10-27-2007, 05:22 PM
Quote:Okay, I can accept Siddorn needs to be treated with caution (although treating people wit hcaution can sometimes need to be treated with caution in itself wink: ).
As I know the sagas, I tend to look at it in the same way as I look at statements that someone "ripped their maille apart" (as in physically ripping a suit of maille apart, not "ripping it off" in modern parlance) to run or swim away, or that people swim a few hundred feet underwater in full armour, or that certain "bow-strong" kings shot war arrows to a distance of over two kilometeres (which would exceed turkish arrow records as recorded in the 16th century with flight arrows and bows considered too strong to use in war effectively) - not a quote necessarily meant to be taken entirely literally. :wink:
But heavens, of course sword quality varied greatly, or some blades (such as the Ulfberth ones) seemingly being particulary valuable. I just think it is a pretty long leap from a single possibly rhetorical line in Kormak's Saga to it being a common problem with viking age weapons.
Siddorns book is not all bad; I'd certainly recommend it for the interested. It is, whoever, more a "compendium of reenactor's knowledge" (which can mean both great practical experience and some horrid misconceptions) packaged as a book on viking weapons and warfare than I'd like.