Adventures in skating historiography
For the last couple of weeks, I've been learning to skate on my snavelschaatsen (long-toed skates modeled after Hieronymus Bosch skates). https://youtu.be/CJ1lPKDSakM They are very slick and work best on soft ice. It was hard to get them to stay in place, but using two laces—one to keep them attached and the other to keep… Continue reading Skating on my snavelschaatsen
The dates of the Hieronymus Bosch paintings in my previous post aren't quite clear—there's a range of 10–20 years for each. I found it interesting that the early ends of these ranges are actually earlier than the woodcut of St. Lydwina's accident, which often gets the credit for being "[t]he first depiction of ice skating… Continue reading The oldest skating art (again)
I've found two instances of skating in Hieronymus Bosch's paintings. Note that they are all using snavelschaatsen! The Garden of Earthly Delights This triptych was probably painted between 1495 and 1505. Skating appears in the panel representing Hell. Courtesy of Wikimedia commons. The Temptation of Saint Anthony There's a messenger bird skating in the lower… Continue reading Skating in the art of Hieronymus Bosch
Yesterday I put the finishing touches on my snavelschaatsen. I started them back around the end of February or the beginning of March, so it took me about 9 months to make them, start to finish. My finished snavelschaatsen. These skates are based on a couple of Hieronymus Bosch paintings and some archaeological finds. The… Continue reading My new snavelschaatsen
Last week I visited the statue of Leif Erikson in St. Paul, MN. Leif is known for discovering North America around 1000 CE. His exploits are described in Grœnlendinga saga (The Saga of the Greenlanders) and Eiriks saga rauða (The Saga of Erik the Red). The Leif Erikson statue in St. Paul. I was interested… Continue reading Leif Erikson in St. Paul
Prikschaats is the Dutch name for a type of medieval skate that includes a spike at the toe. It translates to "prick-skate." I made a pair, and they work.
The skates work!
This is a follow-up to my post on the Amsterdam skate, a skate dating to c. 1225 that was found in Amsterdam. In that post, I wrote about making the metal part. The skate also has a wood part, which this post is about.
One of the oldest metal-bladed skates found to date was found in Amsterdam. I'm working on reconstructing it. This post is about making the blade.
In his Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus (Description of the Northern Peoples), Olaus Magnus describes races on bone skates that are "8--12 Italian miles" long. The question is, how long is that?