Making an Anglo-Saxon Shield with Historical Techniques - Part IV | Early Medieval Woodworking

About

My name is Alec Newland, and this project aims to recreate the Anglo-Saxon culture of southern Britain between 650 and 700 A.D., from domestic crafts to the weapons and regalia of the warrior class, and, eventually, the development of an Anglo-Saxon farmstead and estate. Gesiþas Gewissa means ‘warriors of the Gewissæ’. Gesiþs were warrior companions to a king or chieftain, in exchange for gifts of gold and land. During the 7th century, Gesiþs became the landed aristocratic warrior class. The Gewissæ were an Anglo-Saxon tribe, with their heartland situated in the Upper Thames Valley and the Vale of the White Horse. During the 7th century, the Gewissæ expanded their territories south-west into the British lands of Wiltshire and Somerset. I was born and grew up in the same wooded valleys that the Gewissæ called home. Their legacy remains today, in the form of lonely burial mounds set upon hillsides, and ancient remnants of great border forests. This inspired the project and its name.