Viking Shield vs Viking Sword, Part 1: Glue, Planks & Hide

[@swordandshield]

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[@Thrand11]

This is Thrand! It was a great honor to work with Roland on this project and be able to train viking age shield style with him. Looking forward to the rest of the series as he edits it out and releases it on patreon and then Yotube!

[@swordandshield]

Thrand, it was awesome to finally meet you, partake in your tests of historical arms & armour, and cross blades/shields with you.

[@45calibermedic]

Hi Thrand and Roland! It's absolutely wonderful to see the progress that you guys are making in HEMA studies in relation to the Norsemen! I have a question for the two of you and any experts that you might be in contact with. Plutarch, in his Life of Marius, describes Cimbri (barbarians hailing from modern Denmark) horsemen as carrying "glittering" (or "gleaming") white shields". What do you think would have been used at the time to produce such a (presumably water-repellent) finish? Furthermore, have you done any experimenting with waterproofing shields or making them water resistant? Thanks!

[@swordandshield]

+sleepyleep, well, I am not much of an expert for the first/second century AD. I can only say that a coating of linseed oil is what I use, and one a smooth surface it does create a varnish if you leave it to dry which may take up to some weeks or even months, depending on the amount of oil you put on. But I have also heard about beeswax as a coating, or a mixture of both.

[@thorfinragnarsson8364]

Roland I have been learning from you for five years. I went to the Scottish Highland Games in Seattle and they had Viking fighting. I defeated 12 men in single combat. I give you the credit for my victory. Vike on.

[@swordandshield]

Excellent! Thanks for letting me know.

[@TacDyne]

"That which does not kill me... should run". Best shirt ever!

[@Le_Petit_Lapin]

You know a proper workman when he's been writing his notes on the wall as he goes. Good stuff!

[@swordandshield]

Hahaha!

[@quezcatol]

Im Swedish/jag är svensk, love these videos that Roland put up about viking age- keept it up!

[@swordandshield]

I will do my best.

[@quezcatol]

Great to hear, I always look at you people like the real historians who also give our ancestor a real voice and appreciations. Tired of people who read/write books about warfare, even viking, yet have never hold a sword, test it out, or even done army service yet know everything because they read something in a book or two.

[@swordandshield]

Thank you very much for your appreciation. I am delighted to read this. Maybe you want to become a patron of my work and benefit from a lot of exclusive material here: www.patreon.com/Dimicator I will continue to publish free material as much as possible, but this work does need support to keep it going. However, do not feel obliged. I am glad you like this stuff.

[@quezcatol]

dont worry dude. im gonna look into patreon and see what it is- 9/10 of the channels I love and watch have patreon accounts now. but I understand, its a good way to fund projects/channels and by pass any censor/restriction someone on a real tv station or ceo could out on you etc.

[@swordandshield]

Patreon fulfills the promise that the internet made to creators years ago: getting direct fan support. So if people feel like giving back, they can do it. Basically a continuous crowd funding. It is a fantastic system that opens new possibilities to creators and fans alike. Much better than the old entertainment industry. Thanks for looking into it.

[@colmhain]

I'm a carpenter and fine furniture maker that has done some riving and splitting. 30% waste is not bad! I've done worse.... As for drying, to get about 12% to 15% moisture content (depending on regional humidity, I can't quite get that here in Alabama) 1 year per inch of thickness for air drying is the norm. Faster and more accurate drying in a kiln. A well vented attic in summer is a good kiln proxy. Rough your lumber out then seal the ends, laytex paint will do, but specialty products are available. In my attic, I get dry wood from green in a few weeks, thickness depending.

[@swordandshield]

Thanks for sharing your expertise.

[@colmhain]

Thanks for sharing yours!

[@themastermason1]

Doing the first facing early before some of the fittings are added seems to be similar to the idea using adhesive tape to lightly hold the boards together. This makes me appreciate the invention of adhesive tapes.

[@TheHistoricalCombatCompany]

This is brilliant work guys! We've made some planked shields with linen/canvas laminate layers, but not parchment faced ones yet...although this video may well have inspired a future project!

[@swordandshield]

Excellent. I have made a linen faced shield, too, at one point. However, linen facing is only confirmed for late medieval shields, and even then parchment covers prevail.

[@ErikWroblewski]

Thank you very much for this!

[@swordandshield]

You are most welcome, Erik.

[@docleafman]

Very Very interesting video. Thank you so much for sharing!

[@swordandshield]

You are most welcome.

[@rebekah-chriss-k4872]

thanks for this video really awesome for you to share with hema and history buffs

[@swordandshield]

You are welcome. It was a wonderful experience which I happily share with you.

[@samuelyeates2326]

Excellent video. It's a shame that their are so many "how to make a traditional XXXX shield" videos that start with "measure your plywood." I have tried my hand at making a couple of shields, but this is very helpful and clears up some grey areas.

[@swordandshield]

I am pleased to read that you find Arthur's approach and methods helpful. I feel the same and learned a lot, too.

[@schwertschwinger]

Very interesting! Thank You! Next Video how to build a viking boat please! ;)

[@swordandshield]

I will travel to Roskilde Viking Ship Museum and make a detailed video as soon as three more boat crews have signed up here to support this venture: www.patreon.com/bePatron?c=166304&rid=205086

[@Rakadis]

You should check out the oseberg vikingship project. They built a replica ship. They have also built a new ship about every year since they launched it as well. A quick google search for "oseberg vikingskip" should get you to their website. It is in Tønsberg, Norway btw.

[@swordandshield]

+Rakadis, thank you for pointing me there. Much appreciated.

[@ulflidsman3064]

Fantastic craftsmanship and really interesting to watch. Roland, do you know anyone in Europe who makes and sell shields made in this fashion? I have not the craftsmanship nor the time to do one myself...

[@swordandshield]

I am not aware of any such suppliers here in Europe. But you could get in touch with the usual craftssmen and ask them. I would expect such a shield to be fairly expensive, though.

[@ericdorland3707]

The viking martial arts community needs to start developing a tournament system for combat. It would be great to see some of the competitive drive that's developed in the rest of HEMA transfer to this weapon style.

[@jgraves1942]

there already is a system, hundreds of years old. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holmgang

[@swordandshield]

Hopefully not. HEMA tournaments have created a new context and a new sport, and are constantly moving further away from the historical fighting arts they are based upon. I will certainly not support any such initiative elsewhere.

[@ericdorland3707]

Roland Warzecha, I think you fail to understand the value of competition. If the goal of viking martial arts is to recreate the combat of the period, then I believe you're going to have a great deal of difficulty achieving the level of skill fighters historically would have had without it. This is because of two reasons. 1.)competition drives harder training. when fighters have that reason to get good, they'll naturally pursue excellence. competition separates legitimate athletes and practitioners from the casual fighter. As someone with a ton of experience in folkstyle wrestling, I can tell you that being a competitive wrestler probably led to me being 5 times better than if I had just learned for the fun of it. 2.) Competition creates a natural force for eliminating ineffective technique. Now granted, we need to have a rule system that promotes techniques that are historically effective, but that's why we need to put more resources into tournaments, not less. I hate to tell you Roland, but if I can wreck you in a tournament, maybe the things you're teaching aren't correct. This is especially true due to the fact that viking combat is so experimental. everything we teach is made up, and we need a way of testing techniques against each other in an environment that creates the life or death (or in the context of tournaments, victory or defeat) situations people actually would have been in. listen Roland, you can hide behind your veil of mastery if you want, but when viking martial arts starts pumping out world class practitioners, you're going to look like a fool and fake when you don't choose to compete.

[@swordandshield]

I had this discussion thousands of times. You are correct that people are fascinated by competition, and it attracts a lot of them. At the same time, your assessment that competition is a good testing ground for historical combat is simply not true when bladed weapons come into play. The last time I partook in a sword & buckler tournament, I won it because I am a good stick fighter, not because of my skill with swords. Tournaments are grossly over-rated and if I watch HEMA ones, 99% of the fights have pretty much nothing to do with the historical fighting systems they pretend to be based on. Read more here www.patreon.com/posts/10554497 You will also see in part 3 of this series, when Thrand and I do the testing, why sharp swords behave very differently in conjunction with authentic Viking shields than blunts do. Finally, I am not hiding behind any alleged mastery which I have never claimed to have: I will soon be available for sparring for a full weekend at the Berlin Buckler Bouts again, an international event I have created myself and which is on for the tenth time in a few weeks. Feel free to sign up for next time and put your sword were your mouth is.

[@ericdorland3707]

How about this Roland, next time you make a trip out to Asfolk, we'll schedule a mini competition that will see if anyone is doing anything remotely similar to viking combat. I've already had a conversation with the good folks over at Hurstwic about developing a good tournament format and rules system, so maybe instead of saying that we should reject tournaments in viking martial arts, all the experts in this field should combine their knowledge so that we start doing it right. I agree, learning to fight in a format that doesn't recreate the combat is pointless, but unlike you I actually believe that it's possible to simulate combat using safety equipment and not sharps. I'm not saying that you're technique is wrong, in fact I'm a big fan of yours. Fighters need to be skilled athletes above all else if we want see people actually get good at this martial art

[@LasseIlsfort]

Authur really but a lot of research into this. Deepest respect for trying this out so maticuously (spell check please).

[@swordandshield]

You can tell that Arthur is a professional scientist.

[@MrKirby2367]

Enjoying this immensely but I can't help wonder at the sheer amount of work that goes into what I feel is a disposable item. I mean spending 12 months waiting for the wood to dry but maybe seconds for the shield to be destroyed. Unless they can repair them rather than discard (after saving the boss of course).

[@swordandshield]

When it is about saving your life, you do not count hours of work, do you? Plus, it is not at all easy to destroy a center-gripped shield with sharp weapons. Also, attacking a shield is not the most clever thing to do in combat, so modern sword-related hobby sports with blunts must not mislead us in this respect.

[@Glimmlampe1982]

out of interest: with "pine" what kind of wood do you mean? is it "kiefer" or "pinie" in german? or maybe it doesnt matter?

[@swordandshield]

It is "Kiefer".

[@Glimmlampe1982]

great, thanks for your​quick answer. I mix them up all the time. I made a tapered plank shield once, made of pine because I remembered the Latin translation wrong when I went to the hardware store (Baumarkt).

[@swordandshield]

How did your shield turn out?

[@Glimmlampe1982]

Roland Warzecha it turned out ok, but with some flaws. the Hazel I used for the grip warped and bend the whole shield forwards a bit. but it's a lot lighter than the common plywood shield. stability wise I can't tell much, I mostly do longsword and sadly lack the time to train anything else.

[@wanderingnorseman]

I assume that is Scots pine, ja?

[@Deflador]

Maaan, i want Arthur shirt :O

[@Deflador]

Ok, found it on amazon, ordering!

[@breaden4381]

Same. This guy is a shield and shirt genius.

[@ThrowingItAway]

old growth wood is weaker than fast growth. Healthier trees = faster growth and stronger wood.

[@swordandshield]

The point is that slow growing trees produce a much denser grain pattern which makes for a way more homogenous material that is much more appropriate for the bulk of historical applications.

[@ThrowingItAway]

I realize the point of making it with old growth wood and I'm not saying it's wrong at all, if anything it's an extra step that most wouldn't go to. I was just throwing a fact out about the wood and how tree growth and health effects the strength of the wood. PS: I'm liking your videos!

[@szyszszysz2062]

Roland Warzecha to tak polskie imię i nazwisko ale wszyscy w komentarzach po angielsku piszą i się zastanawiam

[@swordandshield]

I am sorry, I do not speak your language.

[@szyszszysz2062]

Roland Warzecha im sorry. Its polish , I typed it in polish becaue youre name and lastname is SOOOO polish and that made me try if anyone would awnser , but know i know u are not polish guy

[@yomauser]

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