Making an Anglo-Saxon Shield with Historical Techniques - Part IV | Early Medieval Woodworking скачать в хорошем качестве

Making an Anglo-Saxon Shield with Historical Techniques - Part IV | Early Medieval Woodworking

Almost every Anglo-Saxon freeman had a shield, along with his spear and seax knife. Archaeological finds of Germanic shields have been discovered throughout Northern Europe, from Vendel and Valsgarde in Scandinavia, to Nydam in Germany and the many Early Anglo-Saxon furnished burials in England. Germanic shields were made of a thin wooden board, constructed of a single layer of planks, faced either side with leather or rawhide; 5-9mm thick in the centre, tapering to 3-4mm thick at the edge. The hide covering front and back significantly improves the strength of the shield. The evidence from Sutton Hoo and other finds suggests that tanned or partially tanned leather was used. After smoothing the back of the shield, bark tanned leather was smoothed onto the face with hide glue, and pressed on by hand. The shield was rested on a moulded surface of wood chips, and weighted down with rocks, to maintain the convex shape as it dried. After drying for two days, the shield could be handle. Holes for stitching the rim were marked around the edge of the shield and pierced with an awl. These were spaced about 6mm from the edge at an 8mm spacing; this is on the closer end of the average hole spacings from Nydam, ranging 8-12mm. I chose the narrower spacing for a neater stitch finish when sewing the rim. One the holes were awled all the way round, the front of the shield was smoothed to an even convex curve ready for glueing the front hide. The front was glued the same way, with the leather cut oversize by about 2 inches, to allow it to be folded over the edge and sewn down on the back, providing the shield with a folded leather rim. When glueing the front, the outer two inches of leather were not covered in glue, so that the leather would be soft and supple enough to fold over the edge smoothly. The shield was placed in a stone clamp, to maintain the convex curvature while the hide glue dried for two days. The rim was finished by folding the excess leather over the edge of the shield and sewing it down on the back, using linen thread in a saddle stitch, with stitch going all the way through the folded rim, rear hide face, wooden boards and the front hide face. This leather rim strengthens the shield edge and helps it hold its shape. Backstitches were used when a new thread needed to be added. These backstitches are knotted inside the stitch, to secure the ends of the thread and provide a finish with no visible knots. The excess leather was also trimmed off for an even finish to the rim on the rear of the shield. I used a Group II shield boss and short iron handle as the iron fittings for this board. These had been torn from another shield and so needed a little cold hammering to fit the convex board. Group II shield bosses date from the 6th into the early 7th century, and so this boss is a little out of date for a mid-7th century new shield construction. However, the tall Group VI and VII sugar-loaf shield bosses of the mid to late 7th century are often found in the princely and high status burials of this Conversion period, while lower status furnished burials begin to disappear. It is plausible and likely that lower status freemen and middle-class warriors reused shield bosses of older types, where they were unable to afford a new boss in the latest style. The boss was marked centrally on the shield, using a length of linen thread. The holes for attaching the boss flange to the shield were aligned so that they would not interfere with the rivets attaching the iron handle. The slightly offset handle placement helps greatly with this alignment. The leather was cut away around the handle and boss opening before marking the rivet holes for the short iron grip reinforcement. The handle was riveted on with bronze rivets and roves, and the roves were set in flush with the board, after cutting away the leather and a little wood with a chisel. Ensuring the roves are flush with the front of the board means that they will not interfere with the flush fit of the shield boss. The rivets were filed down to a couple of millimeters proud of the rove, to allow material for fixing, and the rivet ends were peened over with a hammer; the board and rivet head resting on an iron anvil. The same bronze rivets and technique were used to attach the boss, with the roves set in flush to the back of the board for a fine finish. The shield is still surprisingly light and maneuverable, with a gentle convex curve, that makes for a beautiful and menacing form! Now functional and battle ready, the shield needs only some decoration with some historical paints! If you would like to support me further, you can become a patron here:   / gesithasgewissa   Join this channel to become a member:    / @gesithasgewissa   Or make a one-off donation: https://paypal.me/gesithasgewissa   / gesithasgewissa     / gesithasgewissa