Reclaiming the Blade Page #7

the Bamburgh Research Project

in a effort to

unlock the secrets

of this rare object's

hidden past.

This is one of the most

significant swords found

by Brian Hope-Taylor in

his 1960s excavation.

It remained in his possession

up until his death in 2001

at which point it came

back to the castle.

When you hold it today it has an

almost mystical quality to it.

It looks like a corroded lump

of metal but in its glory

this would have been

an awe inspiring sight.

The x-rays revealed

it to be an extraordinarily

sophisticated piece

of technology.

It proved to be

an incredibly important weapon.

One of the most

important weapons,

I think it's fair to say,

ever found in Britain.

It's actually composed at its

central core of 6 strands

of iron which are worked and

twisted and welded together.

On the edge of that is added

a steel 7th element,

if you like, in a technique

called Patton welding.

An iron core with

a forge-welded steel edge,

so you get the flex

and strength of the iron

with the extreme

cutting power of the steel.

Which is incredibly tough and

quite springy and flexible,

so it won't break

very easily.

You'd rather have a sword

softer, take a set,

take a bend, than break.

Because a broken sword in

your hand during a battle,

you're done.

I wouldn't want to be the smith

that the customer came back to

with his brother's broken

sword in his hand going,

"Hey, why did you make

this so brittle?"

If a warrior would go

into battle with a sword

that was excessively

hard and brittle

the battle for him could be

very short indeed.

There's only a handful

like this in the world,

probably 4 or 5

in the entire world.

Experts we've talked to in

the British Museum

of the Royal Armories

don't know of a single example

of a 6 stranded sword

prior to this one being

identified which does suggest

that they are--

something of this

technological sophistication

is staggeringly rare.

If you were actually have looked

in the home of a medieval

warrior or a warrior in another

culture of a century or 2 ago,

often the sword would've really,

you know, represented

the most technologically

advanced item in the house.

It represents the epitome of

technology of weapons technology

of its age.

It is, I suppose in

a modern analogy,

something like

a stealth fighter.

The one thing I can say with

certainty is that it's very,

very difficult to

make one of these.

You wouldn't let a smith who

knew the secrets of making

a sword like this

wander about.

They would have been kept

closely guarded by the king.

The information

would have been

an incredibly

jealously guarded secret.

The process is very

long and very arduous

and requires an incredible

level of skill.

He would have had

a mastery of metals.

He would have known exactly

when to take it from the fire,

which bits to forge, how hard

to hit it, when to hit it,

more importantly

when not to hit it.

One single blow can shatter

a blade like this easily

if it's at

the wrong temperature.

Literally tens of thousands of

hammer blows have to be right.

When you manufacture a blade

like this you don't just

make it, you live it,

and you dream about it

and you think about it

every single moment.

It would often reflect

the very best craftsmanship

and some of the best applied

art of that culture.

I generally try to see how all

the pieces were put together

because Patton welding is

quite a complicated process.

That would have been translated

into a 3-D reconstruction

in the computer of how it

was put together.

There is a cleanliness of

line and an economy of weight

to make it efficient, durable,

as light as possible.

I'm continually impressed

to no end of how beautiful

all these objects are.

High-end warriors and kings

who can do what they want

with precious metals

and precious stones.

The idea that they don't need

to because the sword itself

is so precious,

I think, speaks volumes.

There must have been quite a lot

of thought on the part of

the regular soldier to actually

preserve the blade from damage.

Simply to employ a person of

the caliber of the individual

who made this would

have cost a fortune,

would have cost

an absolute fortune.

If you look at old swords you

can tell which ones have had to

be used to parry

or bone break.

You can tell

bone breaks, too.

It's actually notched and

chipped along both sides which

does suggest that it has been

used repeatedly in battle.

A sword of this quality would

have been owned by someone

who was incredibly important.

It was probably owned by one

of the kings of Northumbria,

possibly by several of

them which does suggest

200 or 300 years of use.

So it may of well

been an heirloom of

the Northumbrian Royal House,

passed down from generations

basically from

one king to another.

A sword like this, I think,

would have inspired

absolute terror.

When you're in battle and you

see a sword of this quality

coming towards you, you would

know immediately that the person

who wielded a sword like this

was someone who had spent

their entire life training

to be a warrior,

who lived their

life by the sword.

Contrary to popular notions,

the medieval long sword

is surprisingly light, weighing

an average of only 3 pounds

and capable of

blindingly fast attacks.

Sword combatants use both

footwork and the ability to

manipulate timing and distance

to enhance the swords cutting

and thrusting capabilities.

One of the primary principles

of swordplay is to attack

and defend at the same time

where every attack contains

and defense and every defense

contains a counter attack.

Picking up a sharp implement

and cutting someone,

you know you can teach

that very quickly,

however the strategy

behind it--when to attack,

when not attack--that is

a very mental pursuit.

The subtle movements,

the deceptions, the trickery,

where I look over here, move

and strike someplace else.

When you start fencing

with medieval swords,

then you discover that

there is more to it

than actually using

just the blade.

There's different angles

and lots of things that

it's not obvious for the normal

person in using the sword.

Levering with the sword to

try to disarm the other guy,

bashing with the cross, pommel.

Historically European

martial artists believe that

it is important to study

and practice the techniques

with great energy

and intensity.

From the manuals we

can see the diversity

of the ancient masters' skills.

They studied

2 weapon combinations:

sword with shields,

swords with buckler,

and swords with daggers.

Often they considered

unarmored and well as

armored fighting,

mounted as well as on foot.

Generally the ancient masters

always integrated armed

and unarmed skills,

never practicing fencing

without also including grappling

and wrestling techniques.

Most of these combats

probably ended on the ground.

When he's down on the ground

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