Two Weapons in SCA Period.

Two weapon fighting, a staple of fantasy genres and geek fantasies everywhere. From famous dark elves and their double scimitars to the gun-fu of John Woo. Everything just seems to look better with a weapon in each hand. In the SCA, it's a point of contention how much actual historical evidence there is to support this style of fighting in the period we represent. Looking over the sources, there are examples of the so called “florentine” style of fighting in almost every era of history. In the earliest periods of the SCA, the gladiators were known for their unique fighting styles to entertain the crowds, and then in the end of our period you have sword manuals discussing the use of sword and dagger. More pertinent to what I am working on, the sagas have several examples of two weapon fighting.

In the time of Rome, we have documentation that shows two styles of gladiators as being dual wielders, the Dimachaerus and the Retiarius. The Dimachaerus were fighters that wielded two swords of equal or close length, giving up defense for a more aggressive style that requires control and a level of ambidexterity that not everyone possesses. The flashiness of two swords and the increased potential for blood that not having a shield would have surely been a favourite of the crowds. Retiarius were fighters who used the weapons of the god of the sea, net and trident. These allowed him to control and strike at a distance.

Jump ahead to the Dark Ages after Rome’s fall, just before Christianity starts to take over, our best source for fighting styles in Northern Europe are the Icelandic Sagas. The Sagas are full of examples of warriors using a weapon in each hand, not counting the 8-10 times that it is mentioned that a warrior switches weapon hands to confuse their opponent, an act that shows a certain amount of ambidexterity which makes two weapon fighting possible.

There are several examples of different fighting styles. The one that shows up the most is axe and spear, the favoured style of Thorgeir, one of the main characters in Fóstbrœðra saga. He is mentioned fighting in this manner on at least two occasions. Sword and spear is mentioned as being used by two different people in Njal’s Saga. There is a little bit of confusion about whether the most famous mention is sword and spear, or sword and halberd. I am talking about Gunnar in Njal’s Saga and his altgeir. The altgeir is a weapon that is typically translated as a halberd, but no proof has ever been found of such a weapon. Some more recent translations say that it's a spear meant for piercing mail. Continuing the trend of fighting with two swords, we see an example of it in the Droplaugarsona saga, showing that the trend didn’t die with the Gladiators of Rome. As you read through the sagas, you even see the strange pairing of fighting with a halberd and staff. It seems that nearly every combination of weapons is used at some point or another. My favourite weapon pairing (sword and axe) has two examples in the sagas. Thormod enters battle in Fóstbrœðra saga armed only with a sword and axe, and in Víga-Glúms saga, Eyiolf does the same. This is discounting the idea of the Atgeir as a halberd, otherwise there'd be three examples of sword-and-axe type weapons.

The sad part of history is that the line is not unbroken. It seems there are several hundred-year gaps where there is no mention of two weapon fighting. When you arrive at the 15-16c, you start to see manuals which include several styles that are one weapon in each hand, from the two-baton style of the Flos Duellatorum by Fiore dei Liberi, to the sword and dagger mentioned by Sir John Smythe. As time passed and more and more schools of fighting came into existence, the proof becomes easier and easier to find. 17c-18c manuals include instructions on rapier and main gauche, and other styles that involve a weapon in each hand. While this already brings it out of period, it's a good thing to see, something that shows that as more and more history is written down, the examples stay firm and, more to the point, appear more often. There is no reason to think that the idea of a weapon in each hand disappeared; only that it wasn’t recorded like so much of the history that was lost.

In a non-European setting, we know that in Japan there was a manual written at the beginning of the 17c for using the two swords of the Samurai class to fight. In India, it was a common practice, Viravidyā, to pair two long curved swords for fighting. The Philippines have escrima which is a machete fighting style that involves paired blades. Even in North America, certain tribes were known to fight with war club and long knife, or tomahawk and long knife. The last example is another place where sword and axe could have been introduced to the Icelanders through their interactions with the skraelings.


It's easy to see how nearly every persona in the SCA is a culture that either had some sort of two weapon fighting, or had contact with one. From the beginnings of history, people have been willing to give up the defense of a shield or other protective item for the potential to be had in other fighting styles. In some cases, the styles are limited to a very specific class of people, but in many places it's just a matter of personal choice. At some point in the not too distant future, I'll be making an infographic showing the cultures for which we have proof using two weapons, and in what time periods, but that is very much a task for another day. For now, the proven list is early Northern Europe, Rome, Greece, Nearly all Asian, Nearly all later period (15c+).


Photo by Matthew W. Hoelscher: Sir Gõcauo Ramiriç teaching me at a practice in December.

Axes, Swords, and Spears oh my.

The warriors of the Viking age were known for their very distinctive weapons, vicious-looking axes and long swords that inspired fear. We are fortunate that so many of the weapons survived to give us extant examples of what the ancestors would have used in battle.  I have seen it written that a well-equipped raider would have had a spear, sword, axe, shield, and his seax. Based on this, I am going to go into details on each of these weapons, both what they were historically and what I'll be doing to try and bring them to life in the confines of the rules of the SCA. I will be talking about two different spear types and two different shield types. This is because of the differences in SCA combat. The traditional Viking-age spear would have been a boar spear, also known as a hewing spear. Our war combat also utilizes 9ft long thrusting spears with fiberglass shafts. Shields are another aspect of my gear that needs tweaking depending on whether it's one-on-one or war. (look to future posts for discussions on tactics).

Spear

Boar Spear: This weapon is a specific style of hewing spear. The name is derived from its original use as a weapon for hunting boar, and the term comes from the ability to make slashing as well as thrusting attacks. What makes it distinctive from other hewing spears are the wings found at the base of the blade. These wings were supposed to make it so that after a thrust was true into a charging  boar, it could not just continue along the shaft and maul you anyway. They were found to be just as good in battle for hooking enemy weapons and shields. The blades themselves were between 10-20in long and were mounted on staff between 6-8ft long giving the weapon a total length of 7-10ft.

For my boar spear, I'm going to go with a 12in blade and a 5.5ft staff, which will give me a total length of 6.5ft. It will have a thrusting tip on the top and the bottom, which will help me if I ever get too tangled up. The tricky part for me will be figuring out how to build up the blade so it looks right, and what to make the wings out of, so they are strong enough to be used as shield hooks.

Thrusting Spear: The second type of spear had a long narrow head that was meant entirely for piercing mail and is nearly a pike in length, if not in shape. The spearheads were in the 18in range and mounted on 7-9ft staff, making 8.5 to 11ft long spears.

For SCA use, fiberglass spear staff are typically utilized for the 9-foot long spears. As of yet, I'm unable to purchase one, so I will be borrowing a rattan spear from a friend to use at war. These are pretty much just a large thrusting tip on the end of a long staff.

Shield

Round Shield: Historically, shields were found in two basic categories: large and small. The large shields were in the neighborhood of 36-40in in diameter. The Gokstad shields fall into this size range. The smaller shields were 28-32in in diameter. Archeological evidence does not match up with literary evidence as far as shield construction is concerned. All the surviving examples of shields we have are made out of butted boards joined to form the shield. The sagas seem to talk about laminated wood sheets. The wood choices are also different when comparing the sagas to the extant. In the sagas they discuss linden wood, while all surviving shields are made of woods suchs as pine or spruce.

A distinctive trait of the Viking-age round shield is the center boss. This is a dome-shaped metal addition to the shield, used to help deflect blows and provide a place to put your hand for center-gripped shields. Bosses had an internal diameter that was big enough to comfortably fit the hand of the warrior using it throughout the movements of battle, and the external dome varied greatly from region to region. The external flange was sometimes used as a decorative piece with scallops or zig zags.

There are two distinct types of combat in the SCA: melee/war, and tourney fighting. They have very different requirements, and so need different shields. My goal, then, is to have one between 28-30in for tourney fighting, and one 38-40in for shield walls. Both shields will be constructed more or less the same, and will be rounds so as to fit best with the time period I'm trying to portray. The shields that have been found are about ¼ in thick, so I'll be using two sheets of lauan door skin glued to each other to make the shields, which should give me a thickness very close to the finds. These will be laminated shields, as they hold up better to the bashing damage of SCA fighting.

We are required to have a shield edging, and my goal is to use rawhide over roof edging, which is pretty standard in the SCA, and keeps a nice period look on the shield. In period, if shields were edged at all, it likely would have a metal edging. The rawhide is also substantially lighter than the heater hose I have on my current shield. The bosses will be plain round bosses made out of mild steel. The final big choice as far as shields is how they will be strapped. The small one will be a straight center-gripped shield. This is the type we have the most evidence for, and it fits what we have read about in the sagas. It's quick and requires a very active defense, making it very important that the shield stays light. For the larger shield, there are different concerns: it will be heavy because of its size, and it needs to withstand charges. To address these needs, I'll be going with a center grip that also has a strap for my forearm; this will distribute the weight and allow me to throw my shoulder into it more easily. There isn’t a ton of proof for this set up: I've  read in a couple of sources that it was used by the Varangian guard, but I've been unable to find further evidence.

Axe

Petersen Type D axe head with a 30in haft: The type D axe has been found in gravesites associated approximately with the time period I am looking to portray. Its shape is ideal for the type of combat I'm trying for. It has a level top which makes it good for post blocks, and a deep beard for hooking and controlling the opponent. These axe heads were single-edged and made of iron. In the earlier part of the period, the blades were about 6-7in long, but this length grew as the period advanced, and forging techniques changed.

For the recreation of this blade, I will be using stacked leather for the head and a thick piece of rattan with the sides shaved down for the handle. Because of the construction method, the head itself is much thicker than what would have been in period and the weapon as a whole is heavier. The goal is to do wood burning on the haft, and then use a sharpie to do designs on the head. I want to make it look overall like an ornate weapon.

Sword

Oakeshott type X-Xa: These swords are known for their wide blades and wide fullers. They averaged between 36in total length with the blade being around the 31in mark. The swords were in the neighborhood of 2in wide. Pommels have been found in brazil nut, lobed and disc styles. They were typically attached via a full tang. The famous Ulfberht swords fall within this type of blade.

Conveniently, I'm approximately the same height as a Norseman would have been in period, 5’9”, so I get to base my weapons directly on the extant ones. I will be using a blade about the 30in mark starting with a thick piece of rattan, ideally very close to that 2in mark and then shaving down the sides to bring it down to just about the 1.25in minimum thickness our rules require. This will leave me with a blade that has a 1.25in x 2in profile, giving it a little bit more of a blade look instead of just the stick of rattan. The handles ill be made a little bit larger to accommodate the gauntlets that are required for our combat style, so the total length should be around 36-37in. For sword fittings, I purchased the aluminum set from Windrose Armoury. It came with a plain hilt and a three-lobed pommel which should finish out the look really nicely.

Dagger

Seax:  Called a short sword by some, the seax was the most popular secondary weapon in the Viking age. It was usually too large to have been a tool, measuring between 12-24in long in extant finds. It features a brokeback design, and the cutting edge is straight, which produces a very strong chopping weapon. Evidence points that it was worn horizontally at the back, making it very easy to draw and conceal underneath a cloak.

For my combat seax, I am using a thick piece of rattan (~2in) and then shaving down the sides to give it a clear blade. The difference between the seax and the sword is going to be the additional shaving down of the top ¼ of the blade to give it some semblance of the broken back. Now because of SCA rules, even the tip needs to stay more than 1.25in wide, which leaves only ¾ of an inch to make the illusion of the normal seax shape. To give it a finished look, I'll use a water-hardened piece of leather for the crossguard to help give the appearance of one.

Now, you may be asking yourself: why would a person bring so many weapons? Well, the basics of it are pretty simple: you need the right tools for the job. The Ulfheðinn are most often depicted with swords, shields, and spears. This gave them a range of options on the field of battle. We know that the Huskarls were even better armed and armoured. Being able to adapt to a changing battle is what makes someone a successful warrior, and in a time when you got the chance to lose only once, it made sense to give yourself every chance to win.

In the SCA, having a full kit in this manner allows me to offer myself to my commander in any role they might need me. I'm even considering getting authorized in combat archery, in case I'm ever needed in that position. What's most important to me, my goal at war, is to be as much use to my side as possible. Whether it be fighting in the shield wall, as an assault trooper, or an archer, I’ll be happiest where I'm needed.

Image Sources:

 www.hermann-historica.de/auktion/hhm48.pl?f=NR&c=37443&t=temartic_1_GB&db=kat48_1.txt


www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/55.46.1

Osprey Publishing Warrior Series #3 Viking Hersir- Mark Harrisson Gerry Embleton

http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/manufacturing/text/viking_spear.htm

Gauntlet reworking

Introduction

Gauntlets are one of the necessary changes from period armour we are required by the SCA for the sake of making sure our hands remain useful during mundane life. Well, that's not the whole truth: we have a choice of either basket hilts or gauntlets. I personally find that the majority of basket hilts are ugly, and the ones that aren’t detract from an early period kit. This leaves me with gauntlets.

They come in many shapes, sorts, and sizes. The most comfortable ones I have ever seen were three fingered gauntlets that looked like Ninja Turtle hands. At $800 in price, they are currently beyond my means, so I looked into other options.I shopped around and chose a pair of clamshells for $150. When they arrived, I found them to be poorly designed, and despite tons of measuring, they were big on me. I won’t blame the craftsman, as there's a chance I just measured wrong, but it would do to keep in mind, for future reference, to choose a design carefully, and measure painstakingly well a few times, just to be sure.

Problem

The main issue with these clamshells is that they don’t move very well with my hands because the straps are loose. I had borrowed Baroness Alda’s gauntlets and got the idea to sew my glove into them to make them move easier.

My two most recent fighting sessions then allowed me to see that there was a larger problem. The shifting of the main portion of the gauntlet leaves my pinky knuckle exposed, and has caused me a great deal of issues, including a couple breakages.

Solution

To fix this, I bought a pair of gloves a little bit larger than I would normally wear. This way, I would be able to sew the tips to the gauntlets and not make the gloves too small for me to use. The plan was to sew the middle, ring, and thumb to the gauntlets: this would allow the gauntlet to move with the glove, and hopefully give me a better grip on weapons.

Materials Needed

• Drill and small drill bit
• Sinew: Artificial sinew will do.
• Leather Needle: any larger needle should be fine.
• Gloves one size larger than normal: I prefer leather work gloves, but for this project I chose to use some more modern-looking gloves with padding in the knuckles for added protection.

Steps

It is very important that you measure where the holes need to be before starting to punch holes into an investment like any piece of armour. To do this, put your gauntlets on with the gloves and see where your fingers naturally fall throughout the range of motion of the gauntlet. Measure each hole individually.

To make the holes, I suggest a drill bit that just barely fits your needle. This will minimized the weakening effect of tearing through the material, and retain the strength of your armour. The other point is to keep them a bit away from the edge, for the same reason.

Once the holes are punched into the gauntlets, sew each finger to each hole individually. This way, if the sinew breaks, you only lose one of your grips instead of all of them. Do not remove the strapping that already exists: for the most part, extra strapping doesn’t hurt.

Conclusion

After finally getting all the repairs done on the gauntlets, I was able to test them out at Sangre's Pas D’Armes last weekend. They unfortunately didn’t hold up as well as I would have liked. This may have been due to my stitching or a result of loaning the gauntlets to people with larger hands. The stitching has already started to come undone. I will be looking into a better way to secure them in the near future and post an update on my findings. For now, it will just be a matter of restitching them. That slight disappointment aside, the tight stitching made a huge difference: the gauntlets moved with my hands and at no point did I take a shot to the pinky the way I had in November and December. Sewing your gloves into your gauntlets improves the way they move, or at least they did with these particular gauntlets.

 

I spoke with some of the more experienced fighters at the Pas, and they said that while the  improvements I have made to the gauntlets will help me some, in the long run I am better off shopping around for metal gauntlets that I can afford. They say they will ground out better on my weapon, which will prevent the damage from reaching my hands, and they will last longer than the leather ones. As if I needed an excuse to buy more armour... Merchant’s Row, here I come!

Sangre del Sol Pas D'Armes 2014

Sangre del Sol, the shire directly north of Southkeep, has hosted a yearly Pas D’Armes for the last 6 years running. A Pas d’Armes is a particular type of event that is very indicative of the ideas of honour and chivalry the society holds to. The tournament is based on an old chivalric tradition where knights would set up a roadblock and challenge all knights that passed by, and any knight that declined the challenge had to leave his spurs behind to show his shame. With this in mind, the fighters are split into a Home Team and an Away Team. In addition, any lady that passed through unaccompanied had to leave a token that could be rescued by other passing knights to be returned. Towards this end, the tournament is fought for the pleasure of a Ladies’s Gallery. All the ladies at the event are gathered under one pavillion, and the fighters are presented to them. The Ladies' Gallery is an important part of the event, because some of the fights are done at their behest; the last round in particular allow the ladies to choose how many times a fighter can come back into the fight.

This year, the Pas was of particular importance to me since it is my anniversary as a fighter. Last year's Pas was the first time that I had ever fought in any kind of tourney. As I look over the videos and pictures, it is surprising to see how much my kit has improved in just a year’s time: I have replaced nearly my whole kit; the only pieces that are the same are my sword, helm, and arms. Even my garb has gotten an upgrade from a pair of pajama pants to some more period-accurate Rus style pants.

There was a new site for the event this year, Markham Park in Weston, and it was amazing. Sangre del Sol regularly goes above and beyond when it comes to bringing the dream to life, and this was no different. The lyst field with its beautiful fences and waving pennants really made it easy to be transported away. The smells of delicious food and the sound of music played by the band reached out over the entire site to complete the atmosphere.

Everything about the event was planned in such a way as to make the pageantry of the Pas stand out.

Heralds draped in the regalia of the hosting shire wandered the site announcing the times and keeping people informed about what was happening. Before the lyst itself began, each of the fighters were asked to place their helms on display in a Helmshau. This way, the populace could see the “faces” of their champions. Each of the helms were decorated by the fighters for the presentation. To decorate my helm my lady, Braenna Faelan, made me a torse in her colours with a wolf head pin in the back, and my man Nikola Spaten painted two shields: one with Braenna’s device and one with mine.

The fighting was organized a little bit differently than it was at my first Pas. After each of the fighters and teams had been introduced, the venans which this year included Lord William of Kent, myself, and Vikarr Bjornsson, were told to present our challenges to the tenans: Baroness Alda, Honourable Lord Robert de Cleftlands, and Lord Kenric Fitz Alan. The challenges were declared in reverse order of precedence and so Vikarr made the first challenge, axes to 5 blows against the giant of the tenans, THL Robert. My challenge was to Lord Kenric, bastard swords to 5 blows. The final challenge caught all present by surprise. Lord William challenged the entire opposing team to 7 blows with axes. The challenges were fought in the order that they were presented with Vikarr and Robert fighting first. The fight was rough, with each man bringing their strength and size to bear. In the end youth beat experience ,and Vikarr was the victor.  My fight was next, this was the first time I had ever used bastard swords and was looking forward to the experience. Lord Kenric is known for his speed, so I knew that my best bet was to maintain an aggressive stance with him

throughout the fight. This worked out well for me despite having the wings on my elbow cops catch on my tunic in my first two swings. The fight began 2 to 2, and then in a blink of an eye he was inside my defense and landed the last three blows ending it. The final fight of the challenge round was Lord William vs all. In this case, a lack of specificity hurt the challenger, as both the gallery and his lady assumed he meant all at once while he actually meant one at a time. William, being a good sport and always up to entertain the populace, accepted this change of plans and made ready to face the entirety of the tenans. Good sports that they are, the tenans at the suggestion of THL Robert decided to fight him each with a hand behind their back. This led to a frantic chase of a battle with William trying to avoid being cornered, but in the end he could not stem the tide of numbers.


The second event of the day was the grand melee. In this battle, teams are abandoned and each fighter represents the glory of his lady and his own honour. The gallery decided that there would be four passes. In the first pass, I crossed blades first with Lord William. He landed a solid blow on my helm, but to his credit and honour, told me the shot landed flat. In the next exchange, I was able to work a blow under his shield. Last year the fight happened almost the same way, but I didn’t have the strength to drive the shot home and he beat me. The pass ended with myself and Vikarr as the last ones standing. In a quick exchange he was able to land a blow to my head, leaving him the victor of the first pass. In the second pass, I was eliminated by my first opponent, Lord Kenric. He was armed with a hewing spear and we managed a double knockout. This round ended with Vikarr facing Robert, in which the latter was the winner. After a moment to reset and allow some fighters to change armaments at the behest of the gallery, the third pass began. Immediately I found myself facing Vikarr, and I made the mistake of not attacking agressively and staying in his preferred range, allowing him to defeat me. The pass was quick and fierce, ending with a charge from Lord Kenric into THL Robert which was thwarted leaving Robert the victor. That final blow of the third pass popped a rivet on Kenric’s helm leaving him unable to compete in the final pass of the grand melee. The fourth pass opened, finding myself opposite Robert and his deadly glaive. A quick thrust and I was eliminated from the round for the last time. The round ended with Lord William and Vikarr facing off in front of the gallery. Vikarr used his wrestling training to get inside his opponent's defense and deliver a punch cut that ended the grand melee.

The time had come to play to the mercy of the gallery. Each tenan was to present themselves before the gallery and receive a challenge. Then once those challenges were finished, the gallery could assign any other fights that they wished to see. During this round, I was placed in three fights. Axes to three strikes against her

Excellency Baroness Alda, bastard sword vs single sword to 5 strikes against Vikarr, and in the battle of venans with swords in inverse proportion to their height against Lord Kenric. The axes with her Excellency was a hard-fought match, but I managed to come out on top by one strike. The fight against Vikarr ended with a draw, but pleased the gallery with its aggression and tempo. In the fight with Kenric, I ended up with the great sword. He used his speed to great advantage avoiding the cluster of blades hunting him. I managed to land two blows on him before he ran in on me and landed 4 in return. He was unable to kill me because my teammates closed in and he was forced to retreat. Finally, he was caught in the corner and finished off.

After the gallery’s choice round, there was a break for lunch. The feast steward provided an excellent meal with pastries of cheese, chicken, or beef. They were accompanied by all manners of fresh fruits, as well as the most adorable looking hard boiled egg mousies. Mini quiches, olives, fresh rosemary bread, cheese dip, and a rich balaklava rounded out the splendid meal. When we had eaten our fill, we were greeted by the sweet smell of apples and cinnamon as fresh fritters were delivered to the feast area to end the meal. Truly they had outdone themselves.

With our spirits lifted with good food, the time had come to armour up and finish the day's events. The barrier was erected one final time and the teams divvied up: venans to one side, tenans to the other. THL

Robert was forced to leave the field as he was very tired from the morning's exertions. This left the tenans down by one fighter. After some discussion as to how to handle the disparity, it was decided that the tenans preferred to fight at the disadvantage. From the moment lay-on was called, the tenans were in a bad position the venans took no mercy on them cutting them down swiftly before they could regroup and form a plan of attack. It wasn’t until Lord Kenric came in sword swinging and single-handedly eliminated all three of the venans that the momentum was halted. This push lasted only a small while until the disparity overtook the tenans again. At this point it was decided it would be more fun for the fight to continue with fighters taking which ever side of the barrier needed a fighter. This lasted until there were no fighters remaining that could continue. The last two standing were Lord Kenric and Vikarr.

Thus ended the festivities of the 6th Pas D’Armes. Feast was about to begin and so the ceremony in which the gallery chooses their favourites began. Their third favourite fighter was Lord Kenric, praised for his speed and good sportsmanship. Their second favourite fighter was Lord William, praised for his good heart and

willingness to take part in any challenge. The crowd favourite for the day was Vikarr, he was praised for his joyous nature and his endurance. Every fighter that participated was given gifts showing the thanks of the gallery for the entertainment.

This was an amazingly good event. The fighting was entertaining, the challenges presented by the gallery gave us pause for thought and were a breath of fresh air when compared to more standard lysts. Above all of this was the amazing atmosphere and site that was provided by our hosts. A slew of thanks to our wonderful neighbors Sangre del Sol, I will be counting down the days until next year.

As a side note, this event also was the first event for some people very close to me. Grimauld, my friend of nearly two decades, was kind enough to make himself my herald for the event. He did a great job of introducing me and making sure that things were being filmed. My brother and his girlfriend also came out to watch the festivities. All three were made to feel welcome, and had a great time. Thank you guys for coming, and thank you to our hosts for proving me right that this a great group and a great hobby.

Photos by: Mildryth Eilesberie