Regarding the Gladius and Mail

[Dan Howard]

The dodecahedron is one of the five Platonic solids. It apparently represented an idealized form of Divine thought.

Also, I have an an article from a recent dig from a very wealthy town in Northern Europe. The defenders were very well armored, having the best mail/equipment of the day. One soldier had both legs cleaved clean off, slightly above the knee, through mail (that covered his legs) by a Dane axe. Obviously you couldn't wear padding under armor on your extremities, so those vulnerabilities were vulnerabilities until the advent of plate, I would think?

Your report is from the Wisby battlefield and it wasn't recent; the dig started in 1905 and Bengt Thordeman published the report in 1944. Look at the distribution of the injuries. Dozens on arms, shins, and skulls but not a single one on the torso, hips, or thighs. It is pretty good evidence that body armour worked. Given the time of the battle, it is likely that most of those injuries were done with polearms, which are better at penetrating mail than swords and axes. They weren't wearing the best armour. It is thought that the Wisby defenders were wearing armour that was around half a century out of date compared to the latest developments in Italy and Germany.