Peter Beatson - Viking Shield From Archaeology (2008).pdf - Wikingowie-Waregowie-Normanowie - MMarkMMark

Viking Shields

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The 'Viking Shield' from Archaeology

Peter Beatson - NVG Miklagard

Introduction

The large circular shield of the Vikings was part of a conservative tradition of manufacture. The best

known intact examples from the Viking Age are those that lined the gunwales of the buried warship

from Gokstad, Norway ( Fig. 1 ) dated to c.905 AD (Bonde and Christensen 1993). They are similar to

shields from Thorsberg bog (Raddatz 1987) and other Danish weapon deposits of the Roman Iron Age.

Though archaeological evidence dries up with the adoption of Christian burial rites, art sources (such as

the Lewis chessmen) indicate that kite shields were accepted in the Norse lands in the twelfth century,

along with a small round buckler (Karlsson 1993). Scandinavian settlers seem to have adopted different

(native Insular?) designs in the Irish Sea region, judging by material from burials there. These variants

may be discussed in a separate paper.

Construction and dimensions

Decoration

Boss

Combat Techniques

Handle or grip

Tables

Edge Reinforcement

Bibliography

Other Fixtures

Footnotes

Construction and dimensions

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Viking Shields

Shields were typically 80-90 cm in diameter [ 1 ] ( Table 1 ). The board was flat, and made of a single

layer of planks butted together. The Gokstad shields were made of seven or eight white pine [ 2 ] planks

of varying widths [ 3 ]. The planks were usually only 6-10mm thick ( Table 2 ), and were bevelled even

thinner at the outer edge ( Fig. 1 ; Table 2 ). There is no archaeological evidence for laminated (ie. cross-

ply) construction (Härke 1981) though contemporary poetry and slightly later legislation suggests it

(Dickinson and Härke 1992; Nicolaysen 1882).

Figure 1 - Shield from Gokstad ship burial, Westfold Norway c.905AD. Diameter 94 cm

(Nicolaysen 1882). a. Front. Boss type is Rygh 564. b. Reverse, note holes for attachment

of rim and single wooden crossbar serving as grip - the other reinforcements seen in

photographs are modern additions. c. Cross section, note bevelled edges.

The planks were possibly glued together. Extra support could come from the boss, grip and rim

bindings (see below), and from a leather covering. At least some shields from Birka had a thin leather

facing, and some earlier English shields were covered on both sides (Arwidsson 1986; Dickinson and

Härke 1992). However, the planks of the Gokstad shields were painted , indicating that they had no

leather facing covering them (Lowe 1990). It is worth noting that their uniform and fragile design

suggests that the Gokstad shields may have been ornaments made especially for the burial, and thus not

representative of actual combat shields [ 4 ].

An interesting parallel to the Gokstad shields comes from a peat bog at Tirskom, in Latvia. Dated to the

ninth century, this near intact shield is constructed of six spruce or fir planks (Yrtan 1961) and covered

on front and rear with leather, padded with pressed grass.

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Viking Shields

Boss

At the centre of the shield was a circular hole [ 5 ] covered by a more-or-less hemispherical iron boss of

~15 cm diameter (including flange), which enclosed the hand grip. The iron of the dome was fairly

thick (3-5 mm), though the flange was somewhat thinner (Lowe 1990; Manx Museum, Douglas Man:

pers. obs. 1994; Musee des Antiquites Nationales, St. Germain-en-Laye France: pers. obs. 1994).

Bosses had two main forms - the early style had a high dome and a pronounced neck (Type Rygh (R)

564: Fig. 2-a ). The later style, low domed without a neck (R562: Fig. 2-b ), never completely replaced

the former (Graham-Campbell 1980). Less common were a squat style (R563: Fig. 2-c ) and a sub-

conical style (R565: Fig. 2-d ), sometimes with an apical knob (Arwidsson 1986).

Figure 2 - Shield bosses, Rygh classification scheme. a. R564. b. R562. c. R563. d. R565.

From Arwidsson (1986).

Single examples of bosses with a toothed flange are known from Telemark, Norway ( Fig. 3-a ); Birka,

Sweden; and Ile de Groix, France ( Fig. 3-e ). In the latter burial, some unique bosses with elaborate

flanges were found ( Fig. 3-b,c,d,e ). These bosses might have had a Western European origin (Müller-

Wille 1978).

The boss was normally attached by broad headed iron nails, the points of which were either clenched

(bent over) or flattened on the reverse of the shield ( Fig. 3-d,h ). In the Birka material four nails was

most common (Arbman 1940-3), occasionally six (as for the Gokstad shields). Five nails were

sometimes used, as in examples from Cronk Moar, Man and the ship cremation on the Ile de Groix,

France (Bersu and Wilson 1966; Müller-Wille 1978).

The flange of some bosses were angled, perhaps to secure the boss to the board by placing tension on

the nails (Dickinson and Härke 1992), or possibly because they were attached to convex shield boards.

Flanges with decorative edgings of non-ferrous metal strips were found in some Birka graves ( Fig. 3-f,

g ), and nail heads were sometimes inlaid or tinned (Arwidsson 1986).

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Viking Shields

Figure 3 - Shield bosses. a. Boss with toothed flange, Telemark Norway (Oslo

Olsaksamlingen, pers. obs.). b-e. Ile de Groix, France. Nail points were flattened rather

than clenched (from Müller-Wille 1978). f. Birka Bj544, showing tin applique on flange; g.

Birka Bj850, brass edging on flange; h. Birka Bj581, side view showing nails clenched

(bent) for attachment (after Arbmann 1940).

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Viking Shields

Handle or grip

Wood alone must have been used in the majority of graves where remains are lacking, as in the Gokstad

shields where a thin lath of rectangular section is nailed (crossways with respect to the planks) from

edge to edge across the back face, it serves as a handle where it crosses the central hole ( Fig. l ). On

more elaborate shields a wooden core was covered by a gutter-shaped sheathing of iron (Arwidsson

1986), usually ornamented with embossed bronze sheet or silver inlay ( Fig 4-a ).

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Peter Beatson - Viking Shield From Archaeology (2008).pdf

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