Головна

The Coming of the Vikings

  1. COMING ALONGSIDE
  2. Text message analysis is becoming a powerful tool in solving crime cases.

After the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 AD, there was little progress in the working of metals for many years. Iron-smelting, tin and lead mining, and the general metal-working developed by the Romans in occupied countries almost ceased. What metal-work was still carried on was of poor quality.

Then, about 800 AD, a new power entered northern Europe - the Vikings. These men from the north, Norsemen, were great seafarers and fighters. They owed much of their success to their skill with metal. Their swords were much longer and stronger than those used by the Romans, and with these they won their battles.

In those days it was difficult to make good swords because of the lack of furnaces hot enough to melt iron sufficiently to treat it with carbon and turn it into steel. All that could be done was to heat the iron in charcoal, which is rich in carbon. Some carbon from the charcoal found its way into the metal and hardened it on the surface, like the crust on a loaf.

The swordmakers built up their blades by taking a number of thin strips, which had been hardened on their surfaces, and twisting them together in various patterns. The metal was then reheated and hammered (forged) until it became a solid piece with hardened strips running right through the blade. As well as making blade strong, this method also created an interesting wavy patterns on the metal.

 



  10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   Наступна

Comprehension Check | Oral Practice | The Importance of Iron and Advent of Steel | Lexical Exercises | Degrees of Comparison | Серебро менее ковкое, чем золото. | Pre - reading task. | Comprehension Check | Iron in the Middle Ages | Lexical Exercises |

© 2016-2022  um.co.ua - учбові матеріали та реферати