Production and Technology
In this section, I analyze the production and technology behind the creation of the medieval sword. It is important to note that the sword did not appear out of thin air in the Middle Ages. Rather, European medieval swords evolved from earlier examples of Roman swords. In building off the same production techniques and technology used during Roman times, the sword was able to sustain strength and durability through the Middle Ages, making the sword a powerful weapon.
The two swords chosen in this section illustrate how production and technology was used to create swords for different functional purposes: warfare and ceremonial, a topic I further analyze in the next section. It is with these forms of production and technology that the sword was able to endure as both a physical and symbolic representation of power and prestige.
The long, slender nature of this Roman iron sword (depicted to the left) emerged as a result of techno-borrowings and improved production techniques in Late Antiquity. In respect to techno-borrowings, the Roman army adopted different techniques for its swords from its defeated enemies. Hence, this object has its origins in the Celtic slashing sword. In respect to production techniques, the early spathe, like the Roman Mainz type sword before it, was produced by “sandwiching a softer, low carbon iron between two carburized steel strips. Its edge had been formed by grinding” (Bishop and Coulston, 241). As the spathe evolved, the Roman military adopted a technique of ‘pattern-welding’or the ‘damascening’method, where “[r]ods were twisted together, hammered, cut up and re-combined to make a composite blade” (Bishop and Coulston, 241). With this more complex production technique, the Roman spathe evolved to be longer in length, with increased flexibility and strength.
Citation: Bishop, M.C. and Coulston, J.C.N. Roman Military Equipment From the Punic Wars to the Fall of Rome. Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2006.
Akin to the spathe, this 10th century European sword (depicted left) was produced through the technique of pattern-welding. The blade was forged of intertwined rods of steel and iron, a technique that produced a tough, resilient blade with a distinctive swirling pattern on its surface. Furthermore, unlike the spathe, this sword features a pommel at the end of the grip in order to counteract the weight of a blade, a new technology developed during the Middle Ages as swords became longer and heavier. Moreover, unlike the spathe above, the object is an example of the production techniques of decoration. The skillfully decorated hilt and blade indicate that this sword was carried by a warrior of high rank, perhaps a Viking chieftain or a Frankish nobleman. The braided copper wires on the pommel may represent an earlier Scandinavian custom of tying a talisman to a sword hilt.
Citation: Breiding, Dirk H. “Techniques of Decoration on Arms and Armor.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dect/hd_dect.htm (October 2003)