Putting Sword Technology Into Context (Part 1)

Excuse me while I take a little side step today. I've been doing a lot of exciting research on a certain topic this week, and wanted to share some of it. This post serves as an introduction to the subject I am dying to talk about. Today I begin talking about swords!

The Reavers

Reproduction: The Norsemen Landing in Iceland
H.A. Guerber, 1909. In the Public Domain.

When discussing arms technology in post Iron Age Europe, one would be remiss if they failed to mention the legendary Ulfberht swords. The Ulfberht was a leap forward in terms of quality for viking iron work. Before and after this master, or workshop, came and went (we are still unsure who made these fantastic weapons), red-hot iron was thrust into cold water to create sharp blades. Unfortunately, this also made them brittle.

You know the scene in your favorite pseudo-historical action movie where the bad guy demonstrates his skill by breaking someone's sword in half with his better-wielded blade? Or when the hero is facing some insurmountable foe only to have their sword break on someone's shield? You are witnessing the height of Viking technology right there.

If I have not been clear up to this point: Ulfberhts were not those swords. Ulfberhts were made using crucible steel super heated to perfection. They are still impressive today. However, the hundreds of fake swords made by scam artists in the era and ever after feature the tell-tale brittle blade.

By the way, there is a fantastic Nova special on the Ulfberht swords, where Door County's Richard Furrer (excuse me for the Wisco shout out) creates what may be the first authentically forged, Ulfberht style sword in centuries. It's worth a watch, or 6. It would do well for me to mention that I am far from a metal expert. For more information on what makes this sword the best for centuries to come, please check out this Hurstwic page on Viking swords, and watch the Nova episode. For now, you will simply have to take my word on the greatness of this sword: it was a bound forward in technology that archaeologists found difficult to account for. Then it disappeared, leaving behind a rich legacy of imitation.

Where did this technology come from, in the first place?

A Lost Golden Era

After the final breath of the Roman Empire, Europe, and, by omission, the world, suffered through the dark Middle Ages. It has always been a dramatically stark picture: the dirt clod farmers and warlords that should have inherited the bright white empire that appears to have been Rome, muddling along through history for a millennium with only minor achievements.

To me the so-called Medieval era is one of the strangest periods of history. This is mainly in how it has been handled traditionally by historians. For hundreds of years, it was essentially ignored, in favor of the brighter end-caps that throw so many shadows over it: Rome and the Renaissance. While today historians scramble to give meaning back to this European period, I do not doubt we have lost what made the dark ages bearable as much to ignorance in scholarship as to contemporary religious iconoclasm.

Excuse me for beating a dead Bucephalus, but the amount of ownership placed on the Roman Empire by Europeans is a little insane. Yes, Italy is generally considered a part of Europe. However, Rome was more than Italy. What made the empire great was the conglomeration, through trade and imperialistic action, that Rome became. At many points, it took the best of the Near East and Europe (not to mention Africa), fusing them together into one of the most truly cosmopolitan entities in history.

When Rome fell, it did not crumble into dust. In fact, on the foundations of Rome, empires with advanced science took hold for around 400 years. It may come as a surprise to traditionally educated Westerners that I am talking about the Islamic empires.

Circa 1900.
Image in the Public Domain.

Returning to swords, Islamic military entities produces a type of steel Europeans rarely got the hang of.  "Damascus" steel was a major impediment to the invading Christians during the crusades. The sword gets its strength from raw wootz steel, a superior grade of iron ore. It is thought to have been first manufactured in South central India and Sri Lanka well before the year 0.

Blacksmiths in Europe tried to copy the strong metal during the Crusades, even resorting to etching the surface in order to copy the wave-like pattern of the Saracen blade. This layered appearance was the origin of the term 'damascene'. While the Christians' sword technology was not half bad at some points (the Crusades were going from 1095 to the late 1200s), it was bad enough in comparison. The Crusades failed, in case you've been hiding under a rock.

We in the West call this period of time the Crusades, but it falls under another name as well. It has more recently been named the Golden Age of Islam. From approximately 800 to the mid 1200s, the Islamic empires were leaders in science, philosophy, and commerce. (This is arguable, as some elements included under this umbrella term were thriving much earlier.) But how does it pertain to the Ulfberht?

The Volga Connection

Anyone with cursory knowledge of the Vikings may not know they traded, as well as pillaged. During the period that Ulfberht swords were being forged, there was a trade route along the Volga river from modern day Sweden, through Russia, and all the way down to Iran. It is believed that crucible steel entered the Viking world this way, along with the technology to work it. The final proof is that authentic Ulfberhts stop being produced when the trade route was cut off in Russia. Thus it is from Islam that Europe gained a bladed legacy; This time through commerce, and not appropriation.

As a final note I would like to mention that the earliest Ulfberhts were created around 850, and production continued into the 1000s. Around the same time a blacksmith was learning how to heat quality steel, the first known recipe for gunpowder was recorded in China. When discussing the height of weapon technology, it is important to look at a single group's abilities and techniques, but do not forget that in comparison worldwide, they still might be lackluster.

Stay tuned for Putting Sword Technology Into Context part 2, next week! It will be posted on Resetting the Record's Facebook Page, and of course on the blog, here. You can be informed of new posts by entering your email address on the sidebar, liking this blog on Facebook, or following me on Twitter.

Sources

All sources, as well as articles and websites of interest, have been tagged above.