Marks of Fire, Value and Faith
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
MIKKO MOILANEN Marks Marks of Fire, Value and Faith of Fire, explores swords with ferrous inlays found in Finland and dating from the late Iron Age, ca. 700–1200 Value AD. These swords reflect profound changes not only in styles and and Faith fashion but also in the technology of Marks of Fire, Value and Faith hilts and blades. This study explores how many of these kinds of swords are known from Finland, how they were made and where, what their Swords with Ferrous Inlays status was in Late Iron Age Finland, in Finland during the Late and where the Finnish finds stand Iron Age (ca. 700–1200 AD) in accordance with other areas of Europe. MIKKO MOILANEN The swords are studied through multidisciplinary research, including traditional typologies as well as research methods from the natural sciences and also experimental archaeology. While the weight of this work lies in the inlays and their meanings, this study also inspects the swords not only from the surface but also from inside to achieve a thorough picture of the life cycle of iron inlaid swords. The colourful finds from Finland are presented in a catalogue at the end of this work. ISBN 978-952-67329-6-1 Archaeologia Medii Aevi Finlandiae XXI Archaeologia Medii Aevi Finlandiae XXI Mikko Moilanen Marks of Fire, Value and Faith Swords with Ferrous Inlays in Finland during the Late Iron Age (ca. 700–1200 AD) Turku 2015 Marks of Fire, Value and Faith Swords with Ferrous Inlays in Finland during the Late Iron Age (ca. 700–1200 AD) 3 Suomen keskiajan arkeologian seura – Sällskapet för medeltidsarkeologi i Finland – The Society for Medieval Archaeology in Finland Turku The originality of this thesis has been checked in accordande with the University of Turku quality assurance system using the Turnitin OriginalityCheck service. Editorial Board Anders Andrén, David Gaimster, Georg Haggrén, Janne Harjula, Markus Hiekkanen, Werner Meyer, Jussi-Pekka Taavitsainen and Kari Uotila Editor Mikko Moilanen Language revision Jüri Kokkonen Layout Joonas Kinnunen Cover Design MIkko Moilanen & Joonas Kinnunen All photos in the publication are by Mikko Moilanen unless stated otherwise. ISBN 978-952-67329-6-1 ISSN 1236-5882 Printed in Turku 4 Marks of Fire, Value and Faith Swords with Ferrous Inlays in Finland during the Late Iron Age (ca. 700–1200 AD) Marks of Fire, Value and Faith Swords with Ferrous Inlays in Finland during the Late Iron Age (ca. 700–1200 AD) 5 CONTENTS 1. Introduction 11 1.1. A brief overview of the development of the sword 11 1.2. The background and purpose of this study 14 1.3. The number and distribution of the examined swords 16 1.4. The chronological framework of this study 21 2. Research history of swords with ferrous inlays 23 2.1. Finland 23 2.2. Scandinavia 25 2.3. Russia and the Baltic countries 27 2.4. Germany, the Netherlands and the Czech Rebublic 28 2.5. The United Kingdom 28 2.6. Summarizing the history of research: four types of studies 29 3. The process and methods of research 33 3.1. Iron, its production and working 33 3.1.1. Iron and its alloys 33 3.1.2. The prehistoric production and alloying of iron and steel 35 3.1.3. Mechanical working of iron 37 3.1.4. The heat-treating of iron and steel 39 3.2. The measurement and documentation of the sword as a whole 40 3.3. The revealing of inlaid marks: radiography and mechanical cleansing 43 3.4. Examination of inlays: microscopy 47 3.5. The technology of blades: metallography and hardness measurements 50 3.6. Catalogue and drawings 55 4. Blades 56 4.1. Measurements 56 4.2. Blade typologies 58 4.3. The categorization of the examined blades according to typologies and measurements 60 4.4. Methods of blade construction 63 4.4.1. General points of view 63 4.4.2. Blades folded from similar kind of material 67 4.4.3. Blades piled from layers of different materials 69 4.4.4. Blades with separately welded cutting edges 71 4.4.5. Blades with a low-carbon core and a ‘wrapped’ steel case 75 4.4.6. Pattern-welded blades with inlays 77 4.5. Construction, composition and correspondence between various inlays 83 4.5.1. Ulfberht swords in the focus of studies 83 4.5.1.1. Analyses and groupings of material by Alan Williams 83 4.5.1.2. On crucible steel 87 4.5.1.3. Other analyses of Ulfberht blades 89 6 Marks of Fire, Value and Faith Swords with Ferrous Inlays in Finland during the Late Iron Age (ca. 700–1200 AD) 4.5.2. Other inlaid blades 90 4.6. Summary of metallographically analysed Finnish blades 94 4.7. Notes on trace elements and provenance 96 4.8. Traces of use 99 4.9. Remains of scabbards 102 4.10. Summary and conclusions concerning blades 103 5. Inlaid inscriptions and motifs 105 5.1. Measurements and placement 105 5.2. The materials of inlays 110 5.2.1. Plain iron and steel 110 5.2.2. Pattern-welded inlays 113 5.2.2.1. On pattern-welding in general 113 5.2.2.2. Appearance and practical execution 120 5.2.2.3. The composition of the layers 124 5.3. Content-based grouping 125 5.3.1. Ulfberht 125 5.3.1.1. Variation and spatial distribution of studied finds 125 5.3.1.2. Alternatives for interpretation, dating and origin 131 5.3.1.3. The spatial distribution of Ulfberht blades in Europe 134 5.3.1.4. Variations and copies 134 5.3.2. Ingelrii 138 5.3.2.1. Features of the studied finds 138 5.3.2.2. Dating and interpretations 140 5.3.3. Other inscriptions with Latin letters 142 5.3.3.1. Maker’s names 142 5.3.3.2. Complete phrases and words related to Christianity 145 5.3.3.3. Letter sequences possibly referring to Christian phrases 146 5.3.3.4. Other letter combinations 148 5.3.3.5. Spatial distribution 150 5.3.4. Letter-like marks 151 5.3.4.1. General observations 151 5.3.4.2. Marks accompanied by lattices 153 5.3.4.3. Marks accompanied by other geometric motifs 155 5.3.4.4. Letter-like marks on both sides of the blade 156 5.3.5. Geometric and symbolic motifs 159 5.3.5.1. General remarks 159 5.3.5.2. Lattices and vertical bars 159 5.3.5.3. Omega-like designs 163 5.3.5.4. Circles and spirals 165 5.3.5.5. Vertical and horizontal bars 168 5.3.5.6. St. John’s Arms 168 5.3.5.7. The infinity symbol 170 5.3.5.8. Other motifs and their combinations 171 5.4. Summary and conclusions on inlaid motifs 172 6. An experimental view of inlaying 176 6.1. The manufacture of iron inlays in earlier studies 176 Marks of Fire, Value and Faith Swords with Ferrous Inlays in Finland during the Late Iron Age (ca. 700–1200 AD) 7 6.1.1. Earlier hypotheses 176 6.1.2. Experimental studies 178 6.1.2.1. Andresen’s experiment 178 6.1.2.2. Hansen’s experiment 179 6.1.3. Observations of commercial products 180 6.1.4. Indications of manufacturing techniques in archaeological find material 181 6.1.4.1. Observations from previous studies and analyses 181 6.1.4.2. The find material of this work 183 6.1.5. Hints of technology in written and pictorial sources 190 6.2. The theory of experimental archaeology and its applications 191 6.3. The selection of materials and tools for the experiments 196 6.4. Possible techniques for attaching a single letter 199 6.5. Applying the techniques to a complete sword blade 202 6.5.1. The process of making a complete blade 202 6.5.2. The different techniques of sword forging 203 6.5.2.1. Constructing the blade blank 203 6.5.2.2. Shaping the blade 205 6.5.2.3. Heat treatments 206 6.5.2.4. Finishing the blade 207 6.6. Attaching inscriptions on blades – a summary of 13 experiments 208 6.7. Observations of the experiments 217 6.7.1. Criticism 217 6.7.2. Methods of inlaying iron according to the experiments 218 6.7.3. The appearance of the inlays 221 6.8. Summary and conclusions 223 7. The hilts of the studied swords 225 7.1. Hilt typologies: traditional classification and the dating of swords 225 7.1.1. The background of typologie 225 7.1.2. Petersen’s typology 226 7.1.3. Other typologies of the hilt 227 7.1.4. Sword hilts in art of the period 232 7.2. Types, decoration and chronology 234 7.2.1. Behmer’s type VI 239 7.2.2. Petersen B 239 7.2.3. Petersen’s special types 1 and 2, and the Mannheim and Mannheim-Speyer 241 types 7.2.4. Petersen C 243 7.2.5. Petersen E 244 7.2.6. Petersen H 245 7.2.7. Petersen I 248 7.2.8. Petersen N 250 7.2.9. Petersen O 250 7.2.10. Petersen Q 251 7.2.11. Petersen R 251 7.2.12. Petersen S 252 7.2.13. Petersen T 253 7.2.14. Petersen U 254 8 Marks of Fire, Value and Faith Swords with Ferrous Inlays in Finland during the Late Iron Age (ca.