Viking Weapons

When reading or learning about the Viking weapons and armor, one should first remember a few vital things: one is that all adult male Vikings always wielded a weapon, and they hung their precious Viking weapons close to their beds at night, allowing easy reach for emergencies or sudden attacks by opponents.

The Vikings lived in a society that was honor-based, so the men were always ready to defend their homes, their honor, as well as their good name whenever necessary.

This is because feuds, battles, and duels were considered a fact of life by these individuals yet it could also get quite challenging for the Vikings since iron was difficult to acquire from the ground resulting in a costly process of creating such weapons.

Because of this, only the richest Vikings were able to acquire their own set of valuable weapons such as the sax or short sword, a sword, the spear, shield, axe, bow, and arrows, as well as the chainmail.

The poor Vikings could only wield the spear or axe together with a shield while the poorest ones only had access to their axes that they utilized for farming. As for the women and children, they were not allowed to carry weapons but for the free ones, they could carry the knives they utilized for farm work; slaves, however, were prohibited from carrying any type of Viking weapons.

When these warriors were required to engage in some of the most prestigious activities during the Viking period in Scandinavia, most of the weapons Viking were made with a beautiful finish as well as adornments to display their status and wealth.

All the rich Vikings would have completed the whole set of equipment such as the wooden shield, sword, and spear, while the wealthiest ones were also able to acquire a helmet. It is said that professional warriors and the nobility were the only ones who could afford to also purchase armor since these too were very expensive just like the Viking weapons.

When it comes to the average farmer, they usually carried the spear, a shield and at times, a huge knife/seax or the common axe; there were also some who would carry their hunting bows with them during the opening stages of a battle.

The Viking Weapons

Vikings were undeniably talented and skilled in weaponry since this was a very vital characteristic for them to be successful at invading and raiding.

Talented strategists and ironmongers then created more advanced and highly efficient Viking weapons that could be utilized during battles, and here are some of the cool Viking weapons that were developed:

Swords

The sword is known as one of the most expensive Viking weapons of all since it required a lot of iron to create; since it was also considered as a prestigious weapon, only the rich were able to own this.

Swords are characterized with a double-edged blade that is about thirty-five inches long; most of these were also pattern-welded meaning, steel and wrought iron strips were perfectly twisted together then hammered into the shape of a hardened blade.

Additionally, swords were also highly adorned and were given a variety of names such as leg-biter or blood-hungry; plus, these Vikings also carried their weapons in finely-made scabbards and were worn over their shoulder for easier access.

Axes

All Vikings carried weapons with them and the most common item would be the axe; this would be held firmly by the wearer’s belt and the weapon’s long handles provided the Vikings adequate advantage for better reach during battles.

Depending on the owner’s wealth and how he would wield the axe, its cutting edge would range from about three to eighteen inches.

The axe was not only a weapon for warfare but also a tool for a variety of tasks such as farming; plus, there were also several kinds of larger, specialized battle axes that have developed over time and appeared with much longer shafts and larger heads.

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Spear

Another one of the most popular Viking weapons would be the spear which ranged about three to ten feet in length. It allowed the user to slash and cut but it was primarily created for thrusting and throwing. These weapons featured a variety of designs, shapes, and lengths each made with a specific purpose.

Knives

There were two distinct types of knives utilized by the Vikings: one was the single-edged plain knife called the Knife a much smaller knife for everyday use. The longer blades were specifically for combat, hunting, or both; additionally, some of these weapon knives also featured ornamental designs right on the blade.

The other type of knife utilized by the Vikings was the Seax and these were specifically the broken-back style Seax. These knives were known to be much heavier compared to the regular knives and could also work as a falchion or machete-like arm.

Wealthier individuals may wield larger Seax’s which can also work as highly effective swords; also with its heavy and single-edged blade, the Seax was known as a crude weapon that is easy to create and use, unlike the regular sword.

Bow and Arrow

The bow and arrow are initially utilized for hunting so Vikings instantly discovered its effectiveness and efficiency during raids. Archers were able to release numerous arrows to easily kill enemies prior to close-contact battles.

For those skilled archers, they were able to shoot around twelve arrows per minute and these were said to be strong and hard enough to penetrate the enemy’s shields.

Viking Weapons for Sale

Weapons have always been a part of the daily life of the Vikings and every free man could carry and possess their own Viking weapons for a variety of uses.

The ability to carry such weapons was one of the traditional rights of the period and today, anyone can readily purchase high-quality Viking weapons for sale from numerous online weapon shops.

There are a variety of these weapons for sale and one can choose from the functional swords that can readily be used for various activities or cutting practice, and the decorative types that one can add to their growing collection of medieval weapons.

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