11.01.2020
Cloth and leather Quilted cloth (a gambeson) is conjectured as possible options for lower-status Viking warriors, though no reference to such are known from the sagas. Such materials survive poorly in graves, and no archaeological finds have been made. Some runestones depict what appears...
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11.01.2020
Lamellar More than 30 lamellae (individual plates for lamellar armour) were found in Birka, Sweden, in 1877, 1934 and 1998–2000. They were dated to the same approximate period as the Gjermundbu mailshirt (900‒950) and may be evidence that some Vikings wore this armour,...
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11.01.2020
Chain Mail Once again, a single fragmented but possibly complete mail shirt has been excavated in Scandinavia, from the same site as the helmet—Gjermundbu in Haugsbygd. Scandinavian Viking Age burial customs seems to not favour burial with helmet or mail armour, in contrast to...
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10.01.2020
Helmet The remains of five helmets from the Viking Age are known to exist: the Tjele helmet fragment, two fragments from Gotland, one fragment from Kiev, and the Gjermundbu helmet. Only the remains from Gjermundbu were capable of reconstruction. It was excavated on a...
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10.01.2020
Round shields The shield was the most common means of defence. The sagas specifically mention linden wood for shield construction, although finds from graves show mostly other timbers, such as fir, alder and poplar with steel or iron shield boss. These timbers...
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10.01.2020
Sling The Viking age sling was without a doubt the easiest for the manufacturer to produce, simply consisting of a rope and sometimes a leather cup to assist with the loading, the rope was often easily obtained, giving many of the lower class men and women easy access to a formidable weapon....
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09.01.2020
Bearded axe A bearded axe, or Skeggøx (from Old Norse Skegg, "beard", and øx, "axe") refers to various axes, used as a tool and weapon, as early as the 6th century AD. It is most commonly associated with Viking...
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09.01.2020
Dane axe The Dane axe is an early type of battle axe, primarily used during the transition between the European Viking Age and early Middle Ages. Other names for the weapon include English long axe, Danish axe, and hafted axe. Construction Most...
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09.01.2020
Axe The most common hand weapon among Vikings was the axe – swords were more expensive to make and only wealthy warriors could afford them. The prevalence of axes in archaeological sites can likely be attributed to its role as not just a weapon, but also a common tool. This is...
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09.01.2020
Sword The Viking Age sword was for single-handed use to be combined with a shield, with a double edged blade length of up to 90 cm. Its shape was still very much based on the Roman spatha with a tight grip, long deep fuller and no pronounced cross-guard. It was...
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