Viking sword program on NOVA
 

Hello All,
There is a one hour program on Viking swords airing in the US on 10 October.
Information and short video clip is viewable here:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient...ing-sword.html

I am afraid it only plays in the US...sorry for those who can not view.

I was was asked to make the modern copy of the old sword using what I assume were period techniques.

Ric

Hello All,
The show's premier is tonight and will show other times later in the week and next week.

Ric

Great material Ric !
Let's copy this thread to the European Armoury section ... if you don't mind.

I saw the program last night on NOVA. Great program and great work by Richard. Do you have a pic of the finished/mounted sword you made? The program is a must for anyone interested in Viking swords.

Rich S

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Richard Stein, PhD

Nordic Knives and Knife Links
http://home.earthlink.net/~rsblade/nordic.htm

Japanese Sword Guide
http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/nihonto.htm

"Never go anywhere without a knife"
- Leroy Jethro Gibbs
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It looks like the program is available online at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient...ing-sword.html

Best,

F

sadly, comes up as 'video not available'. maybe it will find it's way to youtube :)

Let's try this again, and see if I can make it not automatically truncate: htt(ADD P COLON HERE AFTER COPYING)//www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/secrets-viking-sword.html or link. That seems to prevent the board program from automatically truncating a URL. Sorry about that.

A Few Questions
 

Excellent job, Richard! Brilliant!
During the program we were told that only 170 Ulfberht swords have been identified, with perhaps only a fraction of them being authentic and not period counterfeit knock-offs. It was said that most had been found either in water or among grave goods. My first question is whether, since these were upscale swords, any of those in burials have an identified owner?
Second, The possible origin of the name Ulfberht was discussed and it was identified as Frankish. Do we have any documentary record of ANY Franks in Viking lands during this period. If so, what were they? Slaves, captives, hostages, outlaws, or exiles? One theory could be that the original Ulfberht was a smith in one of those categories, maybe not starting his labour as a volunteer. Eventually he could have put down roots and began a school or dynasty of swordmakers.
And last, I was interested in the part dealing with the interaction of swords and shields. I have a special interest in shields since part of my surname means "shield". I've not found much luck finding information about ancient or medieval Germanic shields compared to other weaponry. I'm also interested in shield myth and folklore since the other part of my name means "fortune" or "good luck". Can anybody recommend sources of information to me?

Question for Richard or anyone.

Isn't crucible steel (like the Viking blade) basically the same as wootz?

Thanks
Rich

It sure looked like Ric was following your basic wootz recipe there . :)

Yes and no.
The carbon level on my blades was a tad bit higher than the 1-1.1 of the swords studied, but that was entirely my fault. The ULF blades do not show much if any surface patterns.

Ric

Any idea why ?
Only because of less carbon ?
Did anyone ever ascertain if the secret of Crucible Steel was copied in the West from trade examples and knowlege brought from N. India ? :)

So I watched this, and I was very pleased... :)

Great showing, Ric - your demonstration of the process was impressive to say the least, and I have an appreciation I never before had for the effort that went into the inlay process. Wow.

And your sword was stunning. Considering it is one of a kind, I would have to think it is priceless in its own right. Again... wow. How many man hours would you estimate - from the time you first built the oven to the last minute of polishing - went into this sword's creation?

Every forumite here would enjoy this documentary, which focuses on the small group of Ulfberht swords, of which only a relative small minority are thought to be genuine (the others being contemporary copies). It mentions not only the likely origin of the steel, but the (Volga) trade routes that brought the Vikings to the south shore of the Caspian Sea, where they posit the Vikings likely traded for crucible ingots.

So much of the documentary had me thinking of various threads I have read and digested here over the years... :)

ric, just wanna say, heck of a show! i have so much more (if that's even possible) respect with my collection. didn't really think what goes through when a particular sword is made. all i can say is wow!!!

I to enjoyed the show. Interesting that the Vikings had a route to Persia? I guess that crucible steel is really wootz? Must have been difficult to forge for for the Viking smiths or were these blades forged by some other people maybe someone who was trained by the Asian sword smiths?

Great work and show Richard!

Another note of Medieval work is the Sutton Hoo Saxon sword in England.

Sutton Hoo..yes...and the Bamburgh sword as well....very complex blade.
Sutton Hoo was an eight bar...Bamburgh was a 12...most complex multi-bar I know.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mcdlscr3eY

Ric

Hey Ric, caught the show the other night and was most impressed. Awesome job! Also nice to place a face to the name... :)

Thank you all for your kind remarks.

There are many talented smiths working today...have a look around and you may be surprised what you find.

I'll slide back to the shop for a while now as work is piling up. I hope to surface again in the Spring.

Ric

Just finished watching the program, very informative and interesting. At the end with the finished product i could see a little pattern. one thing to consider, not sure if true or just something poeple made up, when i was younger, poeple used to say blade with jowhar (wootz) were quenched in donkey piss. I always thought it strange, but then again I know nothing about metalergy, maybe that procces gave it more of a pattern?