Mediaeval Damascus swords
Patrick Bárta, edited by Pavel Neumann
The history of early medieval swords in
Europe hammered from damascus is virtually unknown outside specialist circles.
These double-edged swords, called “Spatha”, probably developed from the
long, late Roman cavalry swords of the same name. They were made and became
widespread throughout Western Europe as early as the 4th century
AD. The technique of forge welded damascus, which survived until the end of
the 9th century, was applied to the earliest swords found. In
principle, this technique involves the reheating and hammering together of
laminated strips of steel and iron thus imparting to the sword a combination
of the hardness of steel and the toughness of iron. The damascus blades were
twisted and styled in many different ways in order to create a varied range of
damascus patterns exposed on the finished etched blade. The main purpose of
damascus was to make sword blades, which were of both high quality and great
beauty.
As far as the construction is
concerned the period mentioned above was typical for a damascus spine enclosed
on both sides in welded steel edges. The shape and design of the handle
changed throughout the centuries until it was smoothly transformed, towards
the end of the 9th century, into the Viking swords, which were the
direct precursors of the familiar shapes of the swords from the high Middle
Ages. Hundreds of damascus swords have been found all over Europe, two of
which were located in South Moravia in the Czech Republic. The end of the 9th
century saw a decline in the craft of producing damascus swords, a decline
which continued until the craft completely died out. The reason may have been
the extremely laborious nature of damascus blade production and hence an
inability to satisfy the growing demand for weapons. Sword makers concentrated
on producing less costly swords made completely from steel, a trend that
continued down to our own times. Lately, damascus production has undergone
something of a renaissance in the field of luxurious knife blades. However, to
make a reproduction of damascus sword is a challenge that not many sword
smiths feel ready to take on.
For one of our reconstructions we chose
one of the most splendid swords of its time, found in the royal grave in
Vendel in Sweden, and dated by historians to around 700 AD.
The first obstacle encountered was the
selection of the material itself. Based on many years of experience with
damascus we decided on using medium carbon steel interleaved with zero-carbon
iron. This will give each material a different color of its own after
polishing and etching. The packet of interleaved steel and iron strips was
heated to the welding temperature and hammered together. The resulting prism
was further processed using the technique of twisting (tording) allowing us to
obtain the intended shape of the finished blade.
Then the basic configuration of the blade
was created. A very complicated type was used consisting of eight damascus
rods featuring various patterns giving the sword different patterns on each
side of the blade. Added to the damascus strips on both sides was a steel
edge. The next step involved the hammering together of the rods, which is the
most difficult operation in the whole blade-making process. The final blade is
a prism made up of the individual rods, about 6cm wide, 0.8cm high and 70cm
long. One wrong hammer blow is enough to break the delicate construction and
destroy it. However, thanks to many years of experience with hammering
similarly constructed shorter knife blades we managed to get through this
phase of blade making without any mishaps.
It should be noted that forging a sword
in the way described above is much more complicated than producing a short
damascus knife. As far as the blacksmith’s skills are concerned “vertical”
welding is probably the most difficult method of welding in a fire. To forge a
sword like that would have been a task beyond the capabilities of most of the
blacksmiths all those centuries ago as it is today. It was a job, which called
for a specialist blacksmith, which explains the high esteem in which the
armoring trade was held.
After the sword was forged into its exact
shape, it was hardened in water and tempered. For welded blades this is the
moment of truth, as each faulty weld will break during the hardening. The
tempered blade was finished by grinding with grit sandstone, polished and
finally etched to make the damascus pattern stand-out. The next step,
following the last touches to the blade, included the crafting of the handle
and the scabbard. The metal parts were cast from bronze using the lost wax
technique or worked from sheet metal and, finally, decorated by engraving and
inset garnets.
The technique of insetting cut stones
into small pockets (“cloisonné”) has been virtually forgotten and it was
up to us to tackle the problems we were to come across. The procedure is
essentially the same as with the “tausie” technique but the ”hammering
in” of the brittle stone requires a sharp eye and strong nerves. Of the
goldsmithing techniques we had up to then had a chance to practice, this was
one of the most difficult. The same was true when it came to creating the
engravings in the mode of animal ornaments – a Germanic specialty widely
applied at that time. The engravings are in fact incredibly complicated
tangles of serpent and dragon bodies where, in spite of the superficial chaos,
each line has its place and purpose. The study of the Gordian knots itself
took us hours. The engraving work consists of cutting very deep V-shaped
grooves that, intertwined, make up the intended ornament. In contrast to today’s
methods of engraving, the surface of the object is worked to such an extent
that, in the end, almost nothing is left of the original surface. The
decorations having been finished, all the bronze parts were gold or
silver-plated and the different parts of the sword were assembled.
It took us three months to make the Vendel
sword, most of that time being taken by the decorating work. The only regret
we have is that we did not have a chance to directly investigate the original
from the collection in Stockholm and to objectively assess to what extent we
managed to imitate the model. Our background photographic documentation was
unfortunately insufficient in this respect.
In terms of blade quality, the composition of
the damascus swords is an ingenuous solution to the long blade problem in that
the hard edge gives the sword a superb cutting quality while the damascus
center imparts on it the toughness making the sword as a whole both hard and
tough.
As the above has shown, sword making
has a definite place at the pinnacle of human arts and craftsmanship. It is a
sad fact that this demanding work is not appreciated by most people in the art
world today. The general trend of modern times is to degrade manual work and
to replace it with machines churning out thousands of cheap products of all
kinds. We believe it is the handcrafted products that the creator put all his
love and craft into that are immeasurably more valuable than the uniform
trivia mass-produced for profit. For obvious reasons, they are, inevitably,
soulless.
We would like to wish the best of luck
to all those who, in spite of modern trends, have decided to put in some solid
manual work, whether it be sword smiths, sculptors, engravers, painters or
other artists as we hold that respect for human art and craft (and human
beings themselves) is the foundation on which the past was built and which
will also provide firm foundations for the future.
