Lisa Deutscher, Mirjam Kaiser, Sixt Wetzler (eds.)
The Sword: Form and Thought
(Boydell & Brewer, 2019), 294 pp. $99.00
This book presents the proceedings for the second Sword Conference that was held in November 2015 at the Deutsches Klingenmuseum Solingen. The book is composed of 16 chapters that represent 16 lectures out of 22 that were presented at the conference. As the conference encompassed all aspects of swords and swordsmanship throughout history and was especially diverse, so is this book. The book is split into four sections: “typology”, “metallurgy and production”, “symbolic meaning and cultural perception” and “fighting and swordsmanship”. As the titles of each chapter do not necessarily explain what it deals with, and because of the diverse themes and aspects, I will try to first explain what chapters there are in each section and what they try to prove.
The first section, which is composed of three chapters, is more focused, spanning from the middle of the Medieval period until the Renaissance. The first chapter deals with sword terminology from the 14th and 15th centuries, where the author presents the problems in categorising the different swords and their types. The second chapter uses the Utrecht Psalter, drawings from the 9th century A.D., to claim that the pommels of the brazil-nut, tea-cosy, wheel and crescent types and their respective dating should be re-evaluated. This is because, according to the author, the first three types existed contemporaneously as can be seen in the drawing in the Psalter. The third chapter returns to the Late Medieval and Renaissance period, and mainly focuses on the terminology and the use of three-handed swords which were used in fencing schools. He explains these swords’ design and use, while using them to claim that there is too much terminology in modern and contemporary research, and continues by offering a new categorisation of the swords. This first section discusses various topics which often attracts a very limited audience, although it may interest those who are interested in the terminology of weapons and the different types of swords throughout the ages.
The second section, composed of four chapters, deals with a wider period as the articles cover the 6th-16th centuries A.D. There are two chapters in this section that warrant special attention: chapters four and five. Chapter four, titled “Phosphoric Iron and Welded Patterns,” written by Ulrich Lehman, Stefan Roth and Claus Lipka, details the reconstruction of a sword found in a 6th century A.D. grave in Beckham, North Rhine-Westphalia. The authors used scientific analyses to analyse the sword in order for them to recreate it, using experimental archaeology. This chapter is extremely thorough and is an excellent guide in the art of forging a sword, with detailed step by step explanations supplemented by various illustrations and photographs. This chapter would be fascinating to a very wide audience. The fifth chapter, titled “Material and Properties of VLFBERHT Swords,” written by Ingo Petri, completes the previous chapter. This chapter examines the origin of the metal of Viking VLFBERHT swords, which are high in carbon with low amounts of slag, and thus provides an excellent introduction to metallurgy. Petri succeeds in proving that the metal did not originate from the east (Asia), which was what was previously claimed, but actually from Europe. The last two chapters of this section are very different, as they are quite dissimilar in scope and much more focused on specific case studies. This is in direct contrast to the first half of this section, which contained chapters with far-reaching ramifications in the field. Chapter six discusses the dating of a sword that may be connected to the Knights of St John due to an inlaid mark, while the seventh chapter presents a sword found in a grave that might be the grave of a nobleman who died in 1497 A.D.
The third section, titled “Symbolic Meaning and Cultural Perceptions” is the longest section containing the largest number of chapters. It deals with the widest array of cultures and periods and uses weapons found in archaeological excavations to better understand different cultures and the role of the said weapon in their respective societies. The first chapter of this section deals with the form and function of early Nordic Bronze age swords, dated from 1500 to 1100 B.C., and claims that the owners of the swords were free farmers and not of a warrior class. The ninth chapter uses finds from a warrior’s grave located near Rome in Lanuvium, dated to the 5th century B.C., to debate the status of the cavalry in Rome during this period. The following chapter deals with the same period and discusses the Capestrano swords which were in use by the Italic tribes between the 7th and the 5th centuries B.C.
Chapter 11 is the only chapter that deals with swords from the Far East, which is a further indication of the large scope of this book, and a single deviation from the book’s euro-centricity. Mattner, the author of this chapter, discusses a special and unique sword from Japan, the Kogarasumaru, which was a symbolic weapon held by the Taira family until the 12th century A.D. According to the author, this sword may represent the three imperial regalias of Japan, which consist of the three sacred treasures of the Emperor and symbolized his divine power, a possible reason for the uniqueness of this sword’s design. Chapter 12 deals with the Falchion and sees it as a symbol of land ownership in the 13th and 14th centuries A.D. in England. The importance of this was in the bestowment. According to the author, Jones, in the three cases in which Falchions were used to symbolize land ownership, it may have been connected to past victories or legends which were linked to the family, lands or the reasons for receiving this sword. However, even the author himself seems to acknowledge that this may be a romanticisation (p. 172), as most often the lands were given by the church and a majority of the noblemen worked in an administrative capacity. The following chapter uses Frederick II’s sword in order to understand the cultural changes which occurred in Sicily during the 10th to the 13th centuries, through the craftsmanship and decoration of the said sword.
The last section of the book deals with “fighting and swordsmanship.” The first of the three chapters that comprise this section is a wonderful example of using experimental archaeology to explain and discuss how the swords found in archaeological excavations were actually used. However, this is only a preliminary study. In the chapter, they examine swords from Late Bronze age Europe by recreating them using ancient methods and then pitting them against each other and vis-a-vis different weapons in battle scenarios. Through examining the marks created on the new blades and comparing them to the marks on ancient blades that were found in archaeological excavations, they have succeeded in recreating the various techniques in which the swords were used in a visual and concise way. Chapter 15, titled “Egenolff’s Fight Book”, examines the terminology used in four editions of this 16th-century book and analyses the changes between the editions. Bauer indicates copying errors between the books, which were due to either the lack of understanding of the subject matter in the printing house and/or to the editor himself, Egenolff, being unfamiliar with the terminology. He also rightly says that one must be cautious when using terminology from the period, as mistakes can often be found in fencing guidebooks of the period. The final chapter discusses the pattern of the 1796 light cavalry sword, which highlights the large span of time the book deals with.
This book deals with almost 3500 years of history, which are mostly eurocentric except for one chapter which focuses on Japanese swords. It would have been much improved if future conferences would entirely focus on one theme or area, such as Europe or the Bronze age in Europe, as this would create a book where all the chapters are better linked. The editors of the current book have understood this issue and made sure that the book will also be available on Jstor so that people who are interested in certain chapters can only access them without buying the entire book. I must state that those who are keen on swords, swordsmanship and their history should buy the book as I am sure that they will find it fascinating. Even those that are interested in only one period should probably get the book because of the chapters which deal with metallurgy and discuss how swords are made, as these chapters are especially useful. All in all, some chapters are better than others but in general, the book is a worthy addition to the academic world and to the subject of weapons research in particular.
Haggai Olshanetsky
Bar Ilan University
