What most folk think of as a "suit of armor" is often 16th century jousting armor.  That said, when someone with money went to an armorer to get a set of armor there were usually parts that could be added or removed.  For example, the helmet that would actually be worn in combat had a fairly open face because limited vision in a battle is not a good thing and for better ventilation.  For jousting, a visor with much more limited vision and heavier plates would be added.  A small vision slit works if all you have to see is your oncoming opponent.  the same is true of the rest of the armor, various plates would be added for the joust.

The same set of armor configured for the joust could be much heavier than it would be for actual military service.

Because it was thought very cool to have pieces of armor fly off at impact some pieces of armor were spring loaded so that if the opponent hit the target just right pieces would fly high into the air.

I have seen a person wearing a full set of historically correct plate armor turn a cartwheel.  Hardly so limiting to need a crane to mount a horse. 

 

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

I don't like Hollywood movies about Vikings: too much seax and violence.

Some of us find it seaxy

9 hours ago, George N. M. said:

I have seen a person wearing a full set of historically correct plate armor turn a cartwheel. 

 

There is a story of William the Marshall (13th century) dancing with the ladies in full armor while waiting for a tournament to start.  He may have said, "You'll have to pardon my dancing, I'm a bit rusty."

Mr. G. N. M. ,

Stated that William the Marshall danced in full armor.

SLAG  says,

SIGH !

Gone are the good old days.

Perhaps in my next carnation.

SLAG.

3 hours ago, George N. M. said:

There is a story of William the Marshall (13th century) dancing with the ladies in full armor

That's interesting -- what was he wearing?

Now everyone at work is looking at me! 

(I think William the Marshal could wear anything he wanted to. I know I would not have been eager to face him on the tourney or battle field(s)!)

And of course the Ladies in Armour brings up Elanor of Aquitaine when she accompanied Louis on crusade as well as Joan of Arc.

Just to drop in on the bent sword, I believe from what ive read and understand was that the Vikings felt that a sword was a weapon that had its "magical" powers and often named them and respected them. And it was felt that a sword taken from a warrior killed would mean that it would bring bad luck and that the original owner of the sword would be waiting in the afterlife for vengeance. To prevent this the swords were bent and buried with the owner, enemy or not.

I understand the religious beliefs of these people was very complex and there wasn't just an afterlife etc, and I'm sure I could have worded it better, but in essence I think it was done out of fear of the consequences in the afterlife.

There are a number of sagas that mention taking a sword from a famous warriors tomb just for it's "special powers".  With that I would think you might purposely damage a blade to prevent such thefts rather than preventing supernatural vengeance...example the sword  Sköfnungr

Also, there was a belief across many cultures that an item in grave goods had to be "killed" so that it could be used by the deceased on the other side.  A spirit could not use a tangible object and a living person could not use an item that had been "killed" and rendered unusable.  Evidence of this is often seen in pottery items that have a hole punched in them and in bent weapons.  I suspect that this is a more probable explanation than postmortem security or fear of retribution in the afterlife.

2 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

vengeance...example the sword  Sköfnungr

Gee, THANK YOU FOR THAT Thomas! Just what I need more addictive reading material. Heck, maybe I'll be able to keep up with a friend of mine with the masters in history. I'd be REALLY surprised if I pick up something he doesn't already know about but . . .

Frosty The Lucky.

Also rendering a valuable item useless is a form of sacrifice practiced across many cultures. 

On 3/17/2019 at 2:31 AM, pnut said:

Also rendering a valuable item useless is a form of sacrifice practiced across many cultures. 

It's also a common practice for beginner blacksmiths. 

Frosty The Lucky.

Don't I know it. ;-)

 

Don't we all, stop by I'll show you some of my trophies.

Frosty The Lucky.

What if the design was not for combat ?
Lets say the seax was used both as a weapon, but mainly as a tool.

And that the backside was used as a small handy "club" or "hammer" for various tasks.
Cracking nuts, pounding meat so it becomes tender,  and things like that.
A point on the backside  to concentrate force of such a "club" could be very handy as a place to concentrate force 

Welcome aboard, glad to have you. If you put your general location in the header you'll have a much better chance of meeting up with members living within visiting distance.

Do you know what "Seax" means? It's from an ancient language that included the Norwegian peninsula, east. I can't think of the basic language group and am not going to look it up. 

Anyway, "Seax", means, Knife. Saxons were the "People of the Knife." Probably the most seax associated feature is a straight edge with a straight spine that drops to the point. With a little luck searching the web you can find thousands of examples, some dating to the early bronze age and some "possibly" as early as the neolithic. 

While plenty of people used their knife as a weapon and many were made to serve as one, it doesn't make the seax a weapon per se. It was in most, maybe almost all cases a tool first and a weapon at need. I have an unfinished long seax with a blade that falls just short of a short sword and given a choice in a serious fight I want a baseball bat or a modest tree limb.

It would be excellent as the off hand blade were you fighting with a sword and short blade.  "Florentine?"

I don't know why putting a hammer or pike head on the spine would make it not a seax but I don't know if it'd ben an enhancement. It sounds like an idea worth experimenting with if a person wished. Perhaps thicken the spine both sides of the angle where it breaks to the tip enough to use as a hammer. Some seaxes had wide blades and steep breaks to the tip and would probably be a good place to start.

If you make one, please post pictures and keep us in the loop.

Frosty The Lucky.

Historic seaxes (sometimes spelled "sax", hence "Saxon") come in lengths of about 5-6" up to about 20".  The smaller ones would have been used as a utility belt knife and the longer ones are clearly a weapon.  The ones in between could probably be used as both depending on the circumstances.  Is a bowie knife with and 11-12" blade a tool or a weapon?  Both depending on the situation.

And the angle from the spine to the point could vary greatly.  Some are about 45 degrees and some are so shallow that it results in a very tapered blade.

BTW, welcome aboard.  As Frosty says, it helps us if we know where, generally, you are.  This is a world wide forum and we don't know if you are in Lapland, Tasmania, or Idaho.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."