Viking Arms and Armor, Again

[Cap'n Atli]

Don Stallone, one of our very-long-time Longship Company and Markland members, forwarded the following link on what arms and armor were required on Viking Age levy ships: https://www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/.../w ... -equipment

This is from the Viking Ship Museum at Roskilde in Denmark.


Seems that, at least by law, the crews were much better equipped that we thought (at least the "national guard" equivalent). Note also the leather armor and leather hats.

[Sean M]

Broken link.

If its the laws I am thinking of, IIRC they date to the 11th or 12th century, so how much they apply to say the 9th century is debatable. Europeans were getting more 'stuff' per capita between 700 and 1200 CE.

[Cap'n Atli]

Trying the link again: https://www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/en/pr ... -equipment

Yes, it would be useful to have a good date (or dates) on her source material; the next step.

[Matthew Amt]

Since none of the many discussions of leather armor seem to mention this list, which should be pretty well known, I'm wondering if there is a translation problem. What are the actual words in the original language? Ditto for "leather hoods". "Broad axe"? "Light axe"? Hmmm...

Matthew

[Sean M]

The first paragraph of the website is paraphrasing the same source as:

Terence Wise, Saxon, Viking, and Norman. Men at Arms #85. Osprey Publishing, 1979. Page 30:

In the late 12th century, laws were laid down to regulate the weapons which male adults should own. This is long after the Viking Age but it has some historical relevance and gives a fair indication of what must have been an even greater lack of armour in the proceeding centuries:

Sweden: shield, sword, spear, and iron hat for each man. A mail coat or protective jerkin and a bow and three dozen arrows per rowing bench. An axe might be used instead of a sword.
Norway: shield, sword or axe, and spear for each man. A bow and two dozen arrows per bench.
Denmark: shield, sword, spear and iron hat for each man. The styraesman ... had to provide, with the help of his neighbour, a horse, a coat of mail, and a crossbow and bolts, along with a man to use the later.

I think the laws are on the Perseus Project website if you can dig them up. Or search this PDF for "sword"

https://books.google.ca/books?redir_esc ... iWmsOrWWwC

No idea where they get the bit about chieftain's ships! Because I have a low and suspicious mind, I would check the Old Norse King's Mirror from the 13th century (which is describing ideal equipment not proscribing what people can be punished for not having).

Edit: you can find the author's contact information at https://www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/

[Håvard]

The text from Vikingeskibsmuseet seem to be guesswork directed at kids. While the individual weapon requirements seems relatively accurate (allthough the Norwegian Gulating law says 'broad axe or sword', not 'and'). The article constructs a term "light axes", while the old laws clearly contrasted broad axes (war axes) with felling axes (tool axes) and it was frown upon bringing a tool axe to the weapon thing. The Norwegian Frostating law elaborates on combinations of weapons normally carried by a man in relation to manslaughter: IV 23: "Spear and sword is one man's weapons, but normally no man carries both broad axe and felling axe and sword or axe and spear." (This is from a note in Robberstad's 1937 Gulating law translation. The transcribed Frostating law reads: "some weapons are normally carried individually, one is broad axe, another is felling axe. Spear and sword are one man's weapons.") The reference to a 3 øre fine fits with the 1260ies-redaction of the Gulating law.

When it comes to the armament aboard a ship of Skudeslev 2's size (max 70 crew) it gets more shaky. The text concering armour seem to be mostly fantay: Only helmets and mail among the elite, and the shields, are supported, while the leather armour, leather hoods and chin- and wrist guards has no basis in written sources or finds.