DK Eyewitness Books - Viking

14

Weapons

HȪȴȴȱȦȢȳȩȪȴȢȹ, his shield, and

especially his sword—these were a

warrior’s most prized possessions.

In poems and sagas (pp. 50–51),

swords were given names celebrating

the strength and sharpness of the blade

or the glittering decoration of the hilt

(handle). Weapons were made of iron,

often decorated with inlaid or encrusted

silver or copper. A beautifully ornamented

sword was a sign that the owner was rich or

powerful. Before the arrival of

Christianity, a Viking’s weapons were

usually buried with him when he died.

Helmets (p. 13) are rarely found, because

most of them were made of leather

and have rotted away.

Wooden board about

3 ft (1 m) in diameter

Leat her binding

to protect t he edges

Broad

iron blade

ARROWS

Arrows

were used

for hunting

as well as battle

(p. 12). These iron

arrow-heads from Norway

were once lashed to birch-wood

shafts. The two on the right

were for hunting caribou;

second from left is a general

hunting arrow; the one on the

far left was for killing birds.

Geometric patterns of copper and silver

Iron thrusting spearhead from

Ronnesbæksholm, Sjælland, Denmark

Iron throwing spearhead from

Fyrkat fortress, Jutland, Denmark

BERSERK

Tyr was

the Viking god of war. In this

romantic engraving, he has a shaggy

bear-skin cloak, with the bear’s head worn as a helmet. Warriors

called berserkir prepared for battle by putting on bearskin cloaks

or shirts and working themselves into a frenzy. This was called

goingberserk, from the Old Norse word meaning bear shirt.

Wooden shaft

was riveted

into t he socket

Notch

to cut

feat hers

THRUSTING AND THROWING

Spears were used mainly as thrusting

weapons and had large broad blades. The

sockets were often decorated. Throwing

spears had much lighter, narrower blades,

so they would fly straight and true.