Two New Shields from Birchouse Workshop

Hey Dad, they're doing it again. What's that? The Shutterstock Vikings are attacking again. Alright, you know what to do. Hey Birch House friends. Welcome back. So, last week we teased a new project. We asked you to guess what it was. Nobody guessed it. What it actually was is a Japanese Tate. A kind of samurai shield. And we didn't just build one project. We built two new projects that are going to be debuting at this year's Ohio Viking Festival. As part of our interactive educational experience. We'll talk about the second shield and we'll show it to you in just a little bit. But let's first talk about the Japanese Tate. Calling it a shield is kind of a misnomer. Unlike the Tadate shield, a tree shield, this shield is more of a mobile siege wall. You can even interlock them like roof tiles to make a mobile fortification. Right, and so we see these used from the 8th century to the 18th century. The first sources we see them crop up in is the 8th century, the Nara period. And would have been used by archers to defend against archers. Now, this would have been used, like I said, up through the 18th century, the Edo period. And would have been used by riflemen using Tanegashima and even more contemporary muskets and rifles. And of course, as time went on, the shield got thicker to compensate for the more powerful technology that was being deployed by samurai and ashigaru. This is an insanely cool shield. This was so fun to build. So let's talk about the build for a little bit. The Japanese Tate is a plank built shield. And it's just butted and glued together. And like most Japanese woodworking, it's held together by wooden pegs. Right, so like he said, there's no metal parts on this shield, even the articulating arm that's on the back. This arm swings in and out, so you can quickly pick it up and carry it, or quickly deploy it. And it doesn't have any metal hinges or anything. This articulating arm is held together by a single wooden rod, a single wooden peg, down through the metal. These shields are built tall to protect the body of the archer. Kind of like a tower shield or pavise shield that we see in Europe. And these things were built cheap. And were honestly, decorated kind of cheap. Because these were considered largely disposable. This is just an insanely cool shield from Fuel Japan. Now, the next shield that we want to show you, that we're going to be debuting here in just a few days, is our Ekim shield. This is a shield from Ancient Egypt. From about 3000 BC to about 1700 BC, in the height of Ancient Egypt, as we kind of think about it. It is seen to be used in tandem with a kopesh, or a light spear called a da. Right, and according to Daman Steth, who is the leading expert in Ancient Egyptian martial arts, this was a very active shield. Probably used very similarly to a Viking shield. This is a really cool shield. So let's talk more about the build. Speaking of Vikings, the Ekim shield is strikingly similar to a Viking Age shield. With a center held grip, and a plank build construction. With a rawhide edge reinforcement. Another unique feature about this shield, is this hide covering. What they probably would use was cow or goat hide, but there are some sources saying they could use hippopotamus hide. Also, it seems to be that they could either leave the fur on, or clip the fur off to paint designs onto it. And that hide facing would add a lot of structural integrity to the shield, and really increase its ability to resist penetration. This is such a cool shield, and we're so excited to be bringing it. We're going to be at the Ohio Viking Festival, and we're collaborating with our friends at Kugel's Night Forge, who are loaning us some Egyptian goods, including a Kopesh. And so we're going to have an Egyptian display at the festival as part of our interactive educational experience. So I'm going to put a link in the description to the Ohio Viking Festival, where you can get all the information. We certainly hope to see you there. Thank you for watching, and we'll see you in the next video.