The Sword and the Crucible: A History of the Metallurgy of European Swords up to the 16th Century

Description

The sword was the most important of weapons, the symbol of the warrior, not to mention the badge of a officer and a gentleman. Much has been written about the artistic and historical significance of the sword, but outside specialised publications, relatively little about its metallurgy, and that often confined to a particular group. This book aims to tell the story of the making of iron and steel swords from the first Celtic examples through the Middle Ages to the Early Modern period. The results of the microscopic examination of over a hundred swords by the author and other archaeometallurgists are given and explained in terms of the materials available in Europe. Preface vii PART ONE. THE FIRST METALS 1. The Extraction of the First Metals 3 2. The Smelting of Iron and the Production of Steel 12 3. Different Ways of Making Steel—Eastern and Western Steelmaking 24 PART TWO. THE FIRST EUROPEAN SWORDS 4. Celtic and Roman Swords 49 5. Pattern-Welding 62 PART THREE. THE "DARK" AGES IN EUROPE 6. The Revival of Science in Europe 85 7. The Survival of Technology From the Ancient World 96 8. Viking-Age Swords and Their Inscriptions 116 PART FOUR. STEEL ARMOUR AND SWORDS 9. The Invention of the Blast Furnace and Finery 187 10. Bloomery Steel and the Development of All-Steel Swords after 1400 202 11. The Mass-Production of Steel for Swords and Armour 210 12. The Decoration of Swords by Etching and Gilding 223 13. Medieval European swords after 1000 230 Further reading  287 Index  291