Iron in the Weald

One of the nice things about the interwebs is the ability to download some wonderful books. The above are excerpted from Starkey's book about iron working.

Horses of the AEsir

• Blóðughófi: "Bloody-hoof";
• Falhófnir: "Hairy-hoof" or "Hidden-hoof", i.e. whoses hoofs are covered with hair, or "Pale-hoof";
• Gulltoppr: "Gold-tuft";
• Gísl: related to "beam", "ray";
• Glaðr: "Glad" or "Bright";
• Glær^[4]: "Clear", "Glassy";
• Gullfaxi: "Golden-mane"
• Gyllir^[5]: "Golden";
• Hófvarpnir : "Hoof-thrower";
• Léttfeti: "Light-foot";
• Silfrintoppr: "Silver-tuft";
• Sinir: "Sinewy";
• Skeiðbrimir: "the one which snorts as he runs";
• Sleipnir: "trickster";

Snorri Sturluson paraphrases this stanza in his Gylfaginning:

Each day the Æsir ride thither up over Bifröst, which is also called the Æsir's Bridge. These are the names of the Æsir's steeds: Sleipnir is best, which Odin has; he has eight feet. The second is Gladr, the third Gyllir, the fourth Glenr, the fifth Skeidbrimir, the sixth Silfrintoppr, the seventh Sinir, the eighth Gisl, the ninth Falhófnir, the tenth Gulltoppr, the eleventh Léttfeti. Baldr's horse was burnt with him; and Thor walks to the judgment.

—Gylfaginning (15), Brodeur's translation^[2]

The viking standing stone shows Slepnier, the one with the eight legs. In fact you see a whole bunch of folk on that stone!

Gauntlets

These are the gauntlets I made for Mr. Plummer (who played Barrymore playing Richard III) back in February. Like many items made for movies, they show signs of unhappy haste. They are oversimplified, but even considering they are rushed, they don't look all that bad. I gave them a quick matt black spray before delivering them...remove some of the "star wars storm trooper" look the white primer paint gave them!

Above is a close up of the roping. Keep in mind that the very worst job in armouring is the dreaded "outside roll". These gauntets had the outside roll, which get this! It needed to be roped as well. This roping was done on the "flat" like all roping, and when it was all done, then it was shaped over the horn of the anvil with a rubber mallet which hopefully would not leave too many dents. The material was sixteen gauge aluminum, which was even more annoying because that stuff dents when you drop it, toss it on the "finished" pile or whatever. And aluminum has the unfortunate habit of once you dent it, you can't fix that dent!

The first part of the job, of course, is to roll a bale into the metal. (a bale is a wire which supports the edge, and prevents it from "kinking".) I used a copper wire as the bale, which worked better than the steel wire I usually use. Once the roll was made, I divided the edge up into several little squares and drew diagonal lines which would correspond to the chisel marks. Then I had to make a chisel with a curved face, not too sharp. I used a railroad spike for that purpose. Each groove is made with four strikes, which progress over the bale. Its okay to give a bit of a backwards curve as you progress...it only makes it look more like a twisted rope.

I have had people tell me that scaled fingers are not period. I wonder what source they are referencing! They are certainly easier to make than the articulated fingers. Below is a Milanese gauntlet with scaled fingers and a bell cuff with a nice roll to it. The rivets would have attached a leather inside cuff which would probably flare out over the vambrace...both protecting the metal of the vambrace and giving a punch of colour to the harness.


Below is a German "gothic" armour with articulated fingers. They should not be any harder to make than the scales, however, I find that if you don't get the articulation joints in 'exactly' the right place, they have to be redone until you do. In that respect, they are much more fiddly than the scaled fingers, and consequently much more difficult to get right


And below is a close up of the stunning "gold armour" which was actually used in the joust. This incredibly complex armour is more pretty than useful, but because it shows signs of having been used in the joust, I think we can presume that it was useful as well. Not just a pretty statue. As you can see, this wonderous armour has scale'd fingers.

All these armours are on display in Leeds at the Tower of London Armoury.

5. If exceedingly large weights are to be raised, they must not be trusted to a mere axle; but the axle being retained by the gudgeons, a large drum should be fixed on it, which some call a drum-wheel (tympanum): the Greeks name it ἀμφίρευσις, or περίτροχος.

6. In these machines the blocks are constructed differently from those already described. Having, at top and bottom, two ranks of pulleys, the rope passes through a hole in the lower block, so that each end of the rope is equal in length when extended. It is there bound and made fast to the lower block, and both parts of the ropes so retained, that neither of them may swerve either to the right or the left. The ends of the rope are then returned to the outside of the upper block, and carried over its lower pulleys; whence they descend to the lower block, and passing round its pulleys on the inner side, are carried up right and left over the tops of the higher pulleys of the upper block;

7. whence descending on the outer sides, they are secured to the axle on the right and left of the drum-wheel, about which another rope is now wound, and carried to the capstan. On the turning of the capstan, the drum-wheel and axle, and consequently the ropes fastened to it, are set in action, and raise the weights gently and without danger. But if a larger drum-wheel be affixed, either in the middle or on one of the sides, of such dimensions that men may walk therein, a more effectual power is obtained than the capstan will afford.

8. There is another species of machine, ingenious in respect of its contrivance, and of ready application in practice; but it should not be used except by experienced persons. A pole or log of timber is raised, and kept in its situation by means of four guy ropes in opposite directions. Under the place where the guy ropes at top are made fast to the pole, two cheeks are fixed, above which the block is tied with ropes. Under the block, a piece of timber •about two feet long, six inches wide, and four inches thick, is placed. The blocks have three ranks of pulleys latitudinally, so that it is necessary to conduct three leading ropes from the upper part of the machine; these are brought down to the lower block, passing from the outer sides of the lower pulleys to the inner sides of the lower pulleys of the upper block.

9. Descending once more to the inferior block, they pass round the second rank of pulleys from the inner to the outer side, and are then returned to the second rank of pulleys in the higher block, over which they pass and return to the lowest, whence they are again carried upwards, and passing round the uppermost pulley, return to the lower part of the machine. A third block is fixed near the bottom of the pole, whose Greek name is ἐπάγων, but with us it is called Artemo. This block, which is made fast to the pole at a small distance from the ground, has three pulleys through which the ropes are passed, for the men to work them. Thus, three sets of men, working without the intervention of a capstan, quickly raise the weight to its required height.

10. This species of machine is called Polyspaston, because the facility and dispatch in working it, is obtained by means of many pulleys. One convenience in using a single pole is, that the situation of the weight in relation to the pole, whether before it or to the right or left of it, is of no consequence. All the machines above described, are not only adapted to the purposes mentioned, but are also useful in loading and unloading ships, some upright, others horizontal, with a rotatory motion. On the ground, however, without the aid of the poles, ships are drawn on shore by the mere application of blocks and ropes.

from

Marcus Vitruvius Pollio:
de Architectura, Book X

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Vitruvius/home.html

Translated by Bill Thayer
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/HELP/contact.html


Click on the picture to see its true magnificence....

William Marshal

From
http://smuhlberger.blogspot.com/search/label/William%20Marshal

which has the rest of it.....

Translated from Gregory of Tours

One could do a lot worse than to spend an evening reading through Steve's blogs.
(The pic? Oh that fellow lived a whole lot later on than the Marshal did! I just liked the armour.)



there were no weaklings on that field.

The count of Saint-Pol was taken there

by the bridle of his horse,

but the worthy Marshal,

like the valiant knight he was, rescued him

from the hands of seven and more who were striving

to do him injury and were leading him away.

On that field the cowards stayed behind.

There you would have seen many a banner

soiled in the mud and trampled on,

and many a knight trampled on too

when they were knocked to the ground.

But the saying used to go that

the brave and the valiant are to be sought

often between the hooves of horses,

for never will cowards fall down there,

never will they so hate their lives

as to be willing to join the fray;

they take care not to do themselves injury,

they have no wish to get involved in that.

There you would have seen knights taken and horses won and lost.

Any man who was able to take another man's bridle

strove with might and main to hold on to him,

and the other did just as much to stave him off,

to join battle with him and defend himself.

At that point, any man wishing to separate the two

by negotiation would have had little success,

for words would have been no use whatever.

Fan Expo (guest post)

Events
FanExpo Canada 2011

By Jorge Figueiredo - August 28th, 2011

Other Friends

At FanExpo, there are a lot of retailer booths dealing with comic books and related goods; there are also the larger, glitzy general show booths for the larger companies. While I love all of those booths, there are some smaller ones that I really enjoyed visiting. Some of these are run by very cool friends of mine, while others are run by people who I would love to hang out with (due to the fact that they are also very cool).

South Tower Armouring Guild

Bill and Brenda Fedun will -and this is a quote from their web site- “personally make you a real battle armour that fits perfectly! It will allow you to perform so well that they will write songs about you!”

While that may sound kind of funny, it is probably true. The South Tower Armouring Guild, based out of Metcalfe, Ontario, is a family-owned medieval armour crafting shop. They make quality goods for a reasonable price; not only that, but the finished pieces look fantastic.

It would be a reasonable assumption to think that Bill enjoys his job. Brenda thinks that he might enjoy it a little too much.

On top of the creation of armour (seriously, they have a real forge; how cool is that?), they are also Canadian agents for other weapon-making outfits outside of Canada. Bill also teaches broadsword handling, armour and chain mail making, and Kenjuitsu.

Above all else, the two of them are some of the nicest people you will ever meet. With ready smiles, warm hearts and friendly banter always at the ready, it is always a good time around their booth.

Click here to see a few more pictures of the South Tower Armouring Guild booth. »

Brent S. three piece cuirass

Above is the way Brent's armour looked when it was in my shop.
Below is how it looked on him.


This was the three piece suit with the sliding front rivet that I made for Brent S. I am pleased to see that he is long enough in the body to wear this armour. Those shoulders with the cute outside machine made bead rolls is not mine! I do have to admit that the rondel style elbow aillettes are a nice touch, but again, not mine.


He seems to have the mobility, but that back top plate is flipping up a little too much for my liking. That has always been a problem with a mobile back. But just because it is "period" does not make it comfortable on the eye. The single and two piece backs are just impossible to hunch over like Brent is doing in this picture so yeah, he clearly has the mobility he wanted. That being said, I think if Brent were to tighten that top strap up a notch or two that would drag the back into place. But would it limit his mobility? Or maybe just bend the top tabs in a bit. Would not take much. Hmmm. I'll have to ask him. Wish I there to mess with it. I think if he just cinches that top strap in a bit, it will all fall neatly into place.

Compare to the top picture.




And the portrait. I think he looks good. And the armour looks pretty spiffy. Note that Brent has laced the tassets on. Later on, when he gets a spare forty bucks burning a hole in his wallet, he can get some buckles installed. (Or better yet, install them himself!)

I wonder where he got the gambeson with the left half red and the right half white?
Looks really comfortable.

The reply to Willy MacBride

Of course most people are familiar with the tune
The Green Fields of France.
This is one of my favorites...the Drop Kick Murphys.
(The visuals will kick your heart like a mule...watch at your own risk)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UvQ52A7ksM&feature=related

Steve Suffet wrote "Willie MacBride's reply.
This is a very pretty guitar based version of Suffet's work

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYBuz1ZZ84Q

Salute......

Where the Brave will Live Forever
On the Road to Passchendale

Knights of the round table

When they actually used real armour in their fight scenes....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzF_XoNgOfU


And the final scene from El Cid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8ki2YJpg0s&feature=related

Love the horsie armour.

Godwinson

The sun is going down on the battlefield, the third time since I slept last.
It hurts, and I am so very very tired.

Once I was great king!
Only last week I had won a great battle, and invaders who thought to lodge in my land's castles
now lodge in the crops of the crows and ravens up in the north.
Today, I lay, huddled in this chain byrnie, the horrible arrow lodged in the bone behind my eye.
Oh, it hurts.
This was the end of it. I did not fear dying...that was the simple and it comes to all men.
it is the pain of living.
but the king must not be half blind or the land will be half blind.
If the king be half dead, then the land will be half dead.
There were two great arrows that hit the land only weeks apart, one missed the eye...the other...well.
It is hard to concentrate...the pain is so intense, and there was so much yet to do.

My commitas is still tightly gathered around...the bastards had circled them on the hill, but my commitas had not run!
Oh no, not them! My brave fyrdmen had run right after the gaulish swine, only to find that it was a trick.
But they were fyrdmen...farmers first, warriors second, fighters always. Now mostly all dead.
The bastard faked a retreat, and stole them away from their wonderful defensive shield wall.
A wonderful wall it was too!
A hundred men wide, a great arc on the side of the hill facing the horsemen.
They refused to come close, those horsemen!
They had tried at first, then his shield wall had faded back a dozen paces revealing the slanted pikes,
planted pikes that even the horses recognized as a greater hazard than those shouting iron covered monsters with the axes.
Every pike had a name engraved on it....the owner, the clan, the district...the names of the owners.
All dead now, the last service their masters gave for me, their king,
was when the living dragged their prized boar spears from their bloody curled fingers.
I ordered them placed in shallow holes in the turf, to form an obstacls to the bastard's horses.


Oh Edith...it has come to this!
Every quill on that hedghog of death is a dead fyrdman.
Upon becoming a warrior, his father gave him an ancient forged spear, and upon dying, I put them to use.
None will dare to charge into them...for they dance and flicker in the setting sun, the ghosts of their fallen owners still
guiding them into a foe's horse, or his chin strap. Or maybe it is merely the breeze catching the broad flat heads,
making them bounce on their slender shafts.
I prefer the mystical explanation. Maybe if the Normans believe it too, they will leave us alone until morning.
Oh it hurts. Look, over there...it is Odo! The bastard's bishop!
Look at him whistle his great vine staff around his head like a centurion of old!
He likes to kill with that heavy stick. But he can always say he never shed blood!
A pious claim from a man of the cloth!

Oh my dear Edith....you are not here to see me now.
And why should you be? You are not my wife, but you are the mother of my children.
Oh what will become of them now! The bastard will not let them live!
Enough. I must concentrate...I have orders to give.

Ho, priest...please come close.
Yes yes, I know...there is much work for an ankorite in this foul place.
But I need you now.
You must move swiftly to safeguard my family.
I have done all I can now...this is the charter for the abbey in Winchester that we spoke of, and another in Devon.
And I have a third charter right here....no, you cannot have it yet you greedy man. I will sign it when you make me better.
The field is lost, and I shall retire with my commitas.
You and your gang of white clad ghosts will move me and what is left of my bodyguard out of here
I don't know where I will go. The battle is lost.
I am lost. The kingdom is lost.
And I am tired.
I feel sleep coming upon me. Move me to safety as far away from here as you can.

Good morning.
How long have I been asleep? I feel my wounds have actually begun to heal.
The sisters of St. Mary hmmm?
Wait...that is in Chester. My, I WAS asleep for a long time! You must tell me all the news!
No, there is nothing I can do.
They really brought my Edith on that foul battlefield to identify me?
Oh Edith of the Swan Neck. My precious lady.
Oh that was ill done! But they think I died there do they? Well good.
I cannot rule now with only one eye, and who knows...maybe my cousin the bastard will do a better job of it.
No, they call him the bastard because he IS a bastard.
The apple of his old man's eye, but still a by-blow, and the only country he will ever rule is one he takes by force.
But we got along well enough as children. He used to vist me, I would go hunting with him.
He is saying that I once offered him the kingdom if I was dead?
Bold words. But naught I can do about them is there.
No, it is time I simply vanish from the world, and the cloister is as good a place as any.
Better than most.

Ah yes, the charter. Well, here is my signature. You can see the bishop dated it last year.
The bastard might actually recognize its valididty.
There is much more. I do not have the power of a king, but I DO have plenty of gold.
And remember, it was I who was anointed at Kingston, not him!
If you want it, it is yours. A bit at a time mind, so it will reward you to keep me whole
healthy, and out of William the Bastard's hands.
Come close and I will tell of the hiding place of the first cache I put aside before I went up to Stamford Bridge.

Oh Edith. I did not intend to shock you with my presence...but no one could tell you before now.
I hear they walked you all over that place of death looking for me!
They dragged the armour off the still wrigging corpses did they? Well, it is only to be expected.
It is expensive stuff. Some of those chain shirts were worn by a half dozen men during the course of that week!
Each would take it from one who did not really need it any more.
And William has brought all the spears to Winchester?
Ah good. So many proud fathers will make songs about their sons.
Yes, it is the women's lot to weep. But the fathers do as well. While they sing.
I think we shall be safe here...though I understand if you wish to be with your father.
They killed him too did they? Oh I AM sorry. He is not wasting any time is he!

What is that? The Bastard's son, here? After so many years!
He is seeking a rumour that I might be alive? Well show him in.

What seek you here sir? The son of Godwin? No, he died at the lake of blood.
You think I look like him do you. Well look well.
See this great wound in my eye?
A man with one eye cannot be king. You know that as well as I do.
None would follow his banner.
None would rise with him at their head.
You would do well to seek a man sound in sight and limb, and let an old Ankorite like me be.
The bastard knows it too does he. So why are you here?
To assure me of my comfort?
A true son of a king are you, but I thank you to merely the sleeping dog lie in peace.
They are building a church on the spot where Godwinson fell?
Oh the foolishness of men.
Come join me on my daily walk.
It is the highlight of my day.
You wish you had this much peace and quiet? Be careful what you wish for!
I get very little peace.
Each day, the ghost of another person who depended upon me comes up to me.
Disturbes my walk. I must tell them to join me in the chapel.
Often they do! But never twice.

Who will comfort MY ghost when my time is come?

Odo choked on a chicken bone! Oh that old faker. Where did you bury him.
Ahh, back in Normandy. Good. I never liked him.
Good morrow you you sir, and may God bless.

(Harold Godwinson's ghost still walks from the Ankorite cottage outside the cathedral
to the chapel in Chester every night,
but it ignores mere men such as we! A royal ghost, much come down in the world.
I hear that once in a while, he is joined by a female in nun's clothing. It is popularly
supposed that is Edith, the lovely swan necked mother of Godwinson's children who went
to the Abbey of St Mary after the great battle of Hastings. They
are together, but still in hiding after centuries. I think it is because they love each
other too much to be parted...her to heaven, and him to hell, so they stay here.
A love eternal.

Nesting

Nesting is what you call it when you lay out your templates in an efficient a way as possible. I think I have achieved this. I suspect I might have been able to save a couple of square centimeters over in the far corner though!

This is a slightly new style for me....an armour based on Richard Beauchamp's effigy.
Lots of people have fallen in love with Beauchamp's armour. In fact, the armour I made for Eric D. was the "Beauchamp" armour.
The Beauchamp armour is an over the top version of a fairly standard Italian style...Starkey Gardner's book has a great picture of the more "fightable" version of this armour. I think that is what we are going to "go for" rather than the over priced, over the top Beauchamp Armour. But without the fluting...grin!

Drawbacks? well, there is almost no room for "crunch" above the plaquart (what...two inches or so, and less with the strap?) so the armour needs to be super high waisted in order to not drive that plaquart up into your throat when the horse breaks into a canter. Straps are high and hidden away under the shoulders. Plusses...a very functional armour. Looks stunning.

I am making this armour for Phil S. and he knows all the drawbacks and is still okay with going with that style. We will come up with something different, more manoeverable than those big honking shoulders, and drop the waist a little lower in front. As you can see by the layout, I have made the plaquart an unusual length...a good eleven inches. His natural waist is 14 inches from waist to collarbone, so the long plaquart will certainly look good. I know...it doesn't look so long in the picture does it? Well, they never DO until you bend 'em around the body!
What you don't see in the layout drawing above is the back plate. Beauchamp's back plate is a mirror image of the breast plate, well, maybe a little less scooped out on top. Wow! That IS unusual. I made one like that years ago for a guy who was generously proportioned. I didn't show the layout there because the back will be a 18 gauge piece of metal, not the heavy 16 gauge that the front is. The back plate and greaves of course will be eighteen gauge, as will the vambraces, rerebraces and gauntlets.

(I have never found out who did those really nice drawings...if you know, let me know, and I will provide links, or remove them if the owner desires. I find them to be so amazingly useful as a reference that I continually refer to them. I think they were all sent to me as a set several years ago sans info.)

Grads 2011

Brown Bess

“	In the days of lace-ruffles, perukes, and brocade Brown Bess was a partner whom none could despise - An out-spoken, flinty-lipped, brazen-faced jade, With a habit of looking men straight in the eyes - At Blenheim and Ramillies, fops would confess They were pierced to the heart by the charms of Brown Bess.	”
—Rudyard Kipling, "Brown Bess," 1911

The Brown Bess musket was the standard "all services" weapon for about a hundred and twenty years...putting the boots to Napoleon and was reliable enough to even find fifty year old guns in service in the war between the States. Its name is German actually, the German words Braun Buss mean "Brown Gun", with the word "brown" in this case having the connotation of being "strong". It shoots a three quarter inch ball twice a minute with a grouping of five inches at fifty yards.
The top picture is me at the Royal Armoury in Leeds, with a short Land Pattern Brown Bess with a MOST unusual rear site. I checked...it was not rifled.
The second picture down is a lock which I cleaned up...the third picture is what it looked like before I cleaned it. I had just got a wonderful tool...a vibrating tub filled with rice, barley, sand and brasso into which you drop those rusty old pieces and let them hum for a couple of days. Wonderful tool! Of course, we won't mention how hard it was to get some of those screws out!

And the next two down are from Pedersoli's musket repair manual. Just in case I need parts. Which of course I DID.


Gosh I like messing with flint locks!!!