26/08/2016
A post by Dimicator about germanic shield reconstruction.
Authentically dimensioned shields should have a minimum diameter of 80 cm, ideally with a handle of D-shaped cross section like the Trelleborg original (flat side facing inwards, as seen here: ). Even more important is to grind down – or rather carve down – shield boards so that they become thinner towards the edges. Not only would you save a lot of weight this way, you also get much better handling characteristics because mass distribution improves tremendously, making the shield a lot more agile. It makes a huge difference.
The challenge would be to make shields that hardly exceed 3 kg or are even lighter than that. My current lightest shield has a diameter of 85 cm, covered with linen on either side. It is 3.8 kg – but I will soon make new authentic ones that will be lighter.
Weight is also effected by the amount of glue you use and the materials you put onto the board (linen, parchment). Naturally, a thick hide is heavier than ground down parchment.
Original woods for Germanic or Viking shields were basically relatively light wood that was easily available in a particular region, such as poplar, linden, alder, spruce or pine.
It is fair to assume that shields of differing robustness and weight existed for special purposes. So if you have to fight a duel, a lighter shield that does not have to cope with a rain of missiles would be a reasonable choice. Keep in mind that some Icelandic rule set allowed up to three shields per combatant in a duel.
Most modern shields are way too heavy. Often this is due to the kind of context they are being used in, e.g. in blunt weapon combat sports and battles with a lot of forceful flailing. But such shields are little use if you want to move them like an actual weapon with proficiency.
Like learning archery with too strong a bow is pointless, so is learning combat with too heavy a shield.
Modern practitioners wanted training swords they could master a long time ago. Now we need shields we can train martial arts with.
Find more information on original shields here: http://members.ozemail.com.au/~chrisandpeter/shield/shield.html
and a PDF of mine here:
http://www.sendspace.com/pro/dl/ekvgfy
