Anglo Saxon Warriors Prepare for battle Year 3

Anglo Saxon Warriors

Prepare for battle Year 3, because we’re about to take a trip back in time in our Anglo-Saxon facts, to a time 1, 600 years ago when fierce warriors ruled Great Britain!

All freemen in Anglo-Saxon times were warriors. Most Anglo-Saxon men were also farmers & returned home to their villages as soon as they had finished fighting.

The local lord (ealdormen) had to provide as many men as the King ordered when an army was needed for battle. This part-time army was called the fyrd. Most armies consisted of up to just a few hundred men. Some men were used as warriors to defend the King & this would be their job – they were full-time warriors.

Anglo-Saxon warriors dressed in their normal clothes, but the wealthier or more important warriors had some extra iron chainmai & an iron helmet for protection.

The weapons they carried were spears, axes, knives, bows & arrows & swords & they protected themselves further with wooden shields.

The swords were sometimes decorated with metal work & precious stones & full-time warriors often named them. The blacksmith would spend hours creating these weapons & then a metal craft worker might add decoration, meaning they were expensive & only the rich carried them.

Hilts (sword handle) could be carved from ivory (usually traded walrus tusks). Both daggers & swords were worn in scabbards (highly decorated if you were wealthy). So weapons were worn as a sign of wealth as well as being useful in battle! The shields could be quite plain or highly decorated too (depending on your position in society).

The fighting was done face-to-face on foot and many nasty wounds were caused. Spears were thrown like javelins & the axes were sometimes thrown too (though they were also used for close fighting). Swords & daggers were used for closer fighting & bow & arrows from further afield.

• LO: I can design and make my own Anglo-Saxon shield. Your task today is to design and make your very own Anglo Saxon Shield! You will Need: • Card or thick paper, as big as you can find. (Don’t worry if you can’t find any big card, as you can make a mini paper shield) • Foil • Glue • Colouring pencils or paint

• Lets start by having a closer look at Anglo Saxon Shields…

Sutton Hoo Anglo Saxon Shield! Close up of the bird decoration on the Sutton Hoo shield The shield found at Sutton Hoo (early 7 th century burial of a king) Fun Fact: This shield can be seen in the British Museum & has been reconstructed, because the round wooden part had decayed.

Conical Boss Shields were usually round with a conical boss. Little is known about the designs although metal decorations have been found and traces of colours painted on the front. Replica of the Sutton Hoo shield boss Conical boss Close-up of the shield boss. They usually had a 'button' on the top. Real shield boss

• The boss in the centre of the shield was decorated for the rich, & other metal or ivory pieces could be attached, sometimes with precious stones. • Shields were usually made from wood. They could be between 30 and 120 cm in diameter, but commonly were between 60 and 90 cm. They were often covered in leather or thick cloth or painted with bold geometric patterns, e. g. quartered with alternate colours.

Examples of how an Anglo Saxon Shield may have looked

Your Turn: Design your own Anglo Saxon shield with Conical Boss. You can design your shield how you would like. See next slide for an idea.

Draw these three circles onto your cardboard. Paint/colour this middle part of your shield. You could split it into quarters and do alternative colours. Like this: You could decorate the outer edge and middle (Conical boss) with foil. Like this:

Finally, Make a handle for your shield with card so that you can carry it around easily.