The English Warrior: From Earliest Times to 1066 [Paperback]

Stephen Pollington (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 15, 1996 | ISBN-10: 1898281106 | ISBN-13: 978-1898281108

Using Old English and Old Norse documents together with archaeological and linguistic evidence Pollington discusses the warrior's role in early English society, his rights and duties, rituals of feasting and duelling as well as weapons and equipment, the social and legal nature of warfare, strategy and military logistics. Appendices give original translations of three important military poems; the battles of Maldon, Finnsburh and Brunanburh.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Anglo-Saxon Books (December 15, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1898281106
• ISBN-13: 978-1898281108
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 6.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,436,763 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars On Anglo-Saxon Warfare, July 1, 2001

By 

Felix Wang "Felix" (Fresno California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The English Warrior: From Earliest Times to 1066 (Paperback)

On The English Warrior by Stephen Pollington

One clarification needs repeating: this book is about the Anglo-Saxon military experience, from their early (mythic) raids and use as mercenaries, up to 1066. For those interested in the Anglo-Saxon way of war, I think this book would be very valuable. It is divided into three parts: the warrior in society, his weapons, and military strategy and tactics. The first part deals with the warrior's relationship to his lord, dueling, the gods of warriors (Woden and Thor, particularly), shield-maidens, berserkers, and so on. The second part will be especially interesting to reenactors and the like. Pollington has gathered and summarized a lot of technical data from various sources. His discussion of the sword is not very long (14 pages), but he discusses the spear (10 pages), the axe (3), the shield, (9), as well as seax, helmet, armor, the bow, and oddities. The later include the hammer and the "staff-sword", which seems to be a slashing spear like the Norse `hoggspjot'. In his discussion of the spear, he cites Swanton's typology in toto, all 30-odd types, with lengths and descriptions of each type, and illustrations of many of them. One item I found entirely new to me was the "corrugated" cross-section of spearheads; the flattened-diamond ones and lenticular (lens-shaped) ones were familiar, but some late spears had a cross-section like a diamond with only two surfaces hollow-ground, or like a sheet of metal folded, then folded back to leave a ridge in the middle: the result resembles a Nazi SS lightening-bolt insignia more than anything else. There is a classification of shield bosses, and where each type was popular - lots of useful data in one handy volume. The section on warfare is well done too. Pollington discusses tactics and strategy, the use of horses and fortifications and so on.

Some noteworthy features of this book: there are lots of quotes, and excellent line drawings of artwork, archeological finds and the like. For the doubting Thomases in his readership, all the quotes are given in the original (mostly Old English, some Old Norse) as well as his own translations. Pollington has also written a couple of books on learning Old English, so I am inclined to trust his translations. ]Beowulf is well represented, also the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, but a lot of more obscure texts as well. For practitioners of Western Martial Arts, rest easy. One of credits goes to Terry Brown of English MartialArts, so the statements on the use of weapons have been vetted by an experienced teacher in their use. The piece de resistance, however, is the three appendices. These are the full texts of the three great OE military poems, in parallel translation: the battles of Finnsburh, Brunanburh, and Maldon.

I recommend this work highly. It compliments Davidson's The Sword in Anglo-Saxon England, dealing with many other weapons, and both social and military matters, as well as having lots of illustrations. It fits opposite Paddy Griffith's Viking Way of War, dealing with defense against the Vikings, and has technical and personal matters Griffith omits.

Details: 267 pages, extensive bibliography (5 close-set pages), scattered (unobtrusive) footnotes. Copyright 1996, ISBN 1-898281-10-6

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book on the Anglo-Saxon warrior I have ever read!, June 29, 2004

By 

Cwn_Annwn (Copenhagen, Denmark) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The English Warrior from earliest times to 1066 (Paperback)

Using historical sources, archeology finds, old English and other Germanic literature Pollington goes through every aspect of the life of the Anglo-Saxon warrior. From the basic structure of Anglo-Saxon society and where the warrior stood in relation to it, to their relationships with the pre-Christian gods and the cults that surrounded them, to the totemic relationship they had with animals, to the weaponry used, to military tactics in individual combat and army against army battles, to good general history stuff, its all covered here.

Great stuff from a writer that seems to me to have a passion and deep inner connection to the material covered, along with the academic ability to do solid research. I honestly can't imagine anyone doing a better job on a book on this subject. Best book I have read pertaining to this subject by far.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not Just for Scholars, May 17, 2003

By 

Karen M. Carlson (Los Angeles, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The English Warrior: From Earliest Times to 1066 (Paperback)

You need not be a military history buff to find this book interesting. Another reviewer has done a good job of describing the book's features, so I'll just mention a few things I particularly liked: It is well organized -- e.g., with sections for various types of weapons. The drawings are clear and useful; they include bits of the Bayeux tapestry, drawings of archeological items, and diagrams of weapons. The quotations from source material (e.g., Old English poetry) and discussion of OE terminology give insight into the Anglo-Saxon culture. "English Warrior" is a highly readable survey for the interested layman.