It was a simple weapon that was easy to make and use.Īxes were the most common hand weapon. It was a bit heavier than a regular knife, and was used similarly to a machete. The seax was a type of knife used by Vikings. Shields were often painted with colors and designs, such as sun wheels. They were made from linden, fir, alder or poplar wood, and they were often reinforced with leather. Shields were the most common way of defending oneself, as opposed to armor. Spears were used for throwing, thrusting, chopping or cutting each spear was especially designed for its purpose. The spear heads ranged from seven to eleven inches. They were typically two to three meters long, and they were usually made from the ash tree. They consisted of metal heads with a blade and a hollow shaft, mounted on wooden shafts. Viking spears, as the most common weapon, were used very often by Vikings of all types. Only the very richest Vikings, like nobles or warriors, had helmets and other armor. Wealthier Vikings not only had a spear and shield, but a sword as well. Some elites even used two-handed axes, which were as long as a person! Vikings also used simple tools like axes and knives as some of their main battle weapons, which was unique for that time period. Bows were also used in land battles and at sea these were the same bows used for hunting. They also carried a seax, a type of knife which they used as a utility knife and side-arm. The common Viking fought with a spear and shield. Weapons were a sign of social status, so the weapons that a Viking used would have depended on his amount of wealth. War was considered an honorable and prestigious activity. Instead, their helmets were cone-shaped and made from hard leather, wood and metal.Īccording to ancient sagas, all Viking men were required to own weapons, and they were allowed to carry them all the time. Historians do not believe that Viking warriors wore horned helmets. ![]() However, this image of Vikings is a misconception. ![]() When you picture a Viking, you probably picture a metal cap with two horns on it, lots of facial hair and plenty of weapons. This may have been used to show who was married and who was not. Vikings sometimes wore leg wraps around their lower legs for added warmth, similar to modern leg-warmers but made of strips of wool wrapped around the leg. They did not last long and needed to be replaced every few months. They resembled plain leather booties with soft soles, and with leather laces for enclosure. Shoes were made of leather, and they were usually quite simple. In general, Viking clothes were made from animal skins, wool, and linen. They wore hats made of wool and leather, and they also wore mittens. Wool, Animal Skins And Furįor added warmth in the cold Northern weather, Vikings also wore long cloaks or jackets made of wool, animal skins and fur. In both cases, clothes were secured around the waist with leather belts, and they were secured on top with pins or brooches. Women wore a long dress with an overdress on top. They wore trousers underneath the tunics. Men wore tunics that were tight-fitting across the chest and had a broad loose skirt. In addition, wealthier Vikings’ clothing featured more decoration and color than lower-class Vikings, who used plain fabric to make their clothes.Ĭlothing also differed by gender. They also wore jewelry such as brooches, necklaces and arm rings. Higher classes wore more expensive clothes, sometimes made of silk. There were different classes of Vikings, and each class was known to wear different types of clothing to show their wealth or status. ![]() It was likely kept and used for a long time. For this reason, clothing was considered very valuable. To make a wool cloak, for example, they had to first raise the sheep, cut the wool, process it, and then weave it into cloth only then could they make a cloak out of it. The work was entirely done by women, and it was time-consuming. In the Viking era, making clothes was a lot more work than it is today. A more extensive dictionary can be found here.Īdditional grammars, and vocabularies can be found as part of the Viking Language Series.īolded Old Norse words are among the 70 most frequent words in the sagas.Vikings were known to be very skilled weavers, and they made their own cloth to use for clothing. The Old Norse vocabulary below compiles the 246 most common Old Norse words that appear in the family sagas. The 70 most frequently used words account for nearly 450,000 or 60% of the total word count… the greatest benefit is found in learning the top 246 words.” – Jesse L. There are only 12,400 different words in the corpus of the family sagas out of a total word count of almost 750,000. “The total vocabulary of the sagas is surprisingly small.
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