Viking Shield vs Viking Sword, Part 3: Testing the Shield

So before I build a full-scale replica, I took a particular find. I'm pretty sure it's one of the shields from Birka, but on the edge, based on the shield clamps, it was about a sixteenth of an inch thick. Now, because of the shape of the clamp, I forget how they designate them, but it's the one that effectively comes in and then bows out a little bit. It expands where the hypothesis would be that's where the edge strip was. So I've recreated that here. So in order for it to be a sixteenth of an inch thick on the outside, there's some sort of guesswork that has to go into this, because you have a piece of wood, you have a facing on both sides, possibly. So that's parchment, which you put on either side. Right. And you have an edge strip. Now, the edge strip, we know its thickness based on sort of the difference between the entry and then sort of that expanded part. So that one is about this thick. What we don't know is in this center part, where there's the wood and possibly facings, is what combination makes up this thickness. Right. It is possible that that hide could have been a little bit thicker, but then you're talking wood that gets less than a sixteenth of an inch thick. Oh, wow. So for me, this is, you know, obviously this is just guesswork, but I do know the combined thickness is correct. I just don't know sort of the proportion between the hide cover or facing and the wood, which by the way, for this particular find, there's no certain evidence that there was hide facing anyway. Okay. So that's also speculative, but this is sort of the edge that you get. That's super thin. It is. It's very thin. And I'm actually pretty shocked at just, I mean, obviously I'm just smacking this against my body here, but just as a normal blunt trauma, it's pretty tough, which I guess I'm a little bit shocked by. Don't you think this is super fragile? Well, possibly. So I'm actually going to go run a real quick test because one of the hypotheses I have on this is in order to make a shield this thin, you have to do it intentionally. All right. It's actually considerably more work to make something this thin. Yeah. Because one, when you're planing down wood, it takes a lot of work to plane down the wood further to get it to something really thin that's still stable. Right. So that's plus if you wanted to have a consistent thickness. Right. So that's the first part. There's a lot more labor involved. The other thing is hide does not come this thin. Making parchment is extra work. Yeah. I mean, you really have to work at carving it down and making sure you have a nice uniform thickness. Otherwise, when it gets hard, it will start to warp all over the place. So whoever made these shields, and actually there are hundreds of them with thicknesses about this range. This was absolutely intentional and they went out of their way to do the extra work to make a shield this thin. Now, I haven't tested this yet. So this is something I'm just totally trying off the cuff here. But one thing I am curious about is if somebody had a sharp sword, would you be able to take this edge and use it to attack the sword with the shield edge in order to trap the blade? I have no idea. Yeah. So I'm just going to attempt this now. So your thesis is that making a shield with such a fine edge could have a martial advantage by actually catching the opposing sword. Or if ever it gets caught in the shield, it is trapped. And that gives the advantage to the shield bearer. Correct. So it's just obviously it's a hypothesis. And here again, I still would say this is not a great test because I don't have a full scale shield mass and stuff, but I mostly just wanted to take a quick test to see how this would react here. Okay. So let's see what this does. And it does clip in even with a little bit of pressure. All right. And what's interesting is the thread, which I mean, that is unfortunately a modern thread that I stuck on there. That seems to be what stopped it, which is a little bit different. So are you cutting into the grain? Yes. In this case, that is correct. Which would split it even more easily. Right. If we think about shields, it would usually be the other part that would... No. So this is where it really depends. And this is why I think it's, you know, with the shield, because you have all of this vertical grain running through the shield, you as the shield bearer have the option of how you engage. So if I turn that top of my shield toward my opponent, the thing is now they're going against the grain, right? So if I think of pushing into my opponent in this way... And you can feel that because the handle is always against the grain. Right. So I'm using strength now, the strength of this grain as I press and push pressure into my opponent. But the thing is, if I were, for example, to just lift up the shield, now I'm exposing all of that green edge. And I could potentially attack a sword, intercept the sword, but here is where it will really sink in. And so that's the nice thing about the shield, is I have control which part of that grain I'm giving the opponent. So if a sword sank in out there, then just with a little twist of your wrist, you can disarm or at least manipulate that blade. Right. So this will be interesting to see when we get the full scale replica. The fact that didn't take me much pressure to sink up to the string, which apparently the string is incredibly robust. It'll be really interesting to have something with a full replica, full size, full mass, and see how that actually reacts. Is this one of the tests that you're going to run this weekend? Yes, it is. The grand opening? Yes. Oh, very cool. I'm looking forward to that one. It's going to be spectacular. Thank you very much. Thank you. Okay, so here are the three shields that are made for the experiments that we're going to conduct in a second. So what's your plan? Okay, so first, let me give a brief description of these shields here. This is a modern replica. So this is made out of plywood and has kind of that thick rawhide edge that you often see. When you say modern replica, you mean like a standard? Your standard, typical replica that you often see, even if you're going out on the internet looking for replica Viking shields, the vast majority will be made in this fashion. I believe this is about half inch thick plywood. And I'm not sure the gauge, but this is pretty thick rawhide on the edge. So this, I want to see sort of interact with a modern blade. And what I mean by modern blade is your typical HEMA compliant blade for blunt steel fencing. So, you know, two millimeter edge, pretty thick. Like what people do use in the reenactment combat, for instance. Right. Yeah. So I want to see how that interacts with this shield. And then I want to compare that to a more accurate replica for the swords versus these two different authentically made shields. The one here on the left, this one starts at a little over a quarter inch thick in the middle. It is chamfered at a relatively consistent taper down to the edge. And the edge is just under a quarter inch thick. This one here has no edging, but it does have a hide facing on one side and it is bare on the back. It's just paint in the back. So that's this particular one. In case anyone really cares, this is a milk paint on the front of this shield. Right. So this one here is based on yet another fine. Now this one comes down to a much smaller edge. This one here is about a quarter of an inch thick in the middle and it stays relatively consistent in its thickness until about here. And from here, it starts to taper to the very edge, which is about a 16th of an inch thick. Oh, that's the one that is so super thin at the edge, right? Right. And the other thing to remember about this 16th of an inch thick is there are multiple layers in this small space. There's the wood core, there's a hide facing, there's one on the front, there's one on the back, and then there's a rawhide edge. So all of those things combined make up the edge that you see here. And just to show you just a little bit before people start to hack into this, one thing that's interesting is when you're affixing all of these pieces together using hide glue, this shield here, even though it's smaller, it weighs a little bit more than this shield here. It also, even though it is incredibly thin, it is a very robust, very sturdy shield. So it will be interesting to see when you guys run your tests, exactly how this interacts with the Viking Age sword. Welcome back, everybody. We're here to run the final test at the Oswald Viking Martial Arts School in Agin, Minnesota. It's a grand opening. It's the evening of the last day of the grand opening, and this is my good friend, Brent. And I'm Roland Watzegger from Dimicato, and we have been looking today at a particular technique that builds up to a situation where the edge of a sword would meet the edge of the shield more or less at right angles to the handle. This shield, you could consider a standard reenactment shield, Viking reenactment shield. The swords that we're using, they're really nice training swords, actually. They behave very much like original swords. The weight of this one is only 800 grams, but due to its balance, there's a lot of blade presence because it balances quite a stretch away from the cross bar, and that means its handling characteristics, they are pretty much like the one original sword that Craig Johnson of Arms and Armor and the Oak Shock Institute supplied for this weekend for people to get an impression of original swords. Now, so you could say the equipment that we're using trying to run this test or run this first level of this test is pretty much the kind of equipment that people are using in reenactment, right? Now, we're first going to show you the technique that we have come up with. So, our idea of shield fighting is that we think it's all about binding with the shield in order to create an opening. So, right here I'm trying to get to the outside, and if I manage to get the outside, I would create an opening and cut with the sword. The edge is always stronger than the flat, so right now I was attacking the outside of his shield, but it could also occur that one fighter is able, with his edge, to attack the inside of the shield, which again is a flat, right? The edge is stronger than the flat. So, in this particular technique, it will build up to a situation, if we just change sides here, will build up to a situation where Brent manages to attack the inside. So, right now he's on the inside, and you can't see, but he has to build up this huge gap, triangular gap, right here between our shield edges, which now he can exploit by striking a backhand strike at my arm. So, again, the same action on the other side. So, we're entering in order to gain an advantage in the shield fight. He slid on the inside, so here's this opening, and there comes his cut, and it's supposed to hit my arm. So, this is your idea, right? So, this is his idea. Now, as I see this opening, I know, and I see he lowers his blade in order to strike at my arm, which would be the end of the fight, I can drop the edge of this shield downwards in order to intercept your sword, right? Okay, so with this kind of equipment, there is, of course, no bite into the shield. I can still make an effort to win the inside myself, so by putting the edge onto his flat, and also on the man, I get a good target here and strike at him. I can actually hit him with the boss, and that's pretty cool. However, you see that even though he cannot do much down there with the sword, I'm not in control of the sword here. Okay, so let's try it again in a flow. Okay, so in terms of technique, it feels like it would actually work. You could try it with blunts, practice it with blunts, and you would get a good idea of the shield binding, but of course, I've never managed to actually catch your sword with my shield edge. Now, we're going to go to the second level of the test. Fran has just swapped swords. What kind of sword do you have there? It's a nice viking sword. It's very much like the one we had on the table over there, the 8th century. Nice wide form, but it has a nice sharp edge. Oh, that's a sharp. That's one of the ones we tried to... Please don't cut off my arm, Fran. I'll try not to. Okay, so what we want to see now is how the sharp edge interacts with this beefy, substantial roll-hide edge. Okay, I didn't catch anything. You can already see it. I can feel it with my nail. This is the little cut that was produced by, see here, at the very edge. So, this is the little cut that was produced. It didn't do anything. Yeah, that might also be due to the blade alignment. I don't feel anything. Oh, no, that's the one. No, you're right. Yeah, there it is. Okay, yeah. I thought I hit it hard. I hit it on my wrist. Yeah, okay. Okay, so this one is a lot more substantial, really. But it did not bite. No, no, no. But it's deeper. And you bounced off, didn't you? It kind of bounced out. Yeah, exactly. We're scared. So, you weren't embedded in that shield at all. It looks like it's a good quarter inch in now on that side. It's mostly just raw. Well, if you just put the edge in. Maybe an eighth of an inch in the back and a little bit deeper in the front for this hit there first. Yeah, that's where the edge is because it has a like a rectangular edge. It doesn't taper to the edge. Good. Okay, so here you would say that in terms of technique, the Sharp didn't really change anything, did it? No. Now, if we look at authenticity, it was only his sword that was actually authentic and matching period arms. That shield wasn't because, as I said, it's one solid board and there are no planks at all. And overall, there's absolutely no distal taper, which is not authentic at all. So, we're now going to look at an authentically built shield next and see what happens there. Okay, so as you can see, I have now taken this shield. This one is authentically made. It is made from split planks. There is a height cover, fairly thin height cover on the front. So, that facing here, you can see because that has been used and it has been exposed to some moisture. That's where it is kind of peeling off a little bit. That's where you can see how thin this material is. There's absolutely no edging here on this shield. So, that means the actual boards are exposed. And now, looking at this edge, if I hold it this way, let me just turn it around. It's only painted on the back side, right? There's no facing on the back side. As you can see, at right angles to the handle, that's where you can see the fibers of the wood. So, the grain runs at right angles to the handle and naturally it does because the stick of the handle connects all those different planks. And so, logically, the grain would be at right angles to the handle. That also means that as a warrior using that device, I exactly know if I present the grain or if I present the side of the board. And of course, everybody knows who has been splitting logs that you want to cut into the grain, right? By the way, this feels so much more comfortable because this one has a really nice weight. Now, it feels like it matches this lively blade. Like this thing, yeah, you can move it around easily. So, it's a device that you can play around without tearing the muscles in your shoulder, like with a tabletop like this one. Okay, so let's see what we can do. Actually, I did a different turn this way this time. I was turning it this way, which did it. Yeah, you clung to your sword and it was taken this way, but it wasn't turned out of your grip because I was turning this way before with the other technique upwards. Somehow, it felt good to bring the sharp sword over there, but we're also going to see what happens if I try exactly the same technique earlier, okay? Which is intercepting and then turning it this way. That's pretty impressive, isn't it? That was in there. Yeah, it was stuck. Definitely in there. Yeah, so that means with my shield edge, I was controlling his sword with what in martial arts you call a snake motion. That's the kind of motion you do when you do disarms. Yeah, because if you hold out that sword here and this is like as if you have struck to the center. If you have intercepted a sword, you can safely grab a sharp, twist it from his grip and strike, right? So, it's no problem grabbing sharp swords only as they move. So, if I start pulling here and let go, this is when I get caught, right? Oh, this is right. Good thing I only checked afterwards, but there's really nothing on my hand. So, it's definitely possible to do that and I've done that in sharp fencing too. There are people who don't believe it. There are actually videos on YouTube where you can see me doing that in free play. Anyway, so let's give it another try. So, I'm going to turn the shield around. That's pretty cool. It definitely shows that for me as the one using that particular technique, I can do the same snake motion that you see in Talhoffer and probably also in 133. I can do it with the shield because this kind of disarm that I just showed to you with just the blades, it's actually pretty much the same motion that having dropped the shield. It's the same motion, only now I'm using the shield instead of the hand. Yeah, I love it. Yeah, okay. Let's swap shields. Okay, so here we have another authentic shield. All right, let's see if they actually thin down edges for a particular purpose like catching blades. Okay, same technique. Okay, so this one bounced off, but no, I can tell you why that was. As I sunk my shield, I actually did not use the information that the handle gives me, namely that if I want to catch the blade, I should preferably turn the grain against the sword. Yeah, so it hit here. Now, what I find surprising is that, watch out for the point, what is really surprising is that it was so substantial. I mean, I expected, my plan was to catch it with the edge, but this super thin edge, which would be destroyed easily with reenactment blades that have two or maybe three millimeter edge, they would simply just crush the edge. It just absorbed the sharp sword easily. So the sharp sword inflicts less damage on an authentic edge than a blunt one. Yeah, we have, Arthur has told me that clubbing his shields with blunts just kills them pretty quickly. It's really interesting insight that this is not the case with authentic weapons, namely a sharp sword in this case. Okay, let me see if I can drop the shield closer to my body so that I make use of the grain. I was pushing it out a bit, and thus he hit it here. Okay, that deserved a good death. I just love when a hypothesis works out. So you can see this is a major cut. The blade was firmly embedded, and because of the snake move, the twist of my arm. It was bound. Turning the shield, yeah, it held the sword nicely while I turned it. I could feel where his blade was, which is exactly what you do in historical swordsmanship. You want to feel where the threat is. This is what they call in the late medieval manuscripts. You want to feel where the pressure of the opponent goes, and this is what we do with shields. But here I could actually do it with your sword. So earlier on I was using sensing through the weapons with the shield, and then at that point I knew I had you. Which also means, interestingly, I will feel if the sword didn't bite. I don't have to look. Okay, so that means if I'm a seasoned and skilled warrior, then I might resort to a different technique, or I may decide to go to the other side in order to control this blade. But yeah, that was really impressive. Thank you very much. Thanks a lot to Arthur for providing the chance to do this very, very special test. It's a very nice peerage. Oh yeah, and they just handle so nicely. Yeah, I think this is very, very educating, very telling. Thank you very much for your attention.