"Nova" Secrets of the Viking Sword (2012)

Director:

Peter Yost

TV Series:

"Nova" (1974)

Original Air Date:

10 October 2012 (Season 40, Episode 1)

Genre:

Documentary | Biography

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Science | Scene During End Credits | Space | Scientist | One Word Title

Cast

Johnny Anders	...	Himself
Gunnar Andersson	...	Himself
John Clements	...	Himself
Richard Furrer	...	Himself
Fredrik Charpentier Ljungqvist	...	Himself
Neils Lynnerup	...	Himself
Jay O. Sanders	...	Himself / Narrator
Richard Sussman	...	Himself
Alan Williams	...	Himself

Directed by
Peter Yost		(documentary director)

Produced by
Paula Apsell	....	executive producer
John B. Bredar	....	executive producer
Laurie Cahalane	....	coordinating producer
Patrick Carey	....	associate producer
David Condon	....	development producer
Julia Cort	....	senior producer
Frauke Levin	....	associate producer
Pamela Rosenstein	....	development producer
Chris Schmidt	....	senior producer
Melanie Wallace	....	senior series producer
Peter Yost	....	producer

Film Editing by
Anna Auster

Production Management
Edna Alburquerque	....	production manager
Nathan Gunner	....	post-production manager
Johnita Moran	....	production manager
Brett Reinke	....	post-production manager

Art Department
Tyler Howe	....	senior designer

Sound Department
Brian Bracken	....	sound designer
Patrick Donahue	....	sound mixer

Stunts
John Clements	....	stunt coordinator (sword master)

Camera and Electrical Department
Mark Knobil	....	camera operator
Evan McIntosh	....	camera operator
Christine Nesheimer	....	additional camera operator

Animation Department
Jung Yuen Shin	....	animator

Editorial Department
Michael H. Amundson	....	post-production on-line editor
Mara Auster	....	assistant editor
Björn Bellenbaum	....	colorist
Tim De Chant	....	digital editor
Jared DuBrino	....	additional editing
Jared DuBrino	....	on-line editor
Spencer Gentry	....	post-production on-line editor
Alex Kreuter	....	post-production editor
Rebecca Nieto	....	post-production editor

Music Department
Ray Loring	....	music theme
John Luker	....	music theme
Rob Morsberger	....	music theme
Walter Werzowa	....	music theme

Other crew
Ankur Agrawal	....	production assistant
Lauren Aguirre	....	media director (as Lauren S. Aguirre)
Kristine Allington	....	project coordinator
Sarah Ashey	....	production assistant
Amy Augustine	....	production assistant
Kate Becker	....	researcher
Elizabeth Benjes	....	business manager
Linda Callahan	....	production coordinator
Eileen Campion	....	publicist
Rachel Connolly	....	education director
Allison Eck	....	production assistant
Linzy Emery	....	compliance manager
Sarah Erlandson	....	paralegal
Joseph Ettinger	....	production assistant
Janice Flood	....	talent relations
Todd Georgelas	....	researcher
Rachel Gesserman	....	educational coordinator
Cassie Gomez	....	production assistant
Ivan Hadingham	....	senior science editor
Dan Hart	....	developer
Mandy Johnston	....	location production assistant
Scott Kardel	....	talent relations
Pablo Antonio Labañino	....	location production assistant
Karen Laverty	....	publicist
Alexander Leise-Hansen	....	location production assistant
Maiken Lilley	....	educational coordinator
Victoria Louie	....	publicist
John Nolen	....	location production assistant
Gianna Keiko Rankart	....	production assistant
Alan Ritsko	....	managing director
Magnus Roekenes	....	location production assistant
Susan Rosen	....	legal counsel
Anna Rothschild	....	production assistant
Kristen Sommerhalter	....	administrator
Laura Beth Ward	....	production coordinator
Dominik Zalewski	....	location production assistant

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Mark Davis		(episode "Mars Dead or Alive" 2004)
Mark Hobson		(episode "Orangutan - Man of the Forest")

Produced by
D.J. Roller	....	producer (one episode)

Original Music by
James Yannatos

Cinematography by
Sam Henriques		(lighting cameraman) (multiple episodes)
D.J. Roller		(multiple episodes)

Sound Department
G. John Garrett	....	production sound mixer (multiple episodes) (1985-)
Rob Whitehurst	....	sound recordist (1992-)

Other crew
Gary Martyn	....	production assistant
Sallie McGuire Nicholas	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Pangloss Films

Also Known As:

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Pangloss Films

What secrets?

Definitely not up to Nova's usual high standards. The documentary tries to create a greater sense of mystery than is warranted.

The sword, the authors conclude, must have been made with crucible steel, which was not available until the 19th century ... in Europe. Yet, a) they say it was available in the Middle East, which the Vikings had trade ties with, and b) they show a guy making crucible steel using nothing more than bricks, mortar and clay for an oven and crucible vessel, all of which were available anywhere.

Surely, the Vikings could have picked up this bit of technology in their travels. But, no, the authors make a muddled array of suggestions: maybe the sword maker was in France or with the Church, or using steel ingots imported from the Middle East. What is the answer? There is none given.

Why did only the Vikings have these swords? This could have been a nice little historical story. But the mystery element was way over-played, and the science element was insufficient to warrant a Nova program.

Why is it that so many programs (especially National Geographic) feel they have to hyper-hype? Perhaps documentary makers are spreading their material too thin; there's only so many subjects, and so many times people will watch the same story retold. This one reminds me of the one on the Titanic rivets, with some of the same electron microscopy and tensile strength tests.

They should have done less on the pseudo-mystery angle and done more that the viewer might not know about the science and history of steel. Heck, it could have been part of a series on the subject; another episode could talk about Krupp steel and its importance in history.

But all we see with this Viking sword is that it is made of simple crucible steel made of iron ore, a bit of carbon, and some glass, etc., to remove impurities. I kept waiting for them to tell me something surprising, like they added tungsten or chromium, but no such luck.

The most surprising aspect was how easy it is to produce steel, and that I could do it in my backyard if I had some iron ore, like the guy in the film. Good to know, in case I need to make a strong sword some day. Except there's a catch: you can't just dig up any old iron ore. You need an ore that's free of impurities, which is why Swedish steel is still renown.

So where did they get the ore used for the demonstration? They don't say; frankly, it looked like recycled iron, or at least carefully selected ore free of undesirable impurities like sulfur. This may be the reason for the rather muted praise from the test lab, which the documentary makers claim was high praise. It looks to me like the modern demonstration project was rigged.

Secrets? What secrets? That it was made with a rudimentary crucible method available during that period of history? As to answers to the "mysteries" posed by the producers, there aren't any given. Bad science, muddled mysteries, not Nova.