My rather irritable post on John Lundemo's Odinblades's sword offerings has led me to post this question. I am very aware that most people consider Arthur to have been no more than a myth, but there are some historical indications that there was a war leader of the Britons who was able to unite them in the west of the Greater British Island in order to better resist the invading Teutonic tribes, largely Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. I may joke about my re-enacting a peaceable settler in the manner of the Europeans who settled North America when I am re-enacting Anglo-Saxons of this period, but the truth is that it was a time of exceeding violence and of ethnic clearing in the modern sense, resulting in the original Britons, a blend of Romans, Celts, and whoever else remained of the Roman Empire after its collapse in its Province of Britannia, being pushed into the fringes. These fringes were the less arable, less desirable, lands of Wales, the Scottish Highlands, some of Cornwall, Eire, and the Britanny Peninsula of France to which a number of Britons had fled for refuge.
Somewhere in the late 5th Century, the onrushing change from Britain to England was temporarily halted in the West Country and even pushed back a bit by what appears to be a war leader of some exceptional ability. He appears in Welsh sagas and in some Pictish legends as well. The name that appears is frequently some Celtic form of "Arthur" and it is never clear just exactly what his role was, whether king or war leader, in Latin, the language still frequently spoken by the Britons at that time, "Dux Bellorum", or "War Duke". There are some references to his using Late Roman or Sarmatian style heavy cavalry in the open country east of the hills bordering the Welsh Mountains, a reasonable consideration IMNSHO, for there had been a substantial contingent of Sarmatian heavy cavalry resident in Britain ever since the reign of Marcus Aurelius who had sent them there after forcing their submission in the mid-2nd Century CE. It is also known that the later Emperor-to-be Theodosius I had brought a Field Army into Britain in 369 CE. These Field Armies had a strong core of heavy cavalry, so the Britons would have seen their effectiveness, especially against infantry such as predominated among the Anglo-Saxon invaders.
So, I can easily visualize a war leader, whether king or Dux Bellorum, with a large force of heavy cavalry as his basic military force. Such a leader would have been able to use the infantry provided by the local strong men to form the rest of his army to guard his flanks and to provide the logistics, but his "arm of decision" would be his heavy cavalry, just as it was for the Late Romans and the Byzantines. If you wish to see what such a cavalryman might have looked like, look up "cataphract" or "clibanarius" in any book or website on Roman military history. These were heavily armored and armed troopers. They usually had some form of cuirass, either of mail or lamellar construction, sometimes both. They wore helmets that covered their whole heads and necks, complete with some form of face protection. They carried large shields, usually circular but sometimes oval, and sometimes dished. They had a central grip protected by an umbo and were frequently made of plys of wood glued together and were covered by leather and edged in rawhide or metal. There may have been a strap to go over the arm just below the elbow. They also carried a spatha, a long slashing sword, sometimes a short stabbing sword or a long dagger, and a contus or lance which was usually about 16-20 feet long and made of a durable but light wood and tipped at both ends with sharp iron points. These were not used in the underarm couched style of the Middle Ages but were wielded overhand in a stabbing motion so as the reach over the opponent's shield. The cavalry could also carry a weighted dart that they would lob up into the air toward the enemy as they charged, causing considerable havoc when and wherever they landed. These were called "martiobarbuli" or "plumbata", the latter from the lead weight that they used to gain impact force. Of course, it took a very powerful horse to carry all of this and considerable training for both horse and man to be effective in the role.
As you can see, all of this would have been quite expensive to establish and to maintain. I can only assume that the "Arthur" character had the wherewithal to begin the process and he had used the common practice of the time to surround himself with "Companions" who swore oaths of loyalty to his person and not to any state or king. This would have been the origin, I believe, of the "Knights of the Round Table". And many of these Companions may well have supplied their own horses and equipment originally, as the stories imply that they came from noble or wealthy backgrounds themselves.
So, here is how I visualize Arthur. He is a powerfully built man, tall for his age, maybe more than 6 feet tall. He would be dressed as a Late Roman magnate in a quality tunica and braccae with sturdy boots of some type, perhaps using the leg wrapping that was quite common throughout the period (think WWI puttees). He would have worn a heavy cloak similar to the Roman sagum, a heavy woolen item that is about 9' long by 5' wide. It may be doubled and pinned over the shoulder to make a cloak that is quite water resistant in my experience, or may be wrapped around the body in bitter cold as a blanket. If you do it right, you can pull it over your head as well. It is similar to, but heavier than, the Highland Scot's long plaid and can be worn over armor and weapons as well as over plain clothing without arms. All in all, a very useful item. He might have worn some form of head covering, probably would have in cold or wet weather. This could have taken many forms, from a simple hood to the Pannonian Cap of the Late Roman Empire which could be of simple cloth, of expensive cloth, of plain leather, or of fur and decorated or not, depending upon taste and wealth. There were also, very lilely, some form of padded cap for wear under your helmet which could also be worn without a helmet just as it was later during the Medieval period.
I visualize Arthur's armor as a mail hauberk over a padded subarmalis, a cloth or leather undergarment, with a lamellar cuirass over it. If he didn't wear a mail hauberk beneath the lamellar cuirass, then the subarmalis would have had leather strips attached at the shoulders and at the waist so as to provide protection to the upper arms and to the groin area and to the thighs. Thes leather strips are frequently called "pteruges" or "pteryges" after the feather plumage that they resemble and they can be layered in up to three layers of decreasing lengths as they move outwards. He might have worn some form of leather or metal greaves and lower arm proteection, although I might tend toward metal splints attached to straps that bind them to the arm just above the wrist and below the elbow and to the leg just above the ankle and below the knee. These would need to be suitably formed to allow movement of the nearby joints, but that would be a minor problem. The lamellar cuirass would be of metal lames, either iron (steel) or of a worked and annealed bronze, laced together in the Roman style. I do not lean toward scale hauberks as, while they may be cheaper, they are no where nearly as good at protecting the wearer. His helmet would have been based on the Late Roman Sassanian Ridge type of cavalry helm or would have been a spangenhelm of the type quite common all over Europe and Persia at the time. His helm of either type would, of course, have been more elaborate than the very simple and basic ones that the common soldier wore, probably with iron spangens set into a gilded iron frame, with attached iron cheekpieces edged with gilded bronze and engraved, and with a neck-guard attached to the rear of the helmet and made of strips of iron edged in gilded bronze strapped together so as to be flexible. This would have been padded inside and then worn over a padded arming cap. Examples of a basic form of the Ridge hem may be seen at http://www.albionarmorers.com/armor/roman/lateridge.htm and an example of a simple version of the spangenhelm may be seen at http://www.albionarmorers.com/armor/viking/5thcenturyhelm.htm
His weapons would have been a Late Roman type spatha or a similar Germanic type of Migration Era sword. This would have been "Excalibur". For examples, please see TEMPL's Roman Riding Sword and his German Sword "Spatha" at http://www.templ.net/indexe.php?id=14a or look at Albion's Migration Period line at http://www.albionarmorers.com/swords/albion/migration/migration.htm
He would also have carried a short stabbing sword or long dagger or knife. My guess of type would have been a seax of what is called the Frankish style as seen here in the Paul Chen version http://www.renstore.com/cgi-bin/Ren...4b0273f40d40a730605/Product/View/CAS&2D1075GT
He would also have carried the lance and the shield as described, perhaps with some form of Christian device upon the shield, say a "Chi-Rho", since the Cross had yet to come into common use at that time. Of course, it is equally likely that he may have had a Mithraic symbol or a Celtic symbol on his shield, my guess being that it might vary according to what was needed to gather local support at the moment, since he would have bee, above all else, a pragmatic leader of men. He could also have carried some form of axe, my guess being a version of the francisca, the curved headed throwing small axe of the Franks, an example of which may be seen here: http://www.albionarmorers.com/axes/franciscaIshaft.htm
Well, that is my description and my explanation for it. Would anyone else care to hazard their opinion and the reasons for therefore?
Somewhere in the late 5th Century, the onrushing change from Britain to England was temporarily halted in the West Country and even pushed back a bit by what appears to be a war leader of some exceptional ability. He appears in Welsh sagas and in some Pictish legends as well. The name that appears is frequently some Celtic form of "Arthur" and it is never clear just exactly what his role was, whether king or war leader, in Latin, the language still frequently spoken by the Britons at that time, "Dux Bellorum", or "War Duke". There are some references to his using Late Roman or Sarmatian style heavy cavalry in the open country east of the hills bordering the Welsh Mountains, a reasonable consideration IMNSHO, for there had been a substantial contingent of Sarmatian heavy cavalry resident in Britain ever since the reign of Marcus Aurelius who had sent them there after forcing their submission in the mid-2nd Century CE. It is also known that the later Emperor-to-be Theodosius I had brought a Field Army into Britain in 369 CE. These Field Armies had a strong core of heavy cavalry, so the Britons would have seen their effectiveness, especially against infantry such as predominated among the Anglo-Saxon invaders.
So, I can easily visualize a war leader, whether king or Dux Bellorum, with a large force of heavy cavalry as his basic military force. Such a leader would have been able to use the infantry provided by the local strong men to form the rest of his army to guard his flanks and to provide the logistics, but his "arm of decision" would be his heavy cavalry, just as it was for the Late Romans and the Byzantines. If you wish to see what such a cavalryman might have looked like, look up "cataphract" or "clibanarius" in any book or website on Roman military history. These were heavily armored and armed troopers. They usually had some form of cuirass, either of mail or lamellar construction, sometimes both. They wore helmets that covered their whole heads and necks, complete with some form of face protection. They carried large shields, usually circular but sometimes oval, and sometimes dished. They had a central grip protected by an umbo and were frequently made of plys of wood glued together and were covered by leather and edged in rawhide or metal. There may have been a strap to go over the arm just below the elbow. They also carried a spatha, a long slashing sword, sometimes a short stabbing sword or a long dagger, and a contus or lance which was usually about 16-20 feet long and made of a durable but light wood and tipped at both ends with sharp iron points. These were not used in the underarm couched style of the Middle Ages but were wielded overhand in a stabbing motion so as the reach over the opponent's shield. The cavalry could also carry a weighted dart that they would lob up into the air toward the enemy as they charged, causing considerable havoc when and wherever they landed. These were called "martiobarbuli" or "plumbata", the latter from the lead weight that they used to gain impact force. Of course, it took a very powerful horse to carry all of this and considerable training for both horse and man to be effective in the role.
As you can see, all of this would have been quite expensive to establish and to maintain. I can only assume that the "Arthur" character had the wherewithal to begin the process and he had used the common practice of the time to surround himself with "Companions" who swore oaths of loyalty to his person and not to any state or king. This would have been the origin, I believe, of the "Knights of the Round Table". And many of these Companions may well have supplied their own horses and equipment originally, as the stories imply that they came from noble or wealthy backgrounds themselves.
So, here is how I visualize Arthur. He is a powerfully built man, tall for his age, maybe more than 6 feet tall. He would be dressed as a Late Roman magnate in a quality tunica and braccae with sturdy boots of some type, perhaps using the leg wrapping that was quite common throughout the period (think WWI puttees). He would have worn a heavy cloak similar to the Roman sagum, a heavy woolen item that is about 9' long by 5' wide. It may be doubled and pinned over the shoulder to make a cloak that is quite water resistant in my experience, or may be wrapped around the body in bitter cold as a blanket. If you do it right, you can pull it over your head as well. It is similar to, but heavier than, the Highland Scot's long plaid and can be worn over armor and weapons as well as over plain clothing without arms. All in all, a very useful item. He might have worn some form of head covering, probably would have in cold or wet weather. This could have taken many forms, from a simple hood to the Pannonian Cap of the Late Roman Empire which could be of simple cloth, of expensive cloth, of plain leather, or of fur and decorated or not, depending upon taste and wealth. There were also, very lilely, some form of padded cap for wear under your helmet which could also be worn without a helmet just as it was later during the Medieval period.
I visualize Arthur's armor as a mail hauberk over a padded subarmalis, a cloth or leather undergarment, with a lamellar cuirass over it. If he didn't wear a mail hauberk beneath the lamellar cuirass, then the subarmalis would have had leather strips attached at the shoulders and at the waist so as to provide protection to the upper arms and to the groin area and to the thighs. Thes leather strips are frequently called "pteruges" or "pteryges" after the feather plumage that they resemble and they can be layered in up to three layers of decreasing lengths as they move outwards. He might have worn some form of leather or metal greaves and lower arm proteection, although I might tend toward metal splints attached to straps that bind them to the arm just above the wrist and below the elbow and to the leg just above the ankle and below the knee. These would need to be suitably formed to allow movement of the nearby joints, but that would be a minor problem. The lamellar cuirass would be of metal lames, either iron (steel) or of a worked and annealed bronze, laced together in the Roman style. I do not lean toward scale hauberks as, while they may be cheaper, they are no where nearly as good at protecting the wearer. His helmet would have been based on the Late Roman Sassanian Ridge type of cavalry helm or would have been a spangenhelm of the type quite common all over Europe and Persia at the time. His helm of either type would, of course, have been more elaborate than the very simple and basic ones that the common soldier wore, probably with iron spangens set into a gilded iron frame, with attached iron cheekpieces edged with gilded bronze and engraved, and with a neck-guard attached to the rear of the helmet and made of strips of iron edged in gilded bronze strapped together so as to be flexible. This would have been padded inside and then worn over a padded arming cap. Examples of a basic form of the Ridge hem may be seen at http://www.albionarmorers.com/armor/roman/lateridge.htm and an example of a simple version of the spangenhelm may be seen at http://www.albionarmorers.com/armor/viking/5thcenturyhelm.htm
His weapons would have been a Late Roman type spatha or a similar Germanic type of Migration Era sword. This would have been "Excalibur". For examples, please see TEMPL's Roman Riding Sword and his German Sword "Spatha" at http://www.templ.net/indexe.php?id=14a or look at Albion's Migration Period line at http://www.albionarmorers.com/swords/albion/migration/migration.htm
He would also have carried a short stabbing sword or long dagger or knife. My guess of type would have been a seax of what is called the Frankish style as seen here in the Paul Chen version http://www.renstore.com/cgi-bin/Ren...4b0273f40d40a730605/Product/View/CAS&2D1075GT
He would also have carried the lance and the shield as described, perhaps with some form of Christian device upon the shield, say a "Chi-Rho", since the Cross had yet to come into common use at that time. Of course, it is equally likely that he may have had a Mithraic symbol or a Celtic symbol on his shield, my guess being that it might vary according to what was needed to gather local support at the moment, since he would have bee, above all else, a pragmatic leader of men. He could also have carried some form of axe, my guess being a version of the francisca, the curved headed throwing small axe of the Franks, an example of which may be seen here: http://www.albionarmorers.com/axes/franciscaIshaft.htm
Well, that is my description and my explanation for it. Would anyone else care to hazard their opinion and the reasons for therefore?
If this company that made sword-like objects had access to the original I'm sure archeologists would be very interested.