Mail

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Steel rings woven together in a standardized mesh pattern for use in armor. The most common pattern is four rings looped through one, repeated throughout the garment. The links are usually butted together or welded. In the Middle Ages, individual rings were often riveted shut. This is less common in the SCA. Six rings looped through one is not unknown.

Mail armor is commonly thought by armored combatants to look wonderful, but is very heavy and does not give optimal protection from the blunt force of rattan weapons.

For some reason, many SCA participants spell this maille, perhaps for the same reason commercial shops selling old-fashioned stock like to call themselves 'Ye Olde Shoppe' and so forth. Or just to distinguish more readily to a reader that they are not talking about the daily post.

See also Aventail, Camail, Haubergeon, Hauberk.

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