Secrets of the Viking Sword

Secrets of the Viking Sword

The Ulfberht Sword was the ultimate weapon owned by selected Vikings. The swords were far better than any other sword in all of Europe. The Ulfberht was a revolutionary high-tech tool as well as a work of art. However, the Metallurgical technique used to make the Ulfberht remains unknown.


So how did Viking sword makers design and build the Ulfberht, and what was its role in history? The secret behind its design creation and use have been lost for a thousand years.


Now a modern-day blacksmith, Rick Furrer, will try to reveal the sercret of the Ulfberht Sword. He took this job because it is so challenging. Can he bring the Ulfberht back to life?

The reconstruction of the Ulfberht is the main theme of the whole documentary. Most of the questions in the show were about the creation process: How is the Ulfberht's metal different from the metal of other swords? How is the Ulfberht made? All these secrets were left for the audience and blacksmith to figure out. 

In Chapter Two of the show, it interested me that they talked about fighting skills in ancient war fields.  The Ulfberht Sword wouldn't guarantee your victory; fighting skills were the key to winning the battle in Viking combat. Warriors mainly pounded against armor and shields and a sword is just a tool. But, the Ulfberht Sword does give its master a big advantage, because of its unusual flexibility that can withstand a lot of stress. It was even considered a weapon with magic power. It is nice that the film makers put some other information related to the theme into the film. It is obvious that someone interested in weapons would also want to know more about ancient warfare. In this way, the audience won't feel bored with only one topic.

In the third part of the show, Rick the blacksmith has taken his steel out of the crucible. It then takes eight hours to pound the steel into the shape of a sword. Next, a small piece of steel is sent to the largest steel company in the world to test to see if it is good enough to make the sword. In one part of its testing, a technician uses a microscope to check the surface of the sward: It is purely clean there, with very little slag (a byproduct of smelting metal ores). This part of the documentary went over complicated chemical theory, like the characteristics of the steel, in order to explain why the Ulfberht is different from others. 
 

One of the unique charactristic of the Ulfberht Sword is the "Ulfberht" lettering written on the sword. What kind of technique did they used to successfully write it? What does this lettering even mean? Only very skilled craftman can make the Ulfberht. As Rick trys to write this on his blade, we are on our journey to find out the secret of "Ulfberht." Several archaeologists are interviewed here saying there is no written history of this name or word. Then some assumptions are raised about the origin of this word, but no evidence have been provided to prove these assumptions. The only thing in the show is the reconstruction, which is considered as evidence of the assumption. This is the same trick used in other documentaries, such as "Pyramids of Death."

Overall the show did a good job using the progress of manufacturing the sword as the main theme of the show, going back and forth between the sword manufacturing progress and its historical background. But looking critically at the third part of the show, I don't believe it. How can someone have all of these conclusions on something without any written history?

Questions to think:

• Do you think this kind of documentary show,which is more entertaining than others, did a better job in engaging the audience?

• Do you think this show present its information clearly and efficiently to the audience?

•  What do you think they can do to improve this show?

General Comments:     
What's right:Use manufacturing process of sword throughout the show, very easy for audience to follow. Lots of useful information provided.

What's wrong: Some information are not realibale, kind of vague, should be more clear of what they said.

Grade:B