WEAPONS OF THE VIKINGS

Viking Weapons

The weapons found at Viking sites tend to be swords, axes, spears and bows – warriors were buried with their weapons. Interestingly, we have less evidence from Denmark because their earlier adoption of Christianity stopped this practice, which continued for a longer period in Sweden and Norway.

The Sword

Viking swords were long, straight and double-edged (over 2,000 found in Scandinavia) Viking swords were not particularly sharp at the end as some varieties were, as they were used primarily for hacking and slashing, not for stabbing.

There were local variants of the longsword – the long-sax which was around 3 feet long and single edged.

Swords were very expensive and so poorer freemen would have an axe or spear. However, raiding was so lucrative for the Vikings that after one raid, anyone would have enough to afford their own sword. As such, most raiders in a Viking warband would carry their own sword. The wealth and status was then demonstrated not by owning a sword, but by how decorated it was – different metals inlaid on the pommel for example.

The Axe

Aswell as swords, axes were decorated to reflect the status of its owner. As with most romanticised periods, there are some embellishments in popular culture and the huge two handed, double or wide bladed axe was not a common weapon through much of the period and was a specialised fighting implement. By the end of the Viking era though, they were a distinguishing mark of the Huscarls who would use them to fight against the mail-clad soldiers of their adversaries.

The Spear

Tim Hodkinson, author of Odin’s Game shared this brilliant blog post he wrote on the use of spears and polearms, check it out here!

The Bow

The bow was used by Vikings fairly commonly, though you don’t hear as much about them with the focus on their axes. Vikings utilised both long and shortbows, and they are mentioned in the sagas. If you look to the right on the below image (of the Bayeux Tapestry) you can see the anglo-saxon shieldwall, flanked by a bowman. This is generally the technique used by the Vikings too, as supporting troops to back up the shield wall. An arrow was often fired over the heads of the enemy troops on Viking battles to signify the start of the battle.

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