Viking Arms and Armor

Dear Viking Answer Lady:

I know Vikings didn't have horns on their helmets, but what types of armor did they wear, and what types of weapons did they use?

(signed) Lost In A Haze Of Ignorance

Gentle Readers:

The original version of this page was one of the very first I constructed, in about 1988. The article was a good beginner's overview, but it had some inaccuracies and was based on "survey" books about the Vikings. While I am in the process of updating my knowledge about the current state of archaeology in Viking armor and weaponry, other researchers have published some nice materials to the web that cover many aspects of Viking martial equipment, and therefore in the interim period until I have updated my old article, I will provide links to the best web resources I have encountered, and also provide some annotated bibliography as well below.

On-Line Resources

Helms

Halvgrímr's Viking and Pre-Viking Helms Articles

Examines the archaeological evidence for Viking helms and the earlier helms from which they developed.





Examines the archaeological evidence for Viking helms and the earlier helms from which they developed. "Did Vikings really wear horns on their helmets?" The Straight Dope . 7-December-2004.

A nice summary article discussing how the misunderstanding arose about horns or wings on Viking helmets.

The Viking helmet, has been a source of much misinformation since the Nationalist movements in the 1800's, when romantic painters pictured burly Vikings adorned with helmets graced with cow horns sprouting from either temple like some sort of upright aurochs!



Vikings DID NOT wear helms with either horns or wings.

VIKINGS DID NOT EVER WEAR HORNED HELMS!!!!! The only examples of Scandinavian helmets with horns come from the late Bronze Age, very much before the Viking era. One example is a bronze helmet of probable Celtic origin (c. 800-400 B.C.E.) which was found at Vikso, Denmark. This helmet has a jutting bird-beak between two round, staring eyes on the forehead, and is crowned with two S-shaped "horns" that curve up and back above the head which are bronze, not horn, and which do not resemble cow horns in any way, shape or form.

Another is a small bronze figurine of a man wearing a helmet identical to the one found at Vikso. There are also a couple of art sources that seem to depict "horned" helmets. A helmet-plate die from Oland, Sweden, shows a dancing figure wearing a helm with cheek-pieces and which is crowned with two horn-like bird's heads which arc over the top of the head so that the birds appear to be staring at one another (c. 450-500 AD). Similarly, the Sutton Hoo helmet, found in England but of probable Swedish manufacture, is decorated with ornamental plates depicting almost identical figures (c. 500-600 AD). Note that the Viking Age is dated from ca. 800-1100 AD.

Shields

Peter Beatson's The 'Viking Shield' from Archaeology

Excellent review of the archaeological shield examples, shield construction, shield ornamentation and more.

Body Armor

General Arms and Weapons Information

Armour Archive

Provides info on armor, patterns, items for sale, etc.





Kennings for Weapons

The information in this section was taken in large part from Academy of St. Gabriel Report #2871, which reports: "Old Norse literature preserves a number of names for particular weapons. The greatest number of preserved Norse weapon names are for swords, but names are also found for spears, shields, mail-coats, and staves."

The Academy of St. Gabriel report also particularly mentions: "We have put the word 'gift' in quotes because something is called the nautr of a person even when it is not a gift, but is booty."

SWORDS

Bastarðr ('bastard')





Brynjubítr ('byrnie-biter') ( Sturlunga Saga I, p. 450)





I, p. 450) Dragvandill (etym. unc.)





Fetbreiðr ('foot-broad'; 'foot' as in unit of measure)





Fjôrsváfi (acc.) (Life-taker?)





Fótbítr ('foot-biter, leg-biter')





Gamlanautr (Gamli's 'gift')





Grásíða (Grey-side)





Grettisnautr (Grettir's 'gift')





Gunnlogi (War-flame, Battle-blaze)





Hneitir (exact sense uncertain, but something like 'Thruster, Cutter')





Hvítingr (White-One)





Jarðhússnautr ('Gift' of an Underground Room/Passage; it was taken from one)





Jôkulsnautr (Jôkull's 'gift')





Kársnautr (Kárr's 'gift')





Kettlingr ('kitten') ( Sturlunga Saga I, p. 452)





I, p. 452) Kvernbítr (Quern-biter)





Lang (Long)





Laufi (apparently from 'leaf')





Leggbítr (Leg-biter)





Naðr (Adder)





Níðingr ('villain, truce-breaker') ( Sturlunga Saga I, p. 453)





I, p. 453) Skrýmir (etym. unc., but perhaps Large-One; also the name of a giant)





Skôfnungr (Shin-bone)





Sniðill (Pruning-knife)





Sætarspillir ('truce-spiller, peace-breaker') ( Sturlunga Saga I, p. 453)





I, p. 453) Tumanautr (Tumi's 'gift')





Tyrfingr (from 'a resinous fir-tree'; the sword is magical and is said to be sheathed in flame)





Ættartangi (apparently Family-tang, as in 'tang of a sword')





Ølvisnautr (Ølvir's 'gift')





AXES

Droplaugar ('drip-water') ( Sturlunga Saga I, p. 450)





I, p. 450) Hel (This is the name of the giantess who was goddess of death. The word may also be used to simply mean 'death'). (Snorri Sturluson, "Magnúss saga góða", ch. 28)





Himintelgja ('heaven-scraper') ( Sturlunga Saga I, p. 451)





I, p. 451) Hjalti (This axe-name is apparently from hjalt 'pommel of a sword; cross-guard of a sword'.) (Landnámabák, ch. 55.)





Hlôkk (This is the name of one of the Valkyries. It may be related to hlakka 'to cry, to scream (as an eagle); to rejoice'.





Randgríð (This is also the name of one of the Valkyries. The name is from Old Norse rônd 'a rim, a border', used poetically to mean 'a shield', and , 'frantic eagerness'. There is also a giantess named Gríðr. The combination hence means something like 'shield-hungry'.)





Rimmugýgr ('Battle-hag'). (Brennu-Njáls saga, ch. 45.)





Saxa (This is the name of a giantess; it is also a feminine form of sax 'a sword'.) (Cleasby, R., G. Vigfusson, & W. Craigie, An Icelandic-English Dictionary . Oxford: At the University Press, 1975)





. Oxford: At the University Press, 1975) Skaði (This is also the name of a giantess/goddess. The name is identical with the masculine noun skaði 'scathe, harm, damage'.) (Cleasby, R., G. Vigfusson, & W. Craigie, An Icelandic-English Dictionary . Oxford: At the University Press, 1975)





. Oxford: At the University Press, 1975) Steinsnautr ('Steinn's gift') ( Sturlunga Saga I, p. 454)





I, p. 454) Stjarna ('star') ( Sturlunga Saga I, p. 454)





I, p. 454) Svartleggja ('black-legs; black-hafted') ( Sturlunga Saga II, p. 508)





II, p. 508) Sveðja ('glancer') ( Sturlunga Saga I, p. 454)





I, p. 454) Tjald-sperra ('tent-spar') ( Sturlunga Saga I, p. 455)





SPEARS

Grásíða ('grey-side', reforged from the sword of the same name)





Vigr ('spear'; the word is poetic, the common word for 'spear' being spjót)





SHIELDS

Ôrveigarnautr (Ôrveig's 'gift'; Ôrveig is fem.)





MAIL COATS

Emma (?)





Full-trúi ('full-trust'; 'Old Faithful') ( Sturlunga Saga I, p. 450)





I, p. 450) Sigfússnautr (Sigfúss's 'gift')





STAVES

Hegnuðr ('chastiser') or Hôgnuðr (etym. unc.)





Landkônnuðr ('land-prober, land-explorer')





Note: Items sourced from Sturlunga Saga above are from:

McGrew, Julia H., trans. "Glossary of Nicknames and Names of Weapons," Sturlunga Saga . Vol. I. New York: Twayne. 1970. pp. 449-455. Vol. II. New York: Twayne. 1974. pp. 503-509.

Bibliography