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While functionality was important, the appearance of Viking weapons was also of great meaning. Decorative elements on weapons and armour not only enhanced the visual appeal of a weapon but also gave it symbolic meanings representing power and the owner's status. As mentioned above, Viking shields were occasionally decorated with paintings and ...
In the Eckenlied, it is replaced with Ecke's armor, called "the new Hildegrim". [21] Hildisvíni Old Norse: Hildisvíni or Hildigǫlt: The name of the helmet Hildisvíni means "battle-swine", [22] and Hildigǫlt means "battle boar". [11] The Swedes wore helmets decorated with boars. Moreover, the Swedish Yngling dynasty were called descendants ...
Smaller shields were lighter and easier to manoeuver, and therefore were best used in minor skirmishes and hand-to-hand combat. [97] In contrast, larger shields were most commonly used in full-scale battles—they would have provided better protection from projectiles and were needed to construct a shield wall. [97]
Shields also appears to have been covered in thin leather, preventing them from splintering. In addition to this, the weapons of their enemies sometimes became stuck in the shield, giving the Viking an opportunity to kill them. [63] Shields had its hand grip hidden behind an iron boss and measures about 1 m in diameter. [54]
The term "Viking halberd" was used to describe a find in North America in the 1995 book Early Vikings of the New World, but it was later demonstrated to be a tobacco cutter. [18] There has currently been, in fact, no clearly identified Viking halberd or bill found. Spears are the only type of polearms found in Viking graves.
This generated questions about whether the individual was originally from Birka or had settled there later. The conclusion of the study was that "the individual in grave Bj 581 is the first confirmed female high-ranking Viking warrior". [5] An analysis of the weapons indicated the weapons had been used by a trained warrior and were not ceremonial.
Gaelic shields were usually round, with a spindle shaped boss, though later the regular iron boss models were introduced by the Anglo-Saxons, Vikings and Normans. A few shields were also oval in shape or square, but most of the native shields were small and round, like bucklers, to better enable agility and a quick escape.
The Archaeology of Weapons: Arms and Armour from Prehistory to the Age of Chivalry. London: Lutterworth Press, 1960. pp. 119–120. ONP: Dictionary of Old Norse Prose s.v. atgeirr. Orkisz, Jan H. "Pole-Weapons in the Sagas of Icelanders: A Comparison of Literary and Archaeological Sources". Acta Periodica Duellatorum 1 (May 2016) pp. 177–212 ...