The Armour Archive

Cap'n Atli

Actually, I don't believe that these are ritual shields in ritual colors but, given the context, the possibility does have to be taken into account. They may very well have been made for the burial so that the ship â€œlooked right.â€

Cap'n Atli

There are two things that I think must be kept in mind: First, the recovery techniques of the late 19th century were frequently long on enthusiasm and short on finesse. Fragments of rust might not have been recovered or even recorded, and given that shield bosses tend to be pretty thick, the thinner...

Cap'n Atli

i saw some harness boots in the musueum replica catalog an they say their medieval. where are your pictures of harness boots?

sir aflead bumfluffington the newbie

Cap'n Atli

I always loved the title of one exhibit, and later the book: "Viking to Crusader". It pretty much summed up the transition of the Scandinavian warriors over the period. If you want to use a "heater" I would suggest that you pick a crusade with the appropriate technology, and portray a Norse knight o...

Cap'n Atli

Ohhh, nice things. I've already printed out the boat hook, since I was going to forge one for the longship this winter. Maybe I'll knock out a second one for the faering boat too. Thanks for posting these wonderful (everyday, but unseen) things! (Edited for ypographical terrors and afterthoughts.)

Cap'n Atli

The stylistic and anachronistic difference between the helm and the rest is just too jarring!

Outside of that, it's out of my time preriod, so I can hardly comment on technical details.

Cap'n Atli

You guys are good!

Cap'n Atli

Hastings XXXVII Sunday October 29, 2006 9:00 am - 3:00 pm Location: Frat Row, University of Maryland, College Park, MD Phone: 443-466-6807 Notes: No admission No animals No vendors No food Directions can be found on the message board For additional information contact: Sean Lowman, seanlowman@netsca...

Cap'n Atli

The head I had in my chest was forged as close as I could get it to an "average" A-S spearhead, based upon the books and drawings in my collection and my observations in the museums in England. (I've forged a number of them, but most are mounted and in the possession of friends and retainers and cre...

Cap'n Atli

Freiman:

Sorry to have neglected you, it's been a busy week.

I'll get to the forge this weekend.

Cap'n Atli

Start your own. Nothing I haven't done; twice. (Markland and Longship Company) At least consider starting your own. The advantage of this is that you can tailor it to your needs, and others can add their contributions. It's mostly a matter of finding some like-minded souls who share your interest; a...

Cap'n Atli

Land's End to John o' Groats is the traditional "one end to the other" walk in the British Isles. Sort of like doing the Appalachian Trail, but with less chance of having to listen to banjos.

Cap'n Atli

You and I have different opinions on the meaning of the word free. To me it means that you don't pay, not that you don't pay again after you pay. I'm sorry, in my haste I did not make myself clear. In the LSCo, you do not have to be a member to come out on the ship with us! If you let us know you'r...

Cap'n Atli

>>>SNIP<<< To be honest, not sure how much it would take to get a good starting kit for rapier. But for a heavy fighter, I am tinking probably for an ok starting kit, with a lot of plastic hidden to help with costs is going to run someone close to $400. *Well then, let's figure it out. Zen Warrior ...

Cap'n Atli

>>>SNIP<<< The anvil is identical to the model photographed and described on page 29 of the book by Vannozzo Posio "Le armature delle Grazie tra storia e leggenda" (the Grazie's Amrors between history and legend (Diocesan Museum Edition, Mantova). >>>SNIP<<< Ten centimeters longer than Posio's piec...

Cap'n Atli

Yes, you sharpen the edges, too. Spears were used to slice as well as poke at the enemy, and you can sometimes hack, too. Most A-S spearheads are grave finds and suffer accordingly, but you can still see how they were sharpened by their general form or on some very well preserved specimens. A lot of...

Cap'n Atli

I don't seem to have any weights in my archeological sources, but I can weigh some analogs that I've forged. I'll give it a try tonight or tomorrow night.

Cap'n Atli

>>>SNIP<<< BTW Thomas, a statement like "medieval renaissance" makes me shudder. I have noticed often that many make such confusion between periods that differ deeply historically and stilistically. Either it is medieval or it is renaissane. Either it is roman or it is romanesque. Uneducated people...

Cap'n Atli

I just realized that I misread Doug Strong's posting, in which he was referring to the style, not the tool.

I didn't mean to muddy the water.

Cap'n Atli

This style of stake anvil predates the 19th century, and probably the 17th; but I'll have to dig about a bit for earliest examples. I'm sure Thomas Powers can chime in here, too; possibly before I can dig through my library, presently (and for about the next six months) in disarray due to pre-move p...

Cap'n Atli

How about those post-impressionist looking Carolingian illuminations? http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mxb/ilumin_stmark.html The weirdly natural and nonformalized abstraction of the Gero crucifix at Cologne Cathedral. http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mxb/gerico_cross.html -Will Obviously frauds perpet...

Cap'n Atli

Our 37th annual commemoration of the Battle of Hastings will take place on Sunday, October 29th, 2006 at the University of Maryland on Fraternity Row, within a bowshot (or two) of where we started on the South Chapel Lawn in 1969. Events will run from 11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and will feature the fae...

Cap'n Atli

This would work for me...

Cap'n Atli

It must be true, I found it on the internet! Sounds like a once-over-lightly general note for the casual reader. As Alexander Pope wrote: "A little learning is a dang'rous thing..." and most websites have more than a few generalist statements. Print reversal happened all the time, especially if it ...

Cap'n Atli

If I may be a bit pedantic here, you mean you're "throwing in the towel", a signal in boxing and wrestling that the folks in your corner consider the match over, whether you do or not. To throw in the gauntlet is to issue a challenge. As others have suggested, above, if you canâ€™t hit the metal, at...

Cap'n Atli

There are some things that you might see at a reenactment that might be considered a stretch. It's fine by me as long as it's backed by sufficient logic (such as "used by Romans, used by Normans, possibly used by Anglo-Saxons"). Then you come across an actual artifact that you could never conceive o...

Cap'n Atli

The actual settlement site, from our friends at Parks Canada:

http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/nl/meadows/index_e.asp

And a good overview of the Viking explorations in North America can be found here:

http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/canada-eur ... onn-en.asp

Cap'n Atli

Well, yes, the Vikings were in North America. The real puzzle is how far did they get and how often did they come. Lack of contact disease amoung the Native Americans argues for very limited contact. Also, the fact that explorers don't leave much behind them (they're usually there to see what's wort...

Cap'n Atli

Pound-out 12 more and we can fit new shields on the longship!

Cap'n Atli

Hey guys! I've got a fence I'll let you whitewash!

Cap'n Atli

Halvgrim wrote:Yes they have
My only regret is I had my glasses on in a few of the pics:(

H

"Punish him!"

Cap'n Atli

"Enough room for yourself and a small telephone pole." The advantage of this is that the rings will close in, and it will take a while to outgrow it. At any rate, mine's over 30 years old, and I haven't outgrown it yet. On the other claw, I did take-in and flare-out when I made it, so any extra weig...

Cap'n Atli

In general, you find the more complex shield bosses in an Anglo-Saxon context (I'm still researching forging techniques on the fascinating/frustrating things), while most Viking shield bosses are of either hemispherical or relatively simple conical section. To get any sort of deep boss, with enough...

Cap'n Atli

Most of ours are 6" to 7" across, with a 3/8" to 3/4" flange. Viking bosses may have tended to be slighly smaller, but we are dealing with a labor rich, materials poor environment, so that may have influenced making the boss "just big enough." As long as it looks proportional, I say go with the size...

Cap'n Atli

A length of 10' and a beam of 6' seems a little odd to me. I suspect either distortion of the hull by the circumstances of its burial, or incomplete information throught he filter of the newspaper. (...like THAT ever happens! ) If it is 10' X 6' I would be fascinated on how the strakes fit together....

Re: Renaissance armourer t-shaped anvil found in Northern It

HASTINGS XXXVII 10/29/06

Things You Would Not Believe at a Reenactment