Hank Reinhardt's The Book of the Sword Read Online Free PDF Page A

and killed. We know that such combat took place from the Illiad and the Odyssey , not to mention pictorial representation on vases, and from other written sources. In short, armor was needed not only as protection from your enemies, but your friends as well. It could not give you complete protection, but it was a lot better to have some protection than none at all.
    Although weapons were cast, most of the armor was cold worked. Bronze is easily worked once you realize that it quickly work hardens. Then it has to be annealed. The easiest way to anneal bronze is to heat it up quite hot, and then quench it in water (note that this is the reverse of annealing iron). Helmets and breastplates were forged. The very early armor, like the Dendra panoply, is really rather ugly. It took a good while for them to come up with the muscle breastplate that we all love.
    Here weight enters into the subject once again. Bronze is heavy, and the result is that the armor cannot be made too strong, or the weight will be prohibitive. People who get to see a real helmet or breastplate for the first time are usually shocked at how thin the metal is. Thin—but a good armorer would work harden the metal, so that it would be thin, but strong. Not perfect, but a lot better than nothing.
    Bronze is a comparatively simple material to work and cast. If you have all the ingredients—the right amount of tin, the right amount of copper, proper molds with gates, and a sufficiency of heat—then your casting is generally going to come out pretty well. During the Late Bronze Age (1550 BC–1200 BC) castings were very good, and it is obvious that the metal workers knew their craft. The one real advantage here is that the swords were consistent in their hardness and their quality.
    But even as bronze workers improved their craft, another discovery was waiting in the wings. One that would be the most important ingredient in war even until today. As Kipling phrased it, "Iron—Cold Iron—was the master of them all!"
Suggestions for further reading from Hank:
    Bottini, Angelo et al., Antike Helme . Verlag de Roemisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums, Mainz, 1988.
    Byock, Jesse L., "Egil's Bones," Scientific American , Jan. 1995, Vol. 272 #1, pages 82–87.
    Peake, Harold and Herbert John Fleure, Merchant Venturers in Bronze. Yale University Press, New Haven, 1931.
    Eogan, George, Catalog of Irish Bronze Swords , Stationary Office—Government Publicans, Dublin, 1965.
    Eogan, George, Hoards of the Irish Later Bronze Age. University College, Dublin, 1883.
    Gamber, Ortwin, Waffe und Rustung Eurasiens. Klinkhardt & Bierman, 1978.
    Ottenjann , Helmut , Die Nordischen Vollgriffschwerter der Alteren und Mittleren Bronzeit , Verlag Walter De Gruyter & Co., 1969.
    Seitz, Heribert, Blankwaffen. Klinkhardt & Biermann GMBH, Munchen, 1981.
    Snodgrass, Anthony, Early Greek Armour and Weapons from the End of the Bronze Age to 600 B.C. , Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 1964.
Suggestions for further reading from the editors:
    Buehr, Walter, Warrior's Weapons . Thomas Y. Crowell Company, New York, 1963.
    Connolly, Peter, Greece and Rome at War . Greenhill Books, London, 1998.
    Macqueen, J.G., The Hittites and Their Contemporaries in Asia Minor . Westview Press, Boulder, 1975.
     
    [1] If there was moisture of any kind in the mold, the molten bronze would make the mold explode—right in your face. Such a drastic change in temperature between the molten metal and the water always ends with a violent result. It's like having your engine overheat, and then pouring cold water into your radiator; you'll crack your engine block. —Peter Fuller

2: Iron and Steel
    Metallic sword and knife-making doubtless began when ancient man discovered little green stones on the ground which, when heated sufficiently, yielded copper. This liquid metal then was poured into molds to form axes and knives. These tools were soft, but could be work hardened by hammering.
    Later, these early smiths learned