Shield

sheld, a framework carried by warriors to protect the body. Shields of one sort or another appear to have been used from the earliest times. Homer describes the Trojan Hector as carrying a shield of black bull's hide so large that the outer circle struck his neck and ankles. The shield of antiquity was constructed usually of the heaviest rawhide strapped on a wooden frame and provided with one or more handles, enabling it to be held on one arm. Sometimes the shields were of wood. Frequently they were strengthened with studs and strips of metal. The Grecian Hoplites of the Anabasis carried small shields. The Assyrian shield was round, convex, and pointed at the center. The shield of the Egyptian spearsmen was made of bull's hide with the hair outward, strengthened around the rim with a strip of metal. It was rectangular in shape, with a semi-circular extension at the top designed to protect the face, and pierced by a small hole through which to look forward. The shields of the Etruscans and early Romans were convex and circular in shape. Later, the soldiers of the Roman legion carried an oblong, rectangular shield, little wider than the body. The column of Trajan shows shields of this sort, as well as an oval shield which came into fashion at a later date. The Franks, with whom the Romans came into contact, carried small round shields made of hides. The early Scandinavians, Vikings, and Anglo-Saxons carried small round or oval shields strengthened with metal and ornamented frequently with elaborate devices. The Normans, who settled in the valley of the Seine and later invaded England, carried large shields provided with an arm strap and handle. They also were adorned with various badges and devices. As shown in the Bayeaux tapestry, the Norman shield was kite-shaped. The Saxons carried round shields. Shields disappeared from the effigies and monuments of England about 1375. The Highland swordsman clung to the use of the bull's hide target. The Highland followers of Prince Charlie carried shields at the battle of Prestonpans in 1745, the last engagement, so far as known, in which Europeans used shields of any sort. To the skilled antiquarian, the shape and workmanship of a shield is a certain clew to the nationality and period of the warrior who carried it. With the invention of gunpowder and the use of guns in war, shields became useless. They are pictured now only in connection with coats of arms in a heraldic office. See Armor; Marathon; Sennacherib