Search
Search found 399 matches
- Thu Oct 24, 2013 10:24 am
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: Osprey Publishing books: why the hate?
- Replies: 69
- Views: 5817
Re: Osprey Publishing books: why the hate?
Medieval Scandinavian Warrior 1, which is a period I have a pretty good grasp of, is really, really bad. MSW2 is, according to the swedes I know who are very knowledgeable about the period, is said to be as bad. The problems abound. The swedish historian who served as co-author to Nicolle had, as th...
- Mon Mar 25, 2013 12:09 pm
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: Tunic 300AD!
- Replies: 2
- Views: 453
Re: Tunic 300AD!
Quite some distance from where it was found, likely, but most of the finds from melting glaciers seem to be from hunters and travellers. It's one of the few lucky breaks we get from the global warming. Of course, nobody even suspected that it was a tunic until Vegard started unfolding it....and real...
- Sat Dec 25, 2010 2:20 pm
- Forum: Interpretive Re-creation
- Topic: Earliest gambeson was no gambeson????
- Replies: 63
- Views: 3142
Ach, I'll just repost some old threads: http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=55804&highlight=vapntreiyu http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=58161&highlight=vapntreiyu http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=55477&highlight=vapntreiyu They all conta...
- Tue Dec 08, 2009 2:27 am
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: Lighting a feast table
- Replies: 20
- Views: 1192
It is not technically "our" table - the family who owns the building have a special offer where you can spend the night in the house in a medieval athmosphere and they've bought some quite decent stoneware for that purpose! You just put a length of wick into the liquid and let it soak for a while. A...
- Mon Dec 07, 2009 1:32 pm
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: Lighting a feast table
- Replies: 20
- Views: 1192
They're often called train oil lamps. It is available commercially as train oil, but it is technically a liquid wax made from blubber. Likely, medieval scandinavians used the remnant train oil that didn't go to food seasoning; what you can get commercially today would be much higher quality than that.
- Mon Dec 07, 2009 4:38 am
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: Lighting a feast table
- Replies: 20
- Views: 1192
For Scandinavia at least, Whale blubber lamps: [img]http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy69/toman_75/Vandringstur%202009/DSC05669.jpg[/img] Works like a charm. Pics from an overland trip we did, where we spent the night at an old pilgrim's rest from the 13th century: [img]http://i778.photobucket.com...
- Thu Aug 27, 2009 2:14 am
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: Online papers: mail armour
- Replies: 3
- Views: 457
- Sat Aug 22, 2009 12:30 am
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: CoP without maille
- Replies: 56
- Views: 1570
We have examples of early CoP before the 14th century in western Europe. They are often coined "armoured surcoats" or something like it, but really - it is the same sort of armour. The norwegian Hird would quite often fight on foot; the kingdom's armies tended to operate from ships. The skutilsveina...
- Tue Aug 11, 2009 1:44 am
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: CoP without maille
- Replies: 56
- Views: 1570
I also think it looks real foolish, based on my knowledge of the use of CoP. Written scandinavian sources (relevant to the Wisby finds) support the idea that the CoP was not used as stand-alone armour: the armour is the "final piece" of body armour described in the hirdskraa and levy laws, including...
- Sun Aug 02, 2009 1:42 am
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: Osprey's Knight Hospitaller (1): 1100-1306 (Warrior) ????
- Replies: 20
- Views: 1070
Bad: a) David Nicole... 'nuff said. maybe not..... Why? Nicolle, at least in the older books, has a tendency to credit interaction with the East for many Western European armour inovations. Doesn't seem to be restricted to the older books. In the Medieval Scandinavian Warrior (1) book, we learn tha...
- Wed Jul 22, 2009 2:50 am
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: Mediaeval war records go online
- Replies: 11
- Views: 701
- Fri Apr 24, 2009 1:12 am
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: Earliest kite shield
- Replies: 13
- Views: 1136
Re: or you could put your effort into helping
The armour on the set looks earlier to me. The brimmed helms, like square topped shields, have been around a while: Er. That is a really big typological jump you made there. Continuity in helmet design between the Hellenistic period in the mediterranean and high medieval scandinavia? There is no ar...
- Thu Apr 23, 2009 2:21 pm
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: Earliest kite shield
- Replies: 13
- Views: 1136
- Thu Apr 23, 2009 10:19 am
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: Earliest kite shield
- Replies: 13
- Views: 1136
Re: Charlemagne chess set
This is one of Charlemagne's chess pieces with a kite shield from about 800. His empire was supposed to have contact as far away as India and at least according to legend these chess pieces (?) were carved out of the tusk of an elephant gifted to him from an Indian king. I think that set dates from...
- Thu Apr 16, 2009 2:30 am
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: Historicaly BAD show...
- Replies: 23
- Views: 1916
This is....mind-bogglingly stupid. The diahrrea of the most chilidish, idiotic kind of internet debate has flooded into the TV medium. I guess it was only a matter of time. :cry: Some of the "scientific experiments" are highly amusing. I looked at the current "Spartan vs Ninja" :roll: thing on their...
- Wed Apr 08, 2009 1:01 am
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: Warriors on History Channel
- Replies: 28
- Views: 1906
This: In response to the earlier thread about vikings, the people I would consider the source of Huscarl combat - which is pointedly NOT SCA combat with rebated steel - are indeed a part of a group, but they most certainly are not, as huscarl enthusiasts, representative of said group. What I meant ...
- Mon Apr 06, 2009 2:28 am
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: Warriors on History Channel
- Replies: 28
- Views: 1906
This: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Warbow-Robert-Hardy/dp/0750931671 is the most amusing book in the world. The authors - one a longbow (over)enthusiast, one a historian actually disagree on the central theme of the book and yet get to write a 550-page book together. This is accomplished by them wr...
- Sun Apr 05, 2009 7:16 am
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: 13th Century two handed sword?
- Replies: 14
- Views: 816
- Sun Mar 15, 2009 3:25 am
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: Vampire unearthed - wow
- Replies: 7
- Views: 1069
- Thu Mar 12, 2009 7:40 am
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: A Dark Day for our Cultural Heritage
- Replies: 21
- Views: 1413
- Mon Mar 09, 2009 3:34 am
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: Jesus with helicopter
- Replies: 29
- Views: 1259
- Fri Mar 06, 2009 2:17 am
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: Jesus with helicopter
- Replies: 29
- Views: 1259
Here he is on a skateboard
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c259/ ... ensbkk.jpg
(from Vallensbæk church, Denmark, mid-15h century)
Also fun.
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c259/ ... ensbkk.jpg
(from Vallensbæk church, Denmark, mid-15h century)
Also fun.
- Tue Feb 17, 2009 2:56 am
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: The 'dark age' leather armour debate
- Replies: 48
- Views: 2020
Once again on the norse sources. In 1914 Hjalmar Falk documented a grand total of three mentions of leather armour in the extant saga material. One was the magical reindeer coat of Tore Hund at the battle of Stiklestad. The other is a reference to "Thykkum Lerpannzarum" in the norse translation of t...
- Wed Feb 11, 2009 11:46 am
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: Mord's Conclusions: Viking Armour
- Replies: 127
- Views: 53587
- Mon Feb 09, 2009 7:02 am
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: Mord's Conclusions: Viking Armour
- Replies: 127
- Views: 53587
Leather was certainly known and in use for the era. We have archeological finds of various leather implements. And there are saga descriptions of leather having been used as a coat, even - at least in one case - of someone resisting sword blows with a coat of reindeer hide (Heimskringlasaga, by Sno...
- Fri Jan 30, 2009 1:55 am
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: Norse archery
- Replies: 14
- Views: 701
- Thu Jan 29, 2009 10:51 am
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: Norse archery
- Replies: 14
- Views: 701
Then buy one off him: http://kviljo.no/bue/ "Kontakt" means .... well, I guess you know what it means. His email adress can be found there. "Buer" means bows and showcases the bows he sells. However, I recommend contacting him directly and seeing what he'd want for a bow. I don't think he's all that...
- Thu Jan 29, 2009 2:11 am
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: Norse archery
- Replies: 14
- Views: 701
Plenti of laminated/composite bows in scandinavia. Here are some reconstructions of the "Type B" finds from Bergen, Nidaros and Oslo, 13th century: [img]http://kviljo.no/bue/60.jpg[/img] ...note the siyahs. These are relatively light hunting bows. [img]http://kviljo.no/bue/nydam2/1.jpg[/img] And her...
- Thu Jan 15, 2009 4:24 am
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: Period Gambesons or padding
- Replies: 2
- Views: 632
Oki doki. Norse sources first. All translations are my own from translations into norwegian from old norse and suck mightily. The Landslov (Law of the Land), between 1265 and 1275, from the reign of Magnus Lagabøte, says: -The man who owns 18 weighed marks (of silver) excepting his clothes, shall h...
- Wed Dec 24, 2008 3:38 am
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: How dark (intellectually) were the dark ages?
- Replies: 49
- Views: 2230
Here is the relevant passages from the Primary Chronicle: 986. Vladimir was visited by Bulgars of Muslim faith, who said, "Though you are a wise and prudent prince, you have no religion. Adopt our faith and revere Mahomet." Vladimir inquired about the nature of their religion. They replied that they...
- Tue Dec 23, 2008 4:18 pm
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: How dark (intellectually) were the dark ages?
- Replies: 49
- Views: 2230
When knyaz Volodimir of Kiev contemplated conversion to "non-Paganism" he sent envoys to Western Europe, Byzantium, Baghdad... They returned with the report that Western Europe was dark, gloomy, damp, and all around sour Byzantium on the other hand was airy, bright... So yes by first hand account -...
- Tue Dec 23, 2008 12:11 pm
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: How dark (intellectually) were the dark ages?
- Replies: 49
- Views: 2230
I would recommend Peter Heather's "The Fall of the Roman Empire" rather than Ward-Perkins' work. His analysis seem far more thorough and less selective and speculative than the impression I got from Ward-Perkins (as well as WP's rather...odd...observations on wooden building technology and the usefu...
- Tue Dec 23, 2008 12:07 pm
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: How dark (intellectually) were the dark ages?
- Replies: 49
- Views: 2230
- Sun Nov 30, 2008 4:44 am
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: Blackened Hosen
- Replies: 1
- Views: 277
- Thu Nov 27, 2008 2:21 am
- Forum: Historical Research
- Topic: Mord's Conclusions: Viking Armour
- Replies: 127
- Views: 53587
On the quality of iron after the fall of the roman hegemony: Lets just say they didn't chisel the iron connecting pins out of roman stone columns because they had an abundance of good quality of iron to work with. Re-using discarded materials is not new to the early middle ages, so that is not a fu...