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The formation of a shield wall, (Scildweall or Bordweall in Old English^[1], Skjaldborg in Old Norse) is a military tactic that was common in many cultures in the Pre-Early Modern warfare age. There were many slight variations of this tactic among these cultures, being called by many different names, but in general, a shield wall was a "wall of shields" formed by soldiers standing in formation shoulder to shoulder, holding their shields so that they abut or overlap. Each man benefits from the protection of his neighbor's shield, usually the man to his right, as well as his own.

History

Ancient times

This tactic was used by many ancient armies including the Persian Sparabara, Greek hoplite phalanx formation, and Roman legions.

The shield wall came into use in ancient Greece during the late eighth or early seventh century B.C. The soldiers in these shield wall formations were called hoplites, so named for their shield (hoplon). These were three-foot shields made from wood and covered in metal. Instead of fighting individual battles in large skirmishes, hoplites fought as cohesive units in this tight formation with their shields pushing forward against the man in front (to use weight of numbers) and the left half covering the unprotected right side of the hoplite next to them. The worst, or newest, fighters would be placed in the middle front of the formation to provide both physical and psychological security.^[2]

Roman legions used a type of shield wall called a testudo formation in which the first row formed a dense vertical shield wall and the back rows held shields over their heads, thus forming a tortoise-like defense impenetrable to missile weapons. The man at the right hand of each warrior had an important role; he covers the right side of the warrior next to him with his shield. This makes it so that all the shields overlap each other and thus forming a solid battle line. The second row was to kill the soldiers of the first line of an enemy shield wall, and so trying to break it. All the other rows were weight for the pushing match that always occurs when both sides try to break the other wall. When a wall is broken the battle turns into a single-combat fight.

In the late Roman army and the Byzantine army, similar formations of locked shields and projecting spears were called fulcum (φοῦλκον, phoulkon in Greek), and are first described in the late 6th-century Strategikon.

Warriors in a shield-wall always carried short blades because there was no room to swing a broad battle axe or sword. The short blades were used to stab the enemy in the legs or groin. Most warriors made sure that they had metal straps in their boots to avoid wounds on the leg

Use in England

File:061014-083-Battle1066.jpg

Reenactors recreate the Saxon shield wall at Hastings.

During the battles between Alfred the Great and the Danes, only a small percentage of the Saxon army would have been the properly equipped Housecarls.^{[citation needed]} These troops were the household troops of the Saxon nobility, who maintained them with gifts of food, arms and armour, and by freeing these men from the need to labour allowed them to train in warfare. These professional warriors formed the front few ranks, so if the shield wall was breached, the entire line, in all likelihood, would quickly be split in two as unarmoured peasants, known as the Fyrd tried to use modified farm tools to combat professional warriors equipped with proper weapons and armor.

The powerful weapons of the time, like big swords and axes, were too large to use in the close press of the shield wall, so the more effective weapons were short swords maybe a foot long which could be stabbed under the opponent's shield into his groin or leg. This led a lot of professional warriors in Alfred the Great's army to carry two swords.^{[citation needed]} Two-handed weapons were out of the question in a shield wall, due to the need to hold a shield in one hand. The shield wall was commonly used by Anglo-Saxons from kingdoms such as Mercia, Wessex, and Northumbria; it was also used during the early medieval period in England to refer to the main method of Anglo-Saxon warfare, and it was clearly visible throughout the Bayeux Tapestry^[3].

Decline

The 'shield wall' as a tactic has declined and has been resurrected a number of times. For example in the Greek and Macedonian phalanxes, as the Dory spear gave way to the sarissa, it became impossible to carry a large shield and the shield was abandoned.

In the Medieval period, shields, and the 'shield wall' began to fall out of use due to improvements in armor; as plate armor, for those who could afford it, became more readily available, the utility of large infantry shields declined. Improvements in missile weapons, such as the crossbow and longbow, also decreased the effectiveness of shields. ^{[citation needed]}.

In the revival of military thinking and tactics that was a part of the Renaissance, military theorists such as Niccolò Machiavelli in his Art of War advocated a revival of the Roman legion and Sword and shieldmen. However as in the phalanxes before, well drilled pikemen again displaced the shieldmen. By the time of the English Civil War, open pike formations had replaced the closed shield wall—the ranks of pikes providing protection from cavalry charges.^{[citation needed]}

Use in modern times

Although largely obsolete as a military tactic due to firearms, a wall of riot shields remains a common formation for riot police worldwide.^{[citation needed]}

Right hand man

The modern term 'right hand man', meaning a well trusted individual, is said to derive from the shieldwall formation. The shield, worn on the left, is used to cover both the wearer and the soldier to the left. Thus it was advantageous to have someone you trusted as your 'right hand man' (positioned to your right).

References

^ Old English Made Easy http://home.comcast.net/~modean52/index.htm
^ Hanson, Victor Davis. The Western Way of War: Infantry Battle in Classical Greece,p.27-28.
^ Bayeuxtapestry.org

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 The shield wall came into use in ancient Greece during the late eighth or early seventh century B.C. The soldiers in these shield wall formations were called [[hoplites]], so named for their shield (''[[hoplon]]''). These were three-foot shields made from wood and covered in metal. Instead of fighting individual battles in large skirmishes, hoplites fought as cohesive units in this tight formation with their shields pushing forward against the man in front (to use weight of numbers) and the left half covering the unprotected right side of the hoplite next to them. The worst, or newest, fighters would be placed in the middle front of the formation to provide both physical and psychological security.<ref name=Hanson>Hanson, Victor Davis. ''The Western Way of War: Infantry Battle in Classical Greece'',p.27-28.</ref>
-Roman legions used a type of shield wall called a [[testudo formation]] in which the first row formed a dense vertical shield wall and the back rows held shields over their heads, thus forming a tortoise-like defense impenetrable to [[missile weapons]]. The man at the right hand of each warrior had an important role; he covers the right side of the warrior next to him with his shield. This makes that all the shields overlap each other and thus forming a solid battle line. The second row was to kill the soldiers of the first line of an enemy shield wall, and so trying to break it. All the other rows were weight for the pushing match that always occurs when both sides try to break the other wall. When a wall is broken the battle turns into a single-combat fight.
+Roman legions used a type of shield wall called a [[testudo formation]] in which the first row formed a dense vertical shield wall and the back rows held shields over their heads, thus forming a tortoise-like defense impenetrable to [[missile weapons]]. The man at the right hand of each warrior had an important role; he covers the right side of the warrior next to him with his shield. This makes it so that all the shields overlap each other and thus forming a solid battle line. The second row was to kill the soldiers of the first line of an enemy shield wall, and so trying to break it. All the other rows were weight for the pushing match that always occurs when both sides try to break the other wall. When a wall is broken the battle turns into a single-combat fight.
 In the [[late Roman army]] and the [[Byzantine army]], similar formations of locked shields and projecting spears were called ''[[fulcum]]'' (φοῦλκον, ''phoulkon'' in Greek), and are first described in the late 6th-century ''[[Strategikon of Maurice|Strategikon]]''.