Hurstwic: Viking Age Arms and Armor

Comparatively little is known about Viking age weapons, and even less is known about how the weapons were used. This limited knowledge is due to the limited sources we have available for the study of Viking age weapons and their use. This series of interlinked articles summarizes what is known about the weapons and speculates about how the weapons might have been used.

	Introduction to Viking Age Arms and Armor
	Overview Virtually every free man owned and carried a weapon and was familiar with its use.
	Available Sources of Information There are four main sources of information on Viking age weapons and techniques...
	The Shape of Viking Combat The shape of combat describes the nature of the fight...

	Defensive Armor
	Viking Shields The shield is the primary defensive weapon...
	Viking Helmets Viking age helmets were simple: a bowl, a prominent nose guard, and no horns...
	Viking Mail Mail was highly desirable, but it must have been exceedingly rare in the Viking age...
	Other Viking Defensive Armor Some unexpected items were pressed into service for defense...

	Offensive Arms
	Viking Swords The sword was the most desirable weapon in the Viking age...
	Viking Sword and Shield Combat Techniques We don't know how Viking age weapons were used, but we have speculated on some possible techniques...
	Viking Saxes The sax is a short, single-edged sword, used primarily in the early part of the Viking age...
	Viking Spears The spear was probably the most common Viking age weapon...
	Viking Axe Rather than being crude and slow, Viking age axes were light, fast, well-balanced, and capable of many nasty tricks...
	Viking Axe Combat Techniques Some speculative interpretations of fighting techniques for one and two-handed Viking axes...
	Viking Bow and Arrow The bow and arrow were used for hunting, but not normally for fighting...
	Other Viking Offensive Arms A variety of other weapons are mentioned in the stories, but we don't know what they were...