Nicole Ko
January 29, 2020
Period 2
We started off today’s class by taking a vocabulary quiz on unit 6. After everyone handed the quiz in, we watched a video called The Secrets of the Viking Sword by National Geographic Nova. We watched this basically the rest of the period. The video talked about how difficult it was to recreate Ulfberht, the viking sword. It was hard to replicate exactly because it was something way ahead of its time and blacksmiths didn’t have any record of how the blades were made. It was light and flexible. The video also talked about how the strength, flexibility, weight, and shape determine the sword’s superiority, which explains why the Ulfberht was an important weapon. Although it was important, it was quite rare and expensive so not everyone had them. Vikings were skilled navigators and traders, which meant that they needed skills in combat since they were often forced to go to war. It is important to note that viking blades tend to not touch each other directly; they wanted to go straight for the kill. They also used shields. Where other swords would get stuck, the Ulfberht was flexible enough to withstand the stress of being stuck in the shield. This is due to the lack of impurities.
Reflection
The video provided an understanding of fighting in Beowulf, specifically the weapons. Swords play a big role in Beowulf. For example, he used a Sword to kill Grendel’s mother. It showed how important weaponry is to a person.
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