Strolling in camp on the night before a battle, two knights wear:
"...hauberk (scroll down) and mail breeches; their esquires would put the plate on them at the last moment." (p. 95)
Going into battle, Lucas has hauberk, helmet, leather buckler (see also here) and saber. (p. 100)
The knights wear surcoats and many are in heaumes. (Scroll down.) A standard bearer raises a gonfanon. (Scroll down.) (p. 101)
Lucas participates in a historical battle. He cannot change either the course or the outcome of the battle but, of course, it provides an occasion for an Andersonian action sequence.
4 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Yes, Anderson takes pleasure in skillfully using technical terms--and does so in such a way that words obscure to many of his readers does not bog down the action or pacing of events in a story. Needless to say, not all writers can compose so deftly in their works!
Ad astra! Sean
Incidentally, a "buckler" was the common man's protection because it was small, used one-handed, and could be hung from the belt -- usually over the sword-sheath. A real shield was much more cumbersome.
That's early plate armor Poul's talking about, still evolving from mail with plate additions. Later plate armor, the 15h-century type, eliminated most of the mail underneath by articulating the plates, linking them with straps inside or lacing their interior to the arming coat. That saved a lot of weight and made the wearer more agile.
Thank you! We always appreciate technical details.
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