two-handed-axes/

[@robertwrightson6455]

What grade of linen is used for the sword sheaths for recreating sharps?

[@swordandshield]

The maker Tom Jersø would know. Find him here: facebook.com/jersoe

[@BlackOmegaWorks]

Y'all been busy :)

[@peterspatling3151]

Erster!