02-17-2010, 06:35 PM
:oops: 
Like I said, out of control Arthurian maniac.... However I suppose I should explain why I said I think the organization is similar to Companion cavalry. The poem Y Gododdin (I just know I'm going to be killed for this) seems to refer to a red and white uniform for the cavalry (Reviewing poem now, but as of posting time I'm trusting Osprey's Arthur and the Anglo-Saxon Wars) and also to at least mail armour. (Stanza 58) This warband's men are called "champions" and it says that there were "Three hundred men" and at least one of them, likely the commander, was "clad in purple". It also says that they were "gold torqued" does that mean that they were noblemen? I'm not an expert with that sort of thing.
Well, apart from the armour it seems that this warband was modled after Alexander the Great's Royal Squadron. The number, identification with nobility, and seemingly similar arangment of weapons leads me to believe that some sort of highly trained, vaugley Roman style of cavalry survived until this crushing blow at the hands of the Saxons where this unit was destroyed save for one, the author himself. The cavalry seems to be armoured with mail, perhaps a Burgh Castle style helmet, maybe some scale armour, and small shield. The poem also implies that the four-sided spear was used along with javelins and a spatha style longsword. Please tell me if I am rambling or using this poem too much (Honestly I think I might be) or if I'm wrong, the Macedonian cavalry is not my specialty.
Also very interesting the poem says that they rode into battle on "shaggy mounts" that were "the hue of swans". Would anyone happen to know a northern pony with shaggy fur and a tendency to be white?
Like I said, out of control Arthurian maniac.... However I suppose I should explain why I said I think the organization is similar to Companion cavalry. The poem Y Gododdin (I just know I'm going to be killed for this) seems to refer to a red and white uniform for the cavalry (Reviewing poem now, but as of posting time I'm trusting Osprey's Arthur and the Anglo-Saxon Wars) and also to at least mail armour. (Stanza 58) This warband's men are called "champions" and it says that there were "Three hundred men" and at least one of them, likely the commander, was "clad in purple". It also says that they were "gold torqued" does that mean that they were noblemen? I'm not an expert with that sort of thing. Well, apart from the armour it seems that this warband was modled after Alexander the Great's Royal Squadron. The number, identification with nobility, and seemingly similar arangment of weapons leads me to believe that some sort of highly trained, vaugley Roman style of cavalry survived until this crushing blow at the hands of the Saxons where this unit was destroyed save for one, the author himself. The cavalry seems to be armoured with mail, perhaps a Burgh Castle style helmet, maybe some scale armour, and small shield. The poem also implies that the four-sided spear was used along with javelins and a spatha style longsword. Please tell me if I am rambling or using this poem too much (Honestly I think I might be) or if I'm wrong, the Macedonian cavalry is not my specialty.
Also very interesting the poem says that they rode into battle on "shaggy mounts" that were "the hue of swans". Would anyone happen to know a northern pony with shaggy fur and a tendency to be white?
Nicholas
