Battle

Swords

The typical Anglo-Saxon sword was double-edged, 33 inches long, and was used for cutting, not piercing. It had a shallow indentation running along the middle to reduce the weight. The hilt was made of wood, and sometimes enhanced or decorated with copper, silver, or gold. [1] It was often handed down from generation to generation, increasing in value and caliber with each, because it was thought to have accumulated the bravery of each warrior to have wielded it. The weight of the swords could be emplyed to the crush bones and internal organs.

(4)

Shields

There were 2 main types of shields used by the Anglo-Saxons. (3)
The Kite shield:
(3)

The Round shield:
(3)

The round shield was most commonly used in shield walls with spikes pushed through to defend against calvary. They were considered impregnable by any force when more then 5 men deep.(3)

(3)

Spears

Contrary to popular belief, the most common weapon of the period was the spear, because the sword was mostly owned by people of nobility and wealth. There were several types of spears including the javelin, which was a light spear, the thrusting spear, which was heavier. Spears were so effective because they kept enemies at long distances and were cheap to make. Spears were typically thrown in an over-arm method indicating that the prime target was the face, mainly the eyes, being the weakest part of the skull.(4)

Scramseax

The scramseax was a long knife essentially used for everyday tasks. However in battle it could be used to finish off a felled opponent, and althought it was not as effective as a sword, it required just as much iron and was used by people of all classes. They ranged in length from 3-30 inches and are divided into two classes of length; the shorteer version being the hadseax and the longer version being the langseax. [5]
[6]

Axes

Axes were typically constructed of a wooden handle and a hard type of iron welded in between a folder softer piece of iron that served as the socket. The handles ranged from two to three feet long with a blade three to six inches long. Using primarily intimidation, the axe was only good for an attack, but of little use in defense. A popular type of the Anglo-Saxons was the Francisca, which was thrown at the advancing opponenent to create as much discord among them before a clash. The Broadaxe, or Dane-axe, was a two-handled axe that was used to take down a horse and its rider with one blow, but required the wielder to be unable to hold a shield for defense. (7)

[8]

Javelins

Javelins were typically thrown on foot, on horseback, or from a ship. On the battlefield, they were thrown into a mass rather than at one person due to its limited accuracy. It was thrown from about 30-40 paces away from the enemy, usually by men in the rear raks. An unfortunate characteristic of it is that it could be caught by the enemy. A particular type of javelin that was frequently employed by the Anglo-Saxons was the pilum, or the angon. It was known for its longer shaft and barbed head that would become embedded into the shield of the enemy, and with the weight of the shaft the shield would be rendered useless, leaving the enemy open for attacks from other weapons. (9)

Slings

Primarily used for hunting, slings were effective against unarmour foes. They had the power to break bones and crack the skull. Ammunition considered of small round stones. The sling was later updated so that it was placed on top of a pole. This adaption did not affect range as much as power. It allowed the wielder to launch much heaveier objects in a trebuchet fashion.

Chainmail

Chainmail was originally called 'mail' and was not called 'chainmail' until the 1700's. It consisted of hundreds of thousands of thin strips of iron beneded and connected to form links. The massive number's purpose was to provide flexibility, rather than being just one continuous sheet of metal. Mail was able to stop the cutting effects of weapns, but not the crushing effects, so a padding, called 'gambeson' was typically worn underneath. 'Healsbeorgs' were mail that was worn on the back and top of the head and appeared around the 8th century.(10)

(11)

Limb Armour

Very few common warriors had limb protection. The rich may have head a leg protection called greaves. Normally metal plates that covered from knee to foot. Later, chain mail was adapted to protect the legs as well as the chest and torso. The rich also owned leather vambraces or leather bindings to protect the forearm. (12)

Helmets

In accordance with the body armor, helmets often had a mail coif with the single purpose of deflecting the stroke of a sword.Metal helms of several types were all fairly similar in principle. They were made from bands of metal forming a framework which was 'filled in' by riveting metal, leather (speculative) or even horn panels into it. Sometimes a nasal opening would be included to protect the face, often as an extension of the framework. A few of the earlier Anglo-Saxon and Viking helmets had spectacle like eye-guards or visors. (13)

Other

When the quantity of conventional weapons was poor, rocks were simply thrown at the enemy and this was in no organized fashion whatsoever. However out of neccessity and improvisation, primitive maces were formed by tying these rocks to sticks and either throwing them or battling with them in hand-to-hand combat. Later in this period maces were invented and perfected, becoming an intimidatingly hostile looking weapon. (14)



Sources:
(1)http://www.octavia.net/anglosaxon/Anatomyofasword.htm
(2) http://www.regia.org/sword.htm
(3)http://www.regia.org/shields.htm
(4) http://www.regia.org/spear.htm http://www.caswellstudios.com/SwordPages/BodyPages/Enlarged/suttonhoobody.html
(5)http://www.regia.org/seax.htm
(6)http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://imperialweapons.com/swords/Gen2/Ip-130t.JPG&imgrefurl=http://imperialweapons.com/swords.html&h=125&w=51&sz=3&hl=en&start=5&tbnid=DRYTTTfbDZAnEM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=37&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dscramseax%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DISO-8859-1
(7) http://www.regia.org/axe.htm
(8) http://www.chokecherryforge.com/art/axesm.jpg
(9) http://www.regia.org/bow.htm
(10) http://www.regia.org/Mail.htm
(11) http://www.regia.org/Mail.htm
(12) http://www.regia.org/Mail.htm
(13) http://www.regia.org/helmet.htm
(14) http://www.regia.org/bow.htm
(15) http://www.regia.org/trade.htm