Doc Nickel, a good point about iron and steel. I was just reading a book saying that given bronze was used more in ancient Rome than iron, in a sense the Romans were still in the bronze age.
I’ve a question about ring mail being able to stop a sword. I’m a fencer. I’ve got a samauri sword sitting right in front of me. Chain mail might be able to deflect a glancing blow, or even a slash with the side of the blade. But a direct thrust? Little rings of steel vs. a solid point of heavier and sharp metal? No. It would take solid metal to do that…
Granted Frodo took a spear in Lord of the Rings, but Tolkien doesn’t seem to have much weapons knowledge.
LOTR is fiction. The chain-mail Frodo is carrying is made of Mithril, and made by the Dwarfs if I remeber correctly. It has nothing to do with how a real chain mail would take a thrust.
Well, Telchar, a dwarf of Nogrod, forged it originally. It was “reforged and made anew by elvin smiths”, which I’d take as meaning it was melted down and recast/remade. Elven smiths were reportedly not slackers, but I don’t know what Telchar’s folk would’ve thought of all this.
I see on preview that Galerion has already addressed the Frodo’s mithril chain-mail, which was “stronger than steel but light as a feather.”
[/tolkien geek]
Aside from which, Mithril was so rare and powerful that Gimli explained that the entire Shire (and he did not appear to be joking, either) was not worth the coat of Mithril Mail.
Yeah, I love the idea of mithril being so tough and expensive.
But I was wondering about real chain mail, just as much. Real chain mail, one should be able to drive a sword point through (remembering museum displays of armor).
Mithril, even if the stuff itself did not break, would not take a spear thrust without driving the mail deep into the flesh, I’m thinking. Unless it was “magic”, of course.
Magic mithril, the material of choice for soccer players’ jock straps, I’m thinking.
Chain mail was generally made of fairly soft, thin rings of steel. It would usually stop a slashing blow from a sword, athough it would be badly damaged, and the wearer would recieve bruises/broken bones, even through the thick padding worn underneath, but a thrust from a dagger, lance, spear, or an arrow would easily penetrate it. I would think a battleaxe would cut right through it. Which is of course, why steel plates were gradually added to supplement the chain hauberk, and eventually chain was phased out entirely in favor of full plate.
Sometimes it’s not about stopping the blow, but making the wound less life-threatening. Some knights (and it is rumored, the Mongols) wore silk shirts so an arrow could be easily removed from a wound with minimal damage. I suspect mithril had similar effect. Theoretically.