Cattle die
kinsmen die
all men are mortal.
Words of praise
will never perish
nor a noble name.
- The Havamal or Book of Viking Wisdom
kinsmen die
all men are mortal.
Words of praise
will never perish
nor a noble name.
- The Havamal or Book of Viking Wisdom
This entry will focus on the weapons and armor of a warrior so fierce, all of Europe once called them Demons. The Viking Berserkers, who are the origin of the term berserk, were to have fought in a nearly uncontrollable, trance-like fury. Due to this seemingly inhuman rage, intimidating fighting style, and proclivity for sea raids, the Vikings have been romanticized the world over.
Some believe that berserkers worked themselves into a rage before battle, while others think that they might have consumed drugged foods. I remember reading about a Norse maiden boiling moss to create a broth for warriors that would “Give them the strength of the bear”. Whether or not this story was accurate, one of the distinguishing characteristics of the berserkers was their use of bearskins and skulls in their attire.
So the first weapon I will submit as part of the Viking arsenal was fear. Striking from the mists up and down the coasts of Europe and Scandinavia, wearing the faces of fierce creatures, and looting churches, made the Berserkers more than men in the minds of their adversaries, they were terrifying creatures from the depths of Hell.
The second weapon, if you will, was the longship, or “dragonship” as the English called them. While not techncially a ship designed for naval combat, it was light, fast, and shallow enough to sail and beach just about anywhere, giving the Vikings the ability to explore and conquer.
The first physical instrument of Viking warfare was the reliable… the classic… Spear! The spear consisted of a metal head which could measure between twenty and sixty centimetres, which was mounted on wooden shafts of two to three metres in length. The barbed throwing spears were often less decorated than the ostentatious thrusting spears, as the throwing spears were often lost in battle. Most evidence indicates that spears were used with one hand, and that warriors would remove the head of the spear to prevent a foe from re-using the weapon.
The last of the Viking melee weapons mentioned here is the axe, the same tool used for chopping wood. These axes could also be thrown or swung with head-splitting force, and depending on the design, could be wielded with one or both hands. An axe head was mostly wrought iron, with a steel cutting edge. This made the weapon less expensive than a sword, and was a standard item produced by blacksmiths, making them highly accessible to most Vikings. There is some debate as to whether or not the axe was more common than the spear, but this is difficult to tell because of the ease of training with the spear as a hunting implement and the availability of the axe for logging.
The chainmail shirt is interpreted as elbow-and-knee length, from the single specimen recovered from Ringerike in central Norway. It was likely worn over thick clothing, and protects the wearer from being cut, but offers little protection from blunt trauma. Mail was very expensive in early medieval Europe, and would likely have been worn by men of status and wealth. Expensive mail armour was also seen as cumbersome and uncomfortable in battle. Traditionally, Vikings have been thought to have opted for leather body armour, as it was both more flexible and cheaper. However, there is no archeological evidence to support this.
The shield was the most common means of defence, as it was cheaper to produce than full armor. The Viking epic sagas specifically mention linden wood for shield construction, although finds from graves show mostly other timbers, such as fir, alder and poplar. These timbers are not very dense making them light and easy to manuever. They are also not inclined to split making them very durable and reliable for more than one battle. Round shields seem to have varied in size from around 18 to 48 inches, but those ranging from 30 to 36 inches are the most common.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berserker
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_Age_arms_and_armor
http://genes.mit.edu/burgelab/vikingquotes.htm
Nice Blog. You did a great job of describing the Viking’s weaponry. It made it real easy to make an image of a Viking. You talk about rage being a weapon. I completely agree. They way that Vikings could quickly make their way to shore, angry and destroy everything because of the fear they inspired in people was a powerful message. It earned them recognition throughout Europe and made people fearful that they may come before they even did. I still think they probably took whatever that drink was to make them so angry. Alcohol is another drug people take that can workup rage, so it’s not unbelievable that whatever that moss drink was could work up rage too. I also like your discussion of which was more common the spire or the ax. I never really thought about it but the technology to make both of those developed at the same time and both are pretty simple to use. I think that the ax may have been more preferable because to was smaller than a spire and could probably be easier to fit in one of their dragon boats. All and all I think you had an interesting post. However the black was difficult to read with your background. You changed it halfway through and it was much easier to see.
ReplyDeletethey viking would have their slaves consume the red amanita mushroom, and when their kidneys had filtered out the poison, they would mix the urine of the slave with beer or porridge and consume it before battle. it would give a PCP like effect, meaning that if you chopped the arm clean of a viking under the influence of this mix, his rage would make him pick it up and beat you to death with it. he would not stop raging and killing until bloodloss took his life. the preferred weapon of these beserkers were the battleaxe. an enormous axe weighing up to a max of 70 Kg. approx 150 pounds. which they would charge the enemy with, ahead of their oen lines and completely oblivious to the danger of charging a wall of shields and spears. they would carve a line of death and destruction inthe the lines of the enemy before either settling down and creating an "island" of death inside the enemy ranks, or he would make his way back out to "rinse and repeat". out of 300 vikings roughly 20 or 30 would be berserkers.
Deleteanother fun fact: vikings always left a single survivor that could spread tales of the horrors inflicted by the vikings. that way the fear could win them future battles without bloodshed. it was common practice for a viking raiding force to camp a little way from a city, then a couple of scouts would ride up, place a helmet upside down in front of the city gate and leave. the next morning they would return. if it was filled with silver, they rode on and left the town alone (after all, we still had to pass it on the way home, so it will still be pillaged) and if the helmet was empty, they would attack and lay waste to everything. if you have anymore questions, feel free to ask away.
This was an interesting post. You did a great job describing each of the weapons and how they would have been used. I did not know that the Vikings ever wore chain mail however. I have never heard of them wearing it, but it makes sense since they were constantly fighting. The bear hides they wore are pretty cool and make for a good way of intimidating others.
ReplyDeleteAnother informative post. You have brought up various points and arguments to be made for how and why the Vikings were capable of striking fear into all of Europe.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the debate about the seemingly innate ability of the vikings to fight in a state of rage that seems impossible to maintain without the use of substances, I put forth the argument that while there may have been some use of said substances prior to a raid or battle, it was more likely due to the training and upbringing of Viking warriors. You have to realize that their lives were brutal, some may say almost if not the same as the Spartans. To provide for their families and each other, Viking warriors often endured long campaigns of raids and war. Needless to say, this most likely affected their mentality. I would argue also that some form of PTSD existed and was cultivated within the Viking culture, no doubt reenforced by the mystic religious beliefs.
Moving on, the debate about armor and clothing. Artwork and Hollywood certainly have portrayed Vikings in the iconic ways anyone pictures when they hear the term. I however argue that the Vikings were not a unilateral culture and as such did not all wear bear hides, skulls, and have blond/red hair and long beards. I argue further that each village supplied its warriors with what was available, with the warriors themselves augmenting in the field as needed. Villages with much influence or with access to metal ores were most likely the ones that supplied their warriors with metal armor.
Finally, in regards to the spear versus the axe, I again argue on the point of non-unilateralism. Whatever a village could produce, was what the warriors carried into battle. Innovations in weaponry came from both within the Viking culture and from foreign influences, which you most notably reference the Roman legionnaires. I am surprised to not see other weapon types mentioned beyond swords, axes and spears.
spears and axes was owned by every free man in the north to provide wood for fire and meat for food. the bow was also used by most, although it was seen as a less honorable way to fight, because it would not be a test of might and skill. and while indeed villages provided for their own, the equipment of each village was basically the same. they all used the same tools for surviving. it could be argued that in the northen part of sweden and norway they were harder and had more emphazis on the axe because of the increased cold, where as denmark and southern sweden was more temperate in comparison and they focused more on spears because they had more time for hunting and therefore accumulated greater proficiency with that weapon as a result. we must also remember, when it comes to armor and clothing, that clothing is cultural and so was basically the same with small cosmetic adjusments depending on region. as for armor, everybody had acces to leather as a result of hunting and cultivating cattle. iron was mined and sold all over but was expensive. and seeing as the culture was largely warrior based (even though only roughly 10% of the population went "viking" i.e raiding) it is natural to assume that they had a unified idea of how armor was made, looked and worked.
Deleteas for augmenting themselves in the field, it didnt really happen. they would take tons of loot, and when they got home, they would remake and refit they armor and weapons they found so they became "proper" fighting weapons. balance, weight, durability. they 3 keywords in viking weapons- and armorcrafting.
as for the PTSD you mention, it was called, i believe, "bloodfear" its was recognized as a normal thing to happen to new warriors during or after their first couple of engagements of battle. they would not be riddiculed but they would be giving the old "punch-on-the-shoulder-and-get-a-grip-speech" treatment. they would be talked through it and be taught that they had to accept that fear as it would never leave. you would only get used to it, and be able to control it.
I really liked this post. Especially how you put in that they used fear as a weapon because that is usually overlooked for the swords, hammers and axes. I have heard many different stories on how bersekers are different than the other warriors and the story told helps in how to percieve them. I'm glad you gave them their own piece and didn't just throw them in with all the other 'vikings'.
ReplyDeletefear is a very effective weapon. that i also why viking preferred the axe to the spear when it came to fighting weapons. it takes savagery to wield an axe in battle. a sword takes skill, a spear takes nothing really, and the axe requires rage and the wish to inflict gruesome pain upon your foes. it had a devastating impact on more "civilized" armies because it was viewed as a barbaric weapon in battle.
DeleteEating mushroom before battle.try to eat the red mushroom yourself you will die. My ancestors was not That stupid.they loved to scare people beside spreading their genes.(my genetest shows that england,irland and scotland was most popular) being drunk before battle is like signing your own suicide.they trained in peaceperiods to prepare them for battle.i could tell you more but that be a long story.greeting from norway and 1 of the vikings relatives.
ReplyDelete