Re: Spring Coronation A&S - Viking Shields

[David KUIJT <kuijt@umiacs.UMD.EDU>]

Poster: David KUIJT <kuijt@umiacs.umd.edu>



Anarra wrote:

> If the shields Sir Timoch saw were from the Gokstad ship (in which case
> they were in Norway), then the three strips of metal fastened to the
> back of the shield are modern conservation material, intended to hold
> the fragile pieces of shield together for display.  The originals,
> according to my source (which I don't have a cite for here) only had one
> strip, perpendicular to the lay of the planks, and crossing the center
> hole for the boss.  Used as a handle and to hold the shield together.  I
> think the original strip was wood, but will have to check the source
> again. 
> 
> The Gokstad shields also have a circle of metal running near the rim
> which, again, is modern conservation material.  The original rim
> covering material is not in evidence.  There are holes around the rim,
> but no metal was found either rimming the shields nor in the holes.  The
> guess is that the shield was rimmed with rawhide or leather laced on
> through the holes. 

There were a bunch of shields in Gokstad; I believe three of them are
shown in "Viking to Crusader", and a fourth one is illustrated in "Arms
and Armour of the Medieval Knight".  I would be very interested in hearing
details of your source for the pieces of metal being modern, Anarra; I
don't remember that from the few pictures I've seen, and I was under the
impression that the shields were illustrated as they survive, sans modern
braces.  Of course, I don't have my books here at work either, so I can't
go check. 

I'll take a look tonight, and see if I can get information that isn't
filtered by my memory.

Dafydd

=======================================================================
List Archives, FAQ, FTP:  http://sca.wayfarer.org/merryrose/
            Submissions:  atlantia@atlantia.sca.org
        Admin. requests:  majordomo@atlantia.sca.org