Norwegian Shield Bosses for Reference

Display at the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo, Norway

I decided to begin to learn raising by making shield bosses based on examples in museums in Norway dating from the heyday of the Viking era. The boss is a round iron fixture that is important on almost any center-gripped shield, as it protects the hand that grips the shield and has many ancillary uses. It is also an important part of a shield's aesthetics, and attractive examples show the metal worker's skill and tie the shield's proportions together. These links are about archaeological evidence and general use of shields.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_Age_arms_and_armour

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~chrisandpeter/shield/shield.html

Since there are not detailed instruction manuscripts about fighting from the Viking era when these shields were used, recreation of Viking shield use is based on clues from other kinds of sources. There are many exciting theories and hypotheses and there is no doubt that these shields were used because they were good and effective. These links are about reconstruction of Viking combat using the shield, which is necessarily speculative but is being done by some very smart people.

http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/manufacturing/text/viking_shields.htm

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

These are some of the bosses that I want to replicate. My source for the images is http://www.vikverir.no/museum_gallery.html

Telemark, Norway 10th Century

Grave find from Torshov, Norway 9th Century.

Fossesholm, Norway 10th Century.

Learning how to Raise

Replicating medieval armor requires a large number of techniques which I have only begun to understand. The first technique that I learned for is called "dishing", or "sinking", which means holding a sheet of metal over a depression in a stump or swedge block and hammering from inside of the piece so that the hammer strokes stretch the metal outward. There are advantages to dished work such as speed of manufacture and the simplicity of the technique, but there are disadvantages too. Dishing thins the metal by stretching it, and sometimes a piece calls for a technique that allows the armorer to wield more control over the shape than is possible with dishing. "Raising" is basically when a sheet of metal is held over a stake and hammered from the outside in several passes so that the metal gradually compresses into the shape that the armorer wants. It thins the gauge of the project less than dishing does and allows more control. Especially when raising a thick gauge piece of armor, raising requires heat from a source such as an oxyacetylene torch or a coal forge. Raising is a more advanced technique than dishing and is more difficult. I can think of no better example of what raising looks like in action than armorer Eric Dube, who films his raising passes with great panache and detail.

Eric making a 15th century German sallet helmet with the raising technique:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuuC4Bq4Y2U&list=PL33EB5A691939149F&index=13

I first had to learn how to use an oxyacetylene torch equipped with a gas-saver device to turn off and reignite the torch at will. I gradually learned how to set up and adjust the torch by myself. With four months of trial and error, I have come a long way in my technique and the use of the tools at my disposal. I owe thanks to my friend and Hampshire alumnus Tom Emerson for making me interested in armor and encouraging me to push boundaries, to shop supervisor Donald Dupuis for teaching me the tools of the trade, and to armorer Eric Dube who inspired the method that I use.

In a few days I am going to document my attempt to make two viking-age Norwegian shield bosses and the boss of a late 14th century English buckler on this blog.