Not in the 82!

One of my constant problems since I started heavy fighting has been the search for a good set of legs. As a florentine fighter, I get caught more often in the leg than I would like to admit. Add to that the fact that my persona wouldn’t have any leg armour at all, and I was in a pickle. I think I have finally come to a good place with my legs, recently thanks to some educational moments when fighting Sir Gõcauo.

Initially, when I was borrowing gear, I was wearing some very nice heavy gothic legs made by Icefalcon. They were comfortable, they were shiny, they did their job. As a matter of fact, in some cases they did their job too well: it was hard to tell as a new fighter when I took a shot to them that was supposed to be good. These let me see what I wanted and didn’t want out of leg armour. I came to the decision that what I wanted was leather cuisses with sports cops, so that the whole rig could be hidden. I imagined it would be lighter and easier to move in. I more or less got my wish, thanks to a fighter who was getting out of the game. He sold me a whole rig which included legs with leather cuisses, the only bad thing was that they had cops with huge fans. This allowed me to have legs that filled all of my needs except being hidden. 

A few months later, I purchased myself a pair of cops from Duke Baldar, attached them to the current leg harness and was quite happy with myself. They moved well and were really light. The change to smaller cops with no fins let them fit inside my Rus pants, completely hidden. This stream-lined my look and brought me closer to what I felt my persona should look like and what I wanted in my appearance.

I fought like this for about 6 months, taking some ugly shots to the legs and thinking it was just the way of the world. I even got hit at Trimarian Duke University, and had someone ask "do you have leg armour?" Finally comes the teaching moment with Sir Gõcauo. He came down to Southkeep and was kind enough to host a practice. Now, Gõcauo is the knight that I pester the most when fighting. I ask him questions constantly and he is always kind enough to answer them, really taking an interest in helping me learn, iin spite of the fact that my persona is heavily removed from his, and our fighting styles are wildly different. At this practice, he kept taking that leg shot, trying to show me the right block. By the time we were done, my leg was really badly swollen, and I took a look to see what was going on with my armour. To my surprise, the cuisses stopped just below where most shots land. They were less cuisses and more just an upper lame on the knee cop. Nearly a year of fighting in them and I had never noticed! I just thought leg shots were supposed to hurt. 

The next day, I wandered myself over to the sports supply store thinking I would supplement with football pads. When shopping, I realised football pads have changed a lot in the intervening years. I found a pair of Nike Pro combat shorts that cover my thighs completely. They also have padding for my tailbone and hips. They were perfect. I purchased them, and then got home and took apart the leg harness. With the new pads, the full setup was not needed, and as a matter of fact got in the way. I made the change to just floating knees. The whole setup weighed substantially less, kept a lower profile, and was more comfortable to wear. With this change, and already using zoombang for chest protection, it seems to an outside observer that the only armour I am wearing is helm, arms, and gauntlets. Perfect for a lightly armoured Ulfheðinn. 

Soon after making the change, I was able to try out the new padding, and they held up very nicely; shots that would have left me wincing and limping now were felt but didn’t hurt. Overall, I also felt more mobile, and more comfortable wearing the armour all day. In fact, I typically armour up at home if its just a day trip now.

The real test will be coming over the next month with Trimaris War Practice, and Gulf Wars coming. I’ll be writing posts on both events, talking about what I learn, and what I see as a Gulf Wars rookie. If there are any tips, tricks, advice, or anything you want to share, let me know in the comments below!

Tourney of the Three Ships

I am starting to come out of the post-event co-autocrat exhaustion fog. I must say that this weekend was amazing! For those of you in other areas of the Known World, the Shire of Southkeep ran its first solo event in a long long time. I was fortunate enough to be allowed to co-autocrat with Lord Cian MacCollough. This week I am going to give my usual event breakdown, as well as what I learned through the frenzy of preparation, and the never-ending walking from place to place that was the day of the event itself.

Like lots of great ideas, this one was spawned in a garage with drinks (Pepsi), and two people sitting around. Our fearless leader, THL Petra Malusclava, had just been mentioning in our monthly meeting that the shire needed to start planning an event for the not-too-distant future, since it had been far too long. After the meeting, Cian and I were sitting out in the garage working on whatever woodworking project his fevered mind had at that time, and he looks at me and he says "what about an event that tests all the martial disciplines?" After an hour or so refining the idea, we decided to present it to the shire at the next meeting: a tourney challenging the local groups (shire, barony, canton, etc) to assemble a team with a person for each of the martial styles in society: heavy combat, light combat, and target archery. At the next meeting we were told since we came up with the idea it was on us to run with it. Thus the co-autocrats were born!

Our next step in planning was finding a site, and settling on a date that wasn’t already filled in the Trimarian calendar. For the site, the main difficulty was finding a decent campsite within the borders of Miami-Dade county. Sabine de Saintes was a huge help, she had done recce on most of the sites that came anywhere near our requirements the year before. We decided on Camp Greynolds: the site was a little small, but the price was right and they gave us free reign, more or less. Our dates got shifted around quite a bit initially; we had wanted a fall event to try and avoid the oppressive South Florida heat, but there was just no space in that time frame to run an event that could be well attended. After all was said and done, we booked for the first weekend in February. It was official: we were now barrelling towards an event of our own.

Over the next few weeks, the shire members looked over the tasks that came with the event and divided everything up. Even when presented with a ton of work, the members of the shire didn’t hesitate at all: everyone volunteered to pitch in. Cera Wricht and Sabine de Saintes took over the kitchen. My own Braenna Faelan took on the task of reservation steward. Augustine von Kleve offered his experience in security to be constable. Mildryth Eilesberie and her husband Edward Mandeville offerred to help wherever they were needed. Vikar Bjornsson (The Mouth from the South) gave his services as site herald, and his lady Emma said she would run fighter support to keep everyone going in the heat. Eleanor VanTyne gave her services as a seamstress to help our home team look good. Aldamoureis Ventzke and Robert de Cleftlands put ink to paper and blade to leather to create the prizes for the winners.  All in all every member of the shire offered their services to some portion of the event planning.

The planning was going decently well with only a few issues. We decided to request the presence of TRM Yoan Moon Yang and Jung Mie at our event. To this end, Braenna was tasked with creating an invitation scroll, and Cian a gift box worthy of the Crowns. When the time came to present the gift and invitation, we were lucky enough that a fair bit of the Shire came to the event, and so we were able to show that we have grown strong. Their Majesties were delighted with the gifts, and saddened that only one would be able to make it. After a short discussion, Her Majesty was gracious enough to allow the King to be the one to travel down. Now, this means that in addition to the first event any of us had run, we were running an event that would have royal attendance. No pressure or anything…

The weeks leading up to the event became a blur of phone calls, Facebook posts, and checking in with Cian to make sure that we were both not yet called to the halls of the gods from stress. He was a flurry of sawdust and woodchips as he put his skills to work building crazy thing after crazy thing while the rest of us came up with ways to help the event, including our scoreboard for the heavy tourney. While he was getting physical, I was talking to anyone who had ears trying to promote the event. The rest of the shire was busy working at their tasks, and it seemed like we were on time. It felt a little funny. 

The day of the event arrived and we actually didn’t forget anything! Except to pick up the keys to the campground... Every event needs its own little snafu, no? After several hours of panic, and some hardline negotiations from the Honourable Lady Petra, keys were acquired and set up got started. Gates open, travellers arriving, kitchen fires burning: the Tourney of the Three Ships had begun!

The evening prior involved mostly running around setting and making sure that things were ready for the next day. I was fortunate enough to be able to take some time and speak with his Majesty and attend to his needs. It was important to me that we show our ability to care for important visitors. Cian and I walked the grounds and made our last-minute notes of what was going to go where and how we were going to handle things. I’d like to take an aside and thank Lady Ethine who sat with Braenna at pre-reg way beyond her shift, and helped my lady learn the ins and outs of the job.

The morning came far too quickly. We were up by 6am and off to a running start. From here the day, is a blur of running from one side of the camp to the other, occasionally passing other volunteers,

or Cian shooting off a quick “are you ok? do you need anything?” to get greeted with the same. In all the running around, Edward Mandeville, Augustine von Kleve, and Vikarr Bjornsson stood out the most. Whenever I was running from one task and got waylaid by another, they were always ready to step up and take over on the first one so I could move on. My job would have been damn near impossible without their help.

Our Archery tournament was broken into two stages, a ring shoot where each ring was worth 1pt and grow smaller as the rounds progressed, and a window shoot, three shots at three small windows with a bonus for getting an arrow in each. Cian was good enough to run the range and Alejandro de León offered his assistance as needed. The competitors, from what I heard, were quite happy to see the interesting formats and while it was a little different, they shot very well. The teams represented in archery were Sangre del Sol, Southkeep, and Starhaven.They each shot very well, but it was an individual entrant, Nicole Minnerly, that took the win in archery, with Southkeep scoring the highest of the teams. 

That rapier lyst was next on our schedule, and it was a fierce competition: a grand melee involving challenges and a point for each kill. HRM Yoan Moon Yang was kind enough to assist in the marshalling of the fight. As such, he had the best seat to watch what was going on. For rapier, Sangre del Sol did not have an entrant, but Seamarch did.  When at last the clash of steel on steel had finished, our very own Augustine von Kleve held the top score. Southkeep was in good standing to win the entire tourney, although Starhaven was right behind them with good performances from Kara Arisdottir in archery and Sibilla Daine in rapier.

The heavy tournament was set up as a modified William Marshall tourney. Each fighter would begin the melee with five rings, which would be held by the master of the lyst. Everytime they were killed, they would walk off the field and inform the master of the lyst who had taken their life, and he would remove a ring from their pile and add it to the fighter who defeated them. The melee would run for one hour total, and fighters were allowed to take breaks as they needed. Fighters were also able to give lives to those that had been eliminated, so that they could continue to fight. In an amazing act of courtesy, Sir Subadai give out nine of his own rings to other fighters so that the battle could carry on for more people. It was a hard-fought slugfest throughout the hour with rarely less than 5 fighters on the field. At the end, Sir Jebe had scored the most rings and taken the win in the heavy competition. Seamarch’s representative, Sgt. Daniel von Hessen, and Starhaven’s representative, Jarl Ari Tyrbrandr, tied for second. This gave Starhaven enough points to tie with Southkeep for the overall winner of the day. After a quick discussion with his Majesty, the fighters were told that the tie breaker would be one last fight between the Southkeep heavy fighter, Vikarr Bjornsson, and Jarl Ari. Vikarr fought bravely, but experience and skill trumped size and youth. 

This left us with our victors for the first ever Tourney of the Three Ships: the Shire of Starhaven, Jarl Ari Tyrbrandr, Countess Sibilla Daine, and Kara Arisdottir. Well done! I can’t wait to see them back next year defending their title.

I wish I could speak about the classes that were given in great detail, but with the running around I was unable to see most of the event with the exception of the final bout of the heavy tourney. That being said, I know that we had amazing teachers volunteer from all over our fair Kingdom. They taught classes on such varied topics as beekeeping in period, falconry, carpentry, embroidery, and many more. Our herald’s track of classes had a teacher who had done us the kindness of flying in all the way from Ansteorra: Magistra Emma de Fetherstan. She spent the day surrounded by heralds and would-be heralds sharing her knowledge. Her efforts are appreciated in more ways than I can express in words. 

Our feast was prepared by Lady Cera Wricht and Lady Sabine de Saintes, and they did an amazing job. I was very concerned with feast budget throughout the entire planning time because of horror stories that I had been told. These ladies were on point, they stuck to budget and exceeded all expectations. They gave us four removes that were among the best I have had in all my time going to events. Starting off with a bread plate surrounded by butters molded in different shapes. Each shape was a different butter that had been flavoured in some way, honey, oregano, etc. They were delicious! Add to that the homemade bread and you couldn’t get any better. The second course was roasted pork and a mango and onion chutney accompanied by a fresh salad. Next we were treated to trenchers filled with beef burgundy with a side of macaroni and cheese. The beef burgundy was my favourite part of the meal, I ate so much of it I only had enough room to try one of the three mini desserts that came out as the final remove. The mini desserts were a key lime pie, a blueberry tart, and apple pie.

I would like to, from the bottom of my heart, thank all the people who traveled such far distances to spend the weekend with us, and make this event a success. I would also like to thank everyone for the amazingly kind words that reached our ears from every corner about the staff, the site, and overall how much everyone had a good time. Our goal was to make an event that people would remember and want to attend again and we really felt that we succeeded based on what we were hearing. Thank you again, it was a great time!!

Photography by: Mildryth Eilesberie

And my axe!

My axe is my primary defense and one of the most distinctive parts about me out on the field. This is why it was so important to me to make it stand out. It was important for me that it is historically accurate, and that it properly represent my persona. 

The creation of my axe is actually a long process that happened over almost a year’s time. Last February, I did the initial construction by layering leather on leather in the vaguest shape of an axe head. Really it looked like a lifesize ork choppa, but it was my axe and I loved it, because it was mine. 7 layers of leather made up the head, on a 1.25in thick piece of rattan. In hopes of making it more balanced, I added a large counterweight to the bottom, a steel pipe-end. I finished it all off by wrapping the entire haft in black duct tape, a misunderstanding of the rules. All told it was a monster of a weapon, 4.2lbs total weight on a 34in long haft. Unwieldy and generally not great to use. On top of all this the first event I took it to the marshall failed it for the head not being thick enough.

Back to the drawing board. I knew adding more layers would make it way too heavy with its current shape. I went to our shire’s woodworker and asked him to allow me use of his bandsaw to cut leather. He was more than happy to see how it would work.

New layers added, new shape cut out, now it looks like a proper historical axe. It was still rather heavy, weighing in at 3.8lbs, which to me felt amazingly light after the original monster.

Off to a kingdom event to fight! I manage to get through three matches in a bear pit when the axe head goes spinning off… apparently glue isn’t enough to keep an axe head on throughout a prolonged combat. As period as it is to have axe heads flying around, it doesn’t help me any. Upon returning home from the event, I added more glue and clamped it tight, then added two wood screws into the head and rattan. I made sure to cover the screws with two layers of duct tape to make sure they couldn’t come out, and that they were short enough to not even make it only halfway through the haft.

I was feeling good. My axe stayed attached throughout entire matches! I could fight and not end up disarmed. Several events and practices came and went. I was given advice and painful lessons from my betters, and I noticed many things. Chief among them was that the counterweight was a great idea when I was holding the axe in the middle, BUT it was a terrible disadvantage when I was holding it near the head and using it as a punching/hooking/defensive weapon. Wilier opponents were striking that bottom piece and making the axe spin around, which left me quite open. I was also having issues keeping the axe on target, as the head sometimes got spun around. Off goes the counter weight, and shaved down the sides. At the anniversary of the event where it was first bounced, I was informed that I shaved too much off.  I was allowed to fight with it because I had left the bottom too big to go into another fighter's face mask.

This was much less discouraging than you might think. I had already planned on making a better haft for the axe and decorating it for war and war practice. Now I just knew exactly what I was working with. I began drawing up plans and doing research. Based on advice that I had been given and what I had seen, I knew I wanted the axe to be a little longer and the haft a little thicker. I did the research on axe heads and haft lengths that I blogged about last month, and I looked into how woodwork and weapons were decorated. I was ready.

The final design that was chosen was a Petersen type D axe head, mounted on a 30in haft. This would give me a total weapon length around 36in. This fits really nicely within the historical artefacts that had been found for the time period I am portraying.  When it was all said and done, the finished piece weighed in at about 3.2 pounds: meaning that, even though it is longer and the haft is thicker, it is overall lighter.

Materials

• 15oz leather
• Thug stick purchased from Munitions Grade Arms
• Gorrilla glue
• Silver Duct Tape
• Red Electrical Tape
• Blue Camp Foam
• Wood Burning Pen
• Linseed Oil
• Process

The steps I used were pretty basic, but they are split into three projects: axe head, axe haft, decorations. For the axe head, I traced out the shape I wanted and then began cutting layers until I reached just two layers shy of the thickness of my rattan. Then, I cut a double axe head and wrapped that around the whole, basically making the eye of the axe out of this last layer of leather. The entire piece was then all clamped together to make sure the glue could properly set and cure. When it was all done, it was a very solid axe head. The next step in creating the head itself was the striking surface and thrusting tip. Both are made from two layers of blue camp foam cut to the shapes that I wanted. This provides the axe with the give required by the rules of our combat. The final step in the creation of the axe head was to wrap the main part of it in silver duct tape, and the killing portions in red electrical tape. It's important for there to be a very clear distinction so there is no questions when it comes time for inspection.

The haft was a 2+in thick piece of rattan. The shaping started on a table saw to get it down to roughly the dimensions that I wanted, leaving a little extra for sanding and getting the shape right. With help from Cian, it was cut down to 1.75in x 1.3in. Then, it was time to shape it on the sanding wheel. This gave it a more pleasant shape to hold and brought it down a little in thickness to make it more manageable. The final step was hand-sanding with a fine grit sandpaper to get a nice finish on the whole.

The decorations were chosen to stand out. I did wood burning along the haft on both sides, starting just after the place where my hand would normally grip the weapon. One side has my motto “í mér tveir úlfar berjast”, or "in me the two wolves fight", and on the other has my name accompanied by 4 bind runes for traits that I want in battle. The head itself has designs drawn on it in black marker: I drew out a simple wolfhead. I also put an aegishjalmur on each side of the axe head near what they call in the sagas the "axe hammer", or the back of the axe. Finally, the most important rune was placed at the base of the axe. It's a bindrune I made out of the runes Berkanan and Rad. It represents myself and my lady, the inspiration for which I fight. To put a nice finish on the axe, I coated the haft in linseed oil, which is a good period stain.

This entire project was a ton of fun. It was the first time I had ever worked rattan to get something different from just a baton, and it was the first time I had ever used a wood burning pen. I got a lot of help from good friends. Vikarr gave me the rattan that eventually became the handle. Cian let me use his shop and taught me how to use tools, and the lovely Cera loaned me the wood burning pen that let me do the decorations on the axe itself. Thank you very much guys.

Now that it's done, I can’t wait to use it. Sadly, that's going to have to wait until St Valentine’s Massacre/Scots-Welsh war later this month, but I’ll be sure to post pictures and maybe video when it finally goes down!

What other topics would you guys like to see me research and cover? Let me know in the comments below. 

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