DK Eyewitness Books - Viking

12

Viking warriors

TȩȦȵȳȶȦȴȱȪȳȪȵȰȧȵȩȦȷȪȬȪȯȨȢȨȦ was daring courage.

To the Viking warrior, honor and glory in battle were the

only things that lasted forever. A warrior had to be ready

to follow his lord or king into battle or on a raid or

expedition. As a member of a loyal band of

followers, known as a lit h, he could be

called up to fight at any moment.

In the later Viking Age, kings

had the power to raise a

force (or leit hang) of ships,

men, supplies, and

weapons. The

kingdom was divided

into small units, and

each unit provided

one warrior. Groups of

units donated a ship to

carry the warriors on a

raid to faraway lands.

Bear-toot h pendant

Bundle of arrows

Leat her quiver, a pouch

for holding arrows

Ax

STONE WARRIOR

This Viking warrior was carved

in the 10th century on a stone

cross in Middleton, Yorkshire,

England. His weapons are

laid out around him, as they

would have been in a traditional

burial (pp. 54–57). The Anglo-

Saxon poem The Batt le of Maldon

describes the noise and fury of a

battle between Danish Vikings

and the English: “Then they let

the spears, hard as a file, go

from their hands; let the

darts (arrows), ground sharp,

fly; bows were busy; shield

received point; bitter was

the rush of battle.”

Spear

Conical

helmet

Round

shield Sword

Leat her sheat h

for knife

Bowstring of twisted fibers

Shaft of flexible

birch wood

Sharp iron

arrowhead

ARCHER IN ACTION

Vikings were skilled with bow

and arrow, both in battle and

hunting. A well-preserved

bow was found in Hedeby,

the great Danish Viking

town (now in Germany).

It was made of yew

wood. A rich boat-burial

in Hedeby contained a

bundle of arrows with

bronze mounts. They

probably belonged

to a nobleman.

Flights, pieces of bird feat her added

to stabilize t he arrow in t he air

Fur hat

Bow made of flexible

wood such as yew

BOUND FOR GLORY
In this romantic
engraving, warriors
fight with ax and
sword. The Viking
poemHávamál says:
“Cattle die kindred die,
every man is mortal:
but I know one thing
that never dies,
the glory of the
great dead.”