From: charlesanderson@optushome.com.au   
      
   James Foster wrote:   
   > Hey Charles,   
   >   
   > Many thanks and dont worry, of course I wouldnt do this with a real   
   > artifact :o)   
   >   
   > I should have been more clear previously. I'm looking for a way to   
   > hone the blade using the same materials that a Viking might have used   
   > centuries ago so to be as authentic as possible when I am doing my   
   > Viking re-enactment.   
   >   
   > Ok, slightly off topic... but I cant help noticing this group seems to   
   > be dominiated by this guy Steve Kramer.   
   >   
   > I mean there seems to be like 2 or 3 knife related threads, the rest   
   > are Steve Kramer threads.. but they dont seem to be knife related. At   
   > least not the ones I checked.   
   >   
   > Who is he and why is everyone here talking about him?   
   >   
   >   
   > Thanks,   
   > James   
      
   Hi James,   
      
   There are sharpening stones as artifacts, pretty horrid compared to what   
   we play with today.   
      
   They also had "healing" stones attached to sword so that if you hit   
   someone, and didn't want them to die, you'd apply the stone to the   
   wound.  I have no idea if the stone was a practical device, or a bit of   
   shamanistic hokum (I'm leaning toward hokum).   
      
   Back to the sharpness of Viking age swords.  Seriously they weren't what   
   we'd consider sharp.  The swords are weighty, and have a wedging action.   
      
   Looking at the archaeological record.  Viking swords required a "lot" of   
   force to be effective.  A sharper blade requires less "blunt force   
   trauma" to be effective.   
      
   Read a saga or two and you'll see that combat was slow and heavy.  This   
   is representative of the choice of weapons.  Spear, axe and sword (a sax   
   is just a big knife).  Everyone had a spear, a lot had axes, few had swords.   
      
   The heavy forces involved in Viking combat were necessary, as the shield   
   was an effective defensive/offensive weapon.  I'm trying to get a hold   
   of some poplar sheet 2mm thickness, or at the very least wide strips in   
   this species.  I did some preliminary tests with some poplar I have here   
   and laminated it makes a very strong and light shield.   
      
   My friend made a replica and it was nicknamed "iron bar"... it was more   
   club than sword.   
      
   If you do Viking re-enactment, which country are you in, as you are not   
   alone.  There are now many groups in America, UK and Australia... Europe   
   has always had Vikings ;-)   
      
   Technically swords are OT, but there are few posts so anything blade   
   related is appreciated.   
      
   A book list for you, not 100% Viking, but relevant for what you're   
   doing :-   
      
   "The Anglo-Saxon Shield" by Stephenson ISBN: 0-7524-2529-3   
   "Early Anglo-Saxon Shields" by Dickson and Harke ISBN: 0-85431-260-9   
   "Records of the Medieval Sword" by Oakeshott ISBN: 0-85115-566-9   
   "Swords of the Viking Age" by Pierce ISBN: 1-84383-089-2   
      
       ---   
      
   Don't buy into the Steve Kramer stuff, a nice guy, but brought a lot of   
   baggage with him when he started posting (not his fault, just a casualty   
   of the internet).   
      
      
      
   Regards Charles   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)