Saws & axes and things..

From: Jane Williams <janewilliams20_at_...>
Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 07:30:50 -0000

Alison:
> Firstly, while the Romans did have saws, they were not
> the sophisticated steel weaponry of the North American
> lumberjack. ..

Keeping this (I hope) at non-Glorantha-list level, I've been doing a quick Google. Can't of course guarantee the content of the pages I've found, but...

http://viking.hgo.se/Files/VikHeri/tools.html

Says inter alia
"The most important tool a thousand years ago was the iron axe. It was used for the building of houses and boats and many other things. The Vikings did not saw the timber to deals, certainly the saw was invented but the iron of the time was too soft owing to the low carbon content...."

"It doesn't mean that the saw was an unserviceable tool a thousand years ago. It was used in the form of bow saws (which stretches the blade) for instance to saw the "cogs" on combs made of bone and antler."

And if bronze in Glorantha is similar to iron in the Viking age, then presumably the same would apply.

http://www.regia.org/woodwork.htm
Has lots of stuff about AngloSaxon and Viking woodworking, with pictures.
And has a comment in the middle:
"The Vikings are regarded to some extent today in Iceland as 'environmental terrorists', as they eventually felled all of the trees that had once grown there."

I'd guess that Sartar is more naturally wooded than Iceland, but even so, it shows what can be done with tools of that level.