Making a round shield from the Viking Age. Gardarik Association Library Viking Shield Blueprints

This article will walk you through the creation process their hands light and durable armor made of a material called Wonderflex.

Wonderflex is a very versatile material, but there are certain limitations to its use.

In the images above, all armor pieces except for the helmet were made from a combination of Wonderflex and Apoxie.

Step 1: What is Wonderflex?

Wonderflex is a low melting thermoplastic (150°-170°F "activation" temperature), with a woven fiber backing on one side. When heated, the material can stretch, repeat the shape of the workpiece.

Wonderflex sheets can be joined together. The more you heat the material, the stronger the bond will be. I recommend using heat guns for heating, but you can also microwave smaller pieces.

Let's take the “conditional” that most people have at home: markers, rulers, well-lit workplaces. I would like to offer a set of tools for working with Wonderflex:

Heat gun;
Trauma scissors (they have a serrated edge that allows you to cut 3 layers of Wonderflex fairly easily)
Hand punch (Wonderflex is pretty bad at drilling. For clean holes, a punch is best);
Roller - for gluing sheets together;

Blanks for molding armor elements;
Grinding sponges - to smooth the texture of the material;
Polyester filler and primer;
soldering iron;
Respirator, gloves and goggles;

For volumetric parts, we will use a material called Apoxie Sculpt (clay), which hardens overnight, dries, almost no shrinkage and is easy to sand. When working with Apoxie, some clay tools may come in handy.

Step 3: Create Armor Templates

Any project always starts with drawings. There are many ways to get them. First of all, if the image of the desired replica is in a video game, an experienced craftsman will be able to extract files in the form of a 3D model that can be manipulated.

I had a mannequin that matched the size of my torso. After printing out the set of armor templates, tape the pieces together to visualize the shape of the armor. If the pieces don't match and further adjustments are needed, make the necessary changes to the template and then print a new piece.

Paper is a good counterpart to Wonderflex. Spend time customizing templates. If you can set up all the elements properly, you can save a lot of time and frustration later on when trying to mold Wonderflex.

Step 4: Thicken the Sheets

Once the templates are sorted, it's time to transfer them to Wonderflex.

The thickness of one layer is actually quite small and the material will not hold the given shape under any impact on it. In addition, when forming parts from only one layer, the material will wrinkle along those areas that are stretched. To solve this problem, we will connect several sheets together before forming parts of the costume from them.

For large areas, such as the chest and back, it was decided to use three layers. We heat them with a heat gun, and then roll them with a roller. In order to pre-fasten the sheets together and they do not move during rolling, you can use a pin or similar object. However, I recommend that you first make sure that the heated Wonderflex will not stick to the surface of the roller. My roller has a silicone drum, so that wasn't a problem.

For other parts that don't wear as much (shoulders and hips), use 2 sheets each to make a preliminary base for the armor elements.

Step 5: Basic Components

After the sheets are compacted, it's time to cut the blanks.

It is much easier to cut out a shape from a pre-formed piece. After all, if you cut a piece and then stretch it in shape, then in the end the result will be “crooked”.

The first picture shows an "empty" panel. This part was made with 2 layers of Wonderflex. We will use an old plastic pipe (you can take any non-porous and heat-resistant material) to achieve the desired curvature. You can use large PVC pipe adapters - strict lines and high temperature resistance will make them an excellent tool for Wonderflex molding. In order to prevent sticking, cover part of the sheet with metallic tape.

To cool simple shapes, use a bucket of cold water.

After heating the sheet, give it the desired shape, then immerse it in water. It takes about 5 minutes to cool completely (in air), but with the bucket method, the process takes seconds.

After we got the desired shape, take the pattern and circle it on the workpiece. We use small clamps to fix the template while drawing.

After transferring the contours of the template, simply cut out the desired shape. As I wrote earlier, Wonderflex used trauma scissors for cutting. Although a stationery knife also works great.

Step 6: Grease, Shape, Bend, Repeat...

There are some pieces of armor that cannot be obtained in the above way.

Unlike the previous stage, you first need to transfer the drawing and only after that gradually form the element of the costume.

Starting from the lower leg, I formed the main details using the leg of the mannequin. While this allowed me to achieve fairly accurate basic shapes, fine lines and wavy edges remained. In this case, to smooth them out, you need to concentrate on one area, heat it, form curves, and then soak it in a bucket of ice water.

Step 7:

In picture 2 you can see the method of forming the sections of the back and chest. Since these parts are too big to fit in a bucket of ice water, it's worth starting the heating process by placing a sheet of damp towel on top. After completion, the workpiece is covered with a second towel dipped in ice water.

We repeat this process several times until we reach the desired shape. It took several passes and stretching around the corners and edges to get to this "point".

In the picture, you can see the front chest plate after molding. Let's make small cuts along the arms and neck in order to stretch the shape along the edges and increase the curvature. Then we will cover them with thin strips of Wonderflex to strengthen the seams. If the armor needs to be smooth in these areas, you can close these cuts on the back to give the finish a smooth look.

Once the pieces are shaped, it's a good idea to try them on on a mannequin to make sure all the seams line up.

Step 8: Add Overlay Details

Wonderflex works great with large surfaces and wide shapes, but for more defined areas and crisp details, you will need to use a different material.

I prefer to use Apoxie Sculpt 2-component epoxy clay. All volumetric details, with the exception of the details of the shoulder pads, were molded from it.

I would like to note that the placement of additional parts (on the lower leg) will hide the seam line between the two halves of the Wonderflex and make the surface of the armor element a single whole. Apoxie works pretty well with abrasive.

For the manufacture of rivets for armor, we will use furniture nails. Pre-drill a hole, cut off the pointed end and superglue them in place.

Step 9: Sand and Smooth the Surface

Don't forget to wear a respirator first. All work should be carried out outdoors or in a well-ventilated area.

The first step is to sand down the formed armor pieces with coarse sandpaper. Depending on how well you have sculpted the shapes, the process can be either very short or very long.

After the surface of the clay is leveled, cover the parts with a car primer in three layers. All small bumps and ripples will need to be smoothed out. For small defects, we will use putty as a filler. It is important to apply small layers of putty to parts that will be subject to folds, because it can break during kinks.

For the chest and back, which have many small dents, we use the sponge sanding method.

If you have areas with deep defects or large dents, you can use polyester filler. This padding can flex slightly, which allows the Wonderflex to not become completely rigid.

After applying the filler, apply a couple more layers of primer. If you are going to age the surface of the armor, you may leave some external defects.

When sanding Wonderflex, you can get edges that stick out of the fibers. A quick pass with a hot knife or soldering iron will fix this problem.

The main purpose of this article is to fill the existing gap and make life easier for those who are just starting to act in the field of historical reconstruction. It is recommended that you first read the translation of Peter Bitson's article at the addresses above, and then use this article as a guide to action.

Material.

The shield field can be made on the basis of two options: from a furniture shield (the closest to reality, but less durable), or a plywood sheet. The furniture board is a rectangle glued from boards with a width of 1m, a length of 2m and a thickness of 2cm. Given the thickness of real shields, you will need to plan a wooden blank with a planer by almost one and a half times 6-8mm. Or use plywood with a predetermined thickness. The diameter of the workpiece can vary from 80 to 90cm.

The handle must be made of a wooden plank with a D-shaped section. The length is adjusted based on the diameter of the shield, so that the indent from the edge is about 5 cm. The handle can be made the same width along the entire length, or you can reduce it to a cone - from the center to its two ends. The thickness and height are no more than 3-3.5 cm. On the Carolingian miniatures there are images of round shields with a figured metal handle (Maine), Anglo-Saxon material also confirms the use of this type of handle (Maine).

The central place on the shield is occupied by an umbon - an iron cap covering the handle from the outside of the shield. For the Viking era, umbons have a fairly similar appearance throughout Europe, differing in the details of the manufacture of the cone itself and the design of the field. At the end of the 19th century, a typology (Ryuge) was developed which is still used today. Umbon can be made independently by cold forging on a mandrel from a sheet of iron 2-2.5 mm.

The edge of the shield was covered with a leather strip 2-3 mm thick and 5-6 cm wide. The joints of the pieces were closed with iron rectangular fittings 1 mm thick with dimensions of 2 by 7 cm. According to the materials of the Birka burial ground, these fittings were riveted with 2 rivets.

The outer side of the shield must be glued with leather or cloth (burlap). The shield from the Tyrian peat bog was glued with leather on both sides.

Again, according to the materials of the Birka burial ground, along with the finds of shields, finds of one or two iron rings on brackets located at the same distance from the umbon, apparently necessary for attaching a leather shoulder strap, can be traced.

Delusions.

Before you start making your first shield, you need to avoid the most common mistakes made:

Additional planks.

In addition to the handle, the shield field was not reinforced with additional longitudinal strips riveted with a large number of rivets. Firstly, there is no archaeological evidence for this fact, and secondly, this addition does not add strength to the shield, but only makes it heavier. The handle of the shield was the only bar that fastened the field of the shield and the umbon. The use of rivets for fastening these parts is still controversial. Usually, the umbon was fastened with nails bent inward. The handle of the Tyrian shield was tied to the field with a rope.

Shield thickness.

The optimal thickness of the shield is 6-8 mm: you should not make a shield from plywood more than 10 mm. This adds weight, turning the shield from a mobile, active defense into another heavy item on your arm. Real artifacts give us an idea of the shield as a defense for one fight, tests show that the shield cannot withstand arrows and darts, powerful chopping blows with an ax destroy the edge of the shield, even breaking through the handle. This fragility is compensated by its maneuverability and ease of dismantling metal parts to a new field.

Shield shackles.

It is not necessary to tie the edge of the shield with a metal strip, this again will increase the weight and will not greatly save the edge of the shield from destruction. The shields of the Viking era had only a leather strip along the edging, additionally fastened with metal brackets. In the only Birka burial, the bindings are riveted close to each other, covering one sector of the shield.

Shield strap.

The belt was attached to steel rings, which in turn were attached to the handle. The most common mistake is to mount the belt to the backboard field using rivets and washers, followed by installation of the buckle and belt tip. Buckles and even more so (richly decorated) tips have never been found together with the remains of the shield. Apparently, the belt was a single one, or its length was regulated using a series of holes on one side of the belt and a forked tail on the other.

Decorations.

Archaeological finds of shields give us a poor choice of decoration of the outer part: Gokstad - alternation of yellow and black paint, Gnezdovo - ocher-red on the remains of a tree on the rim of one shield. The Tyrian shield has leather pasting, which, most likely, did not have a pattern. The pictorial sources on shields are much richer (one can give fairly examples of miniatures with the reconstruction of the drawing throughout Europe). In addition to these sources, drawings on models of ornamental shields can be used. The basis of the pattern is usually the so-called "Segner's wheel", or a cross. The most common misconception is the transfer of a real zoomorphic or geometric pattern decorating any object of material culture (wickerwork on dishes, spoons, embroidery, architecture, book miniatures) to the subject of military life. Do not forget that the ornament for our ancestors had more practical significance than just as an element of decor.

Shield making. Shield field.

First you need to cut a circle out of plywood, with the usual cutting of a sheet, you can get two blanks with a diameter of 89 cm. For marking, use a carnation driven into the center of your future shield, a thread tied to it with a pencil equal to the shield radius. It is also necessary to cut a hole under the arm in the center of the shield. The diameter of the hole should be slightly larger than the inner diameter of your (already finished) umbon. All cut edges must be carefully sanded. The inner part of the shield is lined onto boards with a dummy knife along the longitudinal pattern of plywood and treated with stain. If the surface is assembled from a furniture board, then the texture and direction of the boards will appear after staining.

After that, it is necessary to paste over the outer side of the shield with a cloth, for this it is necessary to apply a layer of PVA first on the plane, then put a wet (!) Fabric on the shield and apply a few more layers of glue on top. The last layer will be the shield pattern - for this you add a coloring pigment or tempera paint to the glue itself and paint the surface.

Umbon.

While the shield is drying, you need to make an umbon. With an abundance of modern tools, this will not be difficult to do. The first way is to buy a ready-made, hot-formed umbon, which can be endlessly rearranged from the old shield to the new one. And the second way is self-production. To do this, you need: a round-faced drift hammer, a small concave steel cup / ingot, or a wooden chopping block with a recess in the center. A workpiece with a diameter of 16-18 cm is cut out of sheet iron with a thickness of 2-2.5 mm, then fields of 2 cm are outlined along the edge with a caliper. You need to knock out the sphere with a series of blows from the edge to the center. Each cycle of impacts will allow you to knock out the sphere by about 5mm. Given the required depth of the umbon 6-8cm. After the second hour of knocking out, you will finally get the idea that it was better to buy it.

Edge stitching.

After the fabric on the face of the shield has dried, it will be necessary to cut off excess pieces of fabric around the edges. Then we will proceed to sheathing the edge of the shield with a leather strip. With a shield thickness of 8 mm, a strip of leather 5 cm wide will suffice. By trying on the strip on the edge, mark the line of the edge of the strip along the entire shield. Further, retreating from this line 5 mm to the outside, line with an awl at regular intervals (10-12 mm) the future holes for the firmware. If you chose solid stitching, then one line of holes will be enough, if overcasting, then it will be necessary to step back from the 5 mm line inside the shield and mark the holes in between. Next, you need to drill all the holes with a diameter of 2 mm in a circle, apply a strip and pierce the holes for the firmware in it with an awl, so that they coincide with those drilled in the shield field. You can sew a strip with thick linen or waxed threads.

Fittings installation.

For fittings, you can use a sheet of iron 1 mm thick, from which it is necessary to cut 6-8 identical plates 2 cm wide and 7 cm long (with a shield thickness of 8 mm and a leather cover of 2 mm - when these dimensions change, the length of the bracket may vary). 4 holes are drilled in the workpiece for future riveting, and the bracket is tightly crimped with pliers along the edge of the shield. After that, holes are drilled in the shield itself, rivets are inserted and riveted from the inside. If the leather strip on the edging consists of several pieces, then the brackets are placed at each joint, if the strip is solid, then 4-6 brackets can be placed along the sectors of the shield at an equal distance from each other.

Assembling the parts of the shield. Umbon, handle, rings.

Before mounting the handle, it is necessary to fix rings on it - belt holders. The rings are bent on a mandrel with a diameter of 2 cm from 4 mm wire. Then strips 4-5 mm wide are cut from one extra bracket. They are bent around the ring and inserted into the holes drilled in the handle, and the remaining shanks are unbent on the reverse side. Their location may vary, the main thing is that they are equidistant from the umbon.

Next, the handle and the umbon itself are mounted. It is usually attached to 4 nails or rivets, two of which also pass through the handle. For the handle itself, two more rivets are needed at the ends, although each board of a lined shield can be riveted. The final touch is the installation of a belt with ties and sewing a linen cover for the shield.

Shields of the Viking Age.

The large round Viking shields were made, apparently, in accordance with some special tradition. The most famous examples of intact specimens - those that were located on the sides of the ship from Gokstad, Norway (Fig. 1.) - date back to 905 AD. e. (Bonde and Christensen 1993). They are similar to the shields from Thorsberg (Raddatz 1987).

Design and dimensions.

The usual size of shields of that time was 80-90 cm in diameter (see Table 1). For comparison - shields found in pagan Anglo-Saxon burials (23 copies) - from 42 to 92 cm; from Thorsberg – 7 specimens, Roman Iron Age – from 65 to 104 cm in diameter; Välsgarde, Sweden - 3 specimens, Vendel period - from 84 to 110 cm in diameter). The field of the shield was flat; It was made from one layer of planks (boards), knocked down (fastened) together. The Gokstad shields are made of seven or eight planks of pine (softwood seems to have been used in most cases, but not always) of varying widths, with fewer wider planks appearing to be more practical; for example, the central plank of the Vendel-era shield from Välsgarde was 52 cm wide. The thickness of the planks was usually 6-10 mm (Table 2); decreased towards the edges (Fig. 1, Table 2). Confirmation of hypotheses about the existence of multilayer structures has not yet been found (Härke 1981).

Fig. 1 - shield from the burial in Gokstad, Vestfold, Norway, 905 AD. Diameter 94 cm (Nicolaysen 1882).
a. Front view. Umbon type - Rygh 564.
b. Back side; holes for attaching the rim (plating) and one wooden plank serving as a handle are visible - the rest of the structural reinforcement elements visible in the photo are modern additions.
with. Section-side view; visible thinning towards the edges.

Planks were glued to one another whenever possible. In addition, the umbon, the handle and the rim (edge sheathing) (see below), as well as the leather covering, gave additional strength. Some Birka shields had thin leather face coverings, and some early English shields were covered on both sides (Arwidsson 1986; Dickinson and Härke 1992). However, the slats of the Gostad shields were painted, indicating that they were not covered with leather (Lowe 1990). It can even be assumed that their shape and fragility of construction meant only use in burial, for which they were made; it was unlikely that they were battle shields. It is interesting to note that the shields from Gokstad are structurally similar to the shield found in the peat bog at Tirskom, Latvia (Tir peat bog) (Figure 1.1).

Fig 1.1 - Shield 1 found in Tirskom, Latvia. Left - found, right - reconstruction.

Shield 1. This shield, dated to the 9th century, was assembled from six planks of spruce or fir (Yrtan 1961). The diameter of the shield is 85.5 cm, the thickness of the slats is 0.6 cm. On both sides, the shield is covered with leather and lined with compressed grass, possibly to soften the blow. In some places, the skin is fixed on the edge (nailed (?) or sewn (?)).

Interestingly, the shield umbon from the Tire peat bog is made of wood, although it is identical in shape and size to local iron samples (another wooden umbon was found at the site of a Slavic settlement in Gross Raden, Northern Germany). The umbon measures 13.1 by 10.5 cm and closes a hole in the center 11.5 cm wide. It is riveted with 14 rivets (which have not been preserved). Traces of blows on the surface of the skin and umbone indicate that the shield was used in battle.

Shield 2. From the second shield found in Tirskom, only the middle plank, or rather, only part of it, was found. It was made of some type of coniferous wood and measures 68 x 11.8 x 1.4 cm. convex shield.

Umbon.

A round hole was made in the center of the shield (at least it was in the shields from Gokstad; oval, 8-D-shaped ones are known from materials relating to the Vendelian and earlier periods. The second shield from Tirskom had a square hole). It (the hole) was closed with a hemispherical iron umbon, the diameter of which was about 15 cm (together with the margins); umbon covered the handle. The iron on the dome was quite thick (3-5 mm), although the margins of the umbon were thinner ( Note by S.K. : about a dozen old Russian umbons measured by me gave a thickness of about 1.5 mm, so 3-5 mm is a clear overkill).

The umbon had two main forms - the early style (variant) had a high dome and a clear “neck” (neck, interception) (Fig. 2-a) The late style (variant) had a low dome without a “neck” (Fig. 2-b) , although the complete displacement of the early style by the later did not happen. Less common were the low version (Fig. 2-c), and the sphero-conical (Fig. 2-d), sometimes with a protrusion at the top.

Rice. 2 - shield umbos.

The only examples of umbons with scalloped edges are known from Telemark, Norway (Fig. 3-a); Birka, Sweden and Ile de Groix, France (Fig. 3e). In the last burial, several unique umbones with unusually made flanges were found (Fig. 3-d,c,d,e), possibly of Western European origin (Mueller-Wille 1978).

Usually, the umbon was attached with iron nails (rivets), the tips (ends) of which were either bent or riveted from the back of the shield (Fig. 3-d, h). ( Note by S.K. : nailing is the most common, rivets are found, but less often). The samples found in Birka usually have 4 nails, sometimes six (as in Gokstad). There are also cases of fastening with five rivets, as in Cronk Moar, Man and Groix, France.

The fields of some umbons were located at an angle, possibly because they were attached to the convex field of the shield. Birka also produces specimens of umbons, the margins of which were decorated with applied non-ferrous metal plates (Fig. 3-f,g), and the heads of the rivets were inlaid (?) or tinned (Arwidsson 1986).

Fig. 3 - shield umbos.
a - umbon with scalloped edges, Telemark, Norway
b-e - Ile de Groix, France. The ends of the nails are often riveted rather than bent.
f - Birka, tinned application is shown.
g - Birka, copper edging on the flange.
h - Birka, in the side view, the bend of the rivets is noticeable.

Handle.

Apparently it was only wooden, judging by the majority of burials, where there are not as many remains as in Gokstad; there a thin plank is riveted to the boards from edge to edge and serves as a handle (where it crosses the central hole) (see Fig. 1). On more beautifully made shields, a curved iron plate was superimposed on the wooden core, usually ornamented with an engraved bronze leaf or silver inlay (Fig. 4-a)

Rice. 4 - shield handles, 10th c.
a – two fragments of a silver-decorated iron handle with a wooden core from a burial in Hedeby, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
b - a fragment of the "spade" end of the handle, Gokstad.
c-d - three-pronged bronze mounts for a handle in the form of human-animal images, burials of Hedeby and Birka.

The handle was long, often crossed the entire diameter of the shield and was thinned towards the ends. A “shovel-shaped” overlay could be attached to the ends of the handle, which was also riveted (Fig. 4-b); or everything was fastened with various bronze fasteners (plates) (Fig. 4-c, d). Sometimes the rivets that held the umbon passed through the handle. The handle could be wrapped in leather.

Edge reinforcement.

Most of the finds do not confirm the presence of edge reinforcement, which probably indicates either its (reinforcement) absence, or the manufacture of a material that deteriorates relatively quickly, and, therefore, has not survived to our time. Small holes were drilled in the shields from Gokstad at a distance of about 2 cm from the edge at 3.5 cm intervals (Fig. 1-a,b), possibly in order to fasten the rim, all other traces of which have not been preserved. It can be assumed that a strip of leather ran along the edge, seized with stitches or nailed with thin nails.

Rice. 5 - Metal clamps from the rims of the shields.
a – burial in Birka, Sweden. Type A is a simple U-bracket.
b – burial in Birka, Sweden. Type B - with an extension for attaching a leather strip.
c – Lindholm Hшye 1112, Denmark. There are traces of chasing (?) around the rivet.

In graves, sometimes there are small brackets made of iron or bronze plates (Fig. 5). The brackets were sometimes decorated with tinning, embossing or engraving (Fig. 5-c). In Birka, shields were found in which the brackets were fitted one to the other continuously along the edge (Fig. 6); however, only fragments of the rim have been preserved, which, possibly, means deliberate (?) damage to the shield before burial.

Rice. 6 – Burial in Birka Bj736, 10th c.
a - shields, as they were found during excavations
b - reconstruction (Peter Beatson)

Sometimes several staples were distributed evenly around the rim, perhaps to secure the edge of the leather strip, which sometimes leaves traces. Staples from burial Bj 850 were fastened over a leather border (Fig. 7), although their small number and uneven distribution suggest that this (skin fastening) is not their main purpose. They, for example, could strengthen the joints of the planks or the damaged edge.

Rice. 7 – Burial in Birka Bj850, 10th c.
a - shield, as found during excavations (Arbman, 1943).
1 - umbon, 2 - rim brackets, 3 - end of the handle (near the remnants)
b - shield reconstruction (Peter Beatson)
c - section - area with a bronze bracket; the material of the shield, the leather lining and the strip along the edge are shown.

Preface.

Design and dimensions.

Fig 1.1 - Shield 1 found in Tirskom, Latvia. Left - found, right - reconstruction.

A round hole was made in the center of the shield (at least it was in the shields from Gokstad; oval, 8-D-shaped ones are known from materials relating to the Vendelian and earlier periods. The second shield from Tirskom had a square hole). It (the hole) was closed with a hemispherical iron umbon, the diameter of which was about 15 cm (together with the margins); umbon covered the handle. The iron on the dome was quite thick (3-5 mm), although the margins of the umbon were thinner ( Note by S.K.: about a dozen old Russian umbons measured by me gave a thickness of about 1.5 mm, so 3-5 mm is a clear overkill).

Rice. 2 - shield umbos.

Usually, the umbon was attached with iron nails (rivets), the tips (ends) of which were either bent or riveted from the back of the shield (Fig. 3-d, h). ( Note by S.K.: nailing is the most common, rivets are found, but less often). The samples found in Birka usually have 4 nails, sometimes six (as in Gokstad). There are also cases of fastening with five rivets, as in Cronk Moar, Man and Groix, France.

Edge reinforcement.

In graves, sometimes there are small brackets made of iron or bronze plates (Fig. 5). The brackets were sometimes decorated with tinning, embossing or engraving (Fig. 5-c). In Birka, shields were found, in which the brackets were fitted one to the other continuously along the edge (Fig. 6); however, only fragments of the rim have been preserved, which, possibly, means deliberate (?) damage to the shield before burial.

Rice. 6 – Burial in Birka Bj736, 10th c.
a - shields, as they were found during excavations
b - reconstruction (Peter Beatson)

Other metal parts

All other metal parts, including rivets (Fig. 8-a), came across mostly by chance. In some graves in Birka, one or two rings were found, fixed in the "lugs" of the brackets (Fig. 8-b, c), which passed through the field, and sometimes through the handle of the shield, while the ring was on the back side. Perhaps they served to hang shields, and possibly to fasten a leather strip (rope) for ease of carrying.

Rice. 8 - metal parts.
a - burials in Birka Bj727, 10th c. The rivet served to fasten the handle to the shield.
b - burials in Birka Bj407. Ring and mount are similar to all others found in Birka
c – schematic distribution of brackets with rings on the back side of shields from Birka, grave numbers are indicated.
a,b - from Arbman (1943)

A shield repaired by riveting 13 thin copper strips (15-30 x 6-7 mm) over a breach was found in a burial at Valsgarde dating back to the 11th century (Museum of Norse Antiquities, Uppsala Sweden: pers. obs. 1994).

Decorations

Archaeological as well as literary and artistic sources show that the shields were often painted. The front parts of shields from Gokstad were painted in yellow (? orpiment = As 2 O 3) or black (? charcoal) colors; shields of different colors were arranged alternately along the sides (Lowe 1990; Nicolaysen 1882). Red shields may also have been common (the red pigments appear to have been derived from minerals, such as red ocher (Fe2O3 as on the Jelling statuette (Marxen and Molkte 1981)), or vermilion (HgS, as on the Illerup shield, 200 CE). (Forhistoriskmuseet, Moesgard Denmark: pers. obs. 1994) On the same figurine, a dark blue pigment was found, made by mixing crushed chalk with burnt organic material (? charcoal) and a yellow component (As2O3 orpiment) on oil A red shield was noted on a Danish runestone (?) (Roesdahl 1992) and there are also references to such shields in the sagas. Uppsala Universitet: pers.comm. 1993) Roman Iron Age shields (from Thorsberg) were painted red or blue (Nationalmuseet, Copenhagen: pers. obs. 1994).

A fragment from Ballateare, Maine, suggests that the leather lining of the shield was painted with black and red patterns on a white field (see Fig. 9). It is assumed that gesso (organic matrix such as egg yolk) was used. Traces of white paint have been found on a wooden shield fragment from the Manx Cronk Moar (Bersu and Wilson 1966).

Rice. 9 - Fragment of gesso from the front side of the shield. Ballateare, Maine, 10th c.

A recently discovered burial from the 10th c. in Grimstrup, Denmark, contained a round wooden field that covered the body from head to thigh. Since no other accessories (for example, an umbon) were found, it was assumed that the field was nothing more than an unfinished shield. It was painted (a fragment - see Fig. 10), the general drawing is not really distinguishable. The background color is dark blue, the pattern is gray-green outlined with white lines. Fragments of red lines and white dots are also visible.

Fig.10 - Two fragments of the shield coloring from Grimstrup.

Quite often on the shields in the images of the Vikings (Fig. 11) one can see lines “wrapped” in a spiral (Fig. 11 - a, b, c, d) (the so-called “Segner wheel” or “vortex rosette”). They can be interpreted as reinforcing metal bands (not found by archaeologists), stitching on leather facings, or a border between segments of paintwork of different colors, as shown in several Frankish manuscripts of the 10th century (Fig. 13). An example of shield decorations can also be ornaments on surviving painted wooden objects (the same figurine that was already mentioned above, a board with a snake from Horning Church, Denmark and a painted runestone from the courtyard of St. Paul's Church, London, numerous painted things from Oseberg and Gokstad, Norway, painted board from Ladby burial, chest (coffin) from Birka burial (Fig. 12).

Fig. 11 - shields in modern art
a,b - drawings on stone, Gotland, 7th-8th centuries.
c, d - silver pendants in the form of shields, Birka, Sweden, 10th c.
e - bronze pendant "Valkyrie", Hedeby, Germany, 10th century.
f - fragments of tapestries, Oseberg, Norway c. 834

Fig.12 - drawings from a small coffin from a burial in Birka. The style bears a resemblance to the shield from Ballateare.

Fig.13 - shields with a spiral pattern and segmental coloring, Golden Psalter of St. Gall, Frankish, 10th c.

Animal or bird-shaped metal plate decorations attached to the face of the shield are limited to pre-Viking times, although wood strip appliqué is suggested for the shield from Cronk Moar (Bersu and Wilson 1966). About other decorated parts of the shield (umbons, hilts, brackets) were described above.

Fighting technique.

The analysis showed that the main use of large round shields was protection from projectile weapons, while duels were carried out blade-on-blade (Schloë Gottorf: Archdologische Landesmuseum der Christian-Albrechts Universität, Schleswig Germany: pers. obs. 1994). However, the use of shields in hand-to-hand combat also took place. The iron umbone of the Viking Age (as opposed to the thin bronze Roman Iron Age) suggests a change in the style of hand-to-hand combat when parrying with the umbone became possible. The thin field was easily split, which may have been intended, in order for the enemy's weapons to get stuck.

Literature.

ARBMAN, H. (1940). Birka I: Die Gräber. Untersuchungen und Studien. Tafeln. Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien (KVHAA): Stockholm.

ARBMAN, H. (1943). Birka I: Die Gräber. Untersuchungen und Studien. Text. KVHAA Stockholm.

ARWIDSSON, G. (1986). "Schilde".
In: G. Arwidsson (ed.). Birka II: Systematische Analysen der Gräberfunde, vol. 2. KVHAA: Stockholm.

BERSU, G. and WILSON, D.M. (1966). "Three Viking graves in the Isle of Man". Society for Medieval Archeology, monograph 1. Society for Medieval Archeology: London.

BONDE, N. and CHRISTENSEN, A.E. (1993). "Dendrochronological dating of the Viking Age ship burials at Oseberg, Gokstad, and Tune, Norway". Antiquity 67, p. 573-583.

BRØNSTEAD, J. (1936). "Danish inhumation graves of the Viking Age". Acta archaeologica 7, p. 81-228.

CHRISTENSEN, A.E. (1993). "Kongsgardens håndverkere".
In: A.E. Christensen, A.S. Ingstad and B. Myhre (eds.). Oseberg Dronningens Grav: Vår arkeologiske nasjonalskatt i nytt lys. Schibsted: Oslo, p. 85-137.

DICKINSON, T. and HÄRKE, H. (1992). "Early Anglo-Saxon shields". archaeologica 110, Society of Antiquaries of London: London.

DUBY, G. (1970). Histoire de la France: naissance d "une nation des origines à 1348, vol. 1. Libraire Larousse: Paris.

DU CHATELLIER, P. and LE PONTOIS, L. (1908-9). "A ship burial in Brittany". Saga Book of the Viking Club 6, p. l23-161.

DUCZKO, W. (1989). "Runde Silberblechanhänger mit punzierten Muster".
In: G. Arwidsson (ed.). Birka II: Systematische Analysen der Gräberfunde, vol. 3. KVHAA: Stockholm.

ELSNER, H. (1985). Wikinger Museum Haithabu: Schaufenster einer fruhen Stadt. Karl Wachholz Verlag: Neumünster.

GRAHAM-CAMPBELL, J. (1980). Viking artefacts: a select catalogue. British Museum: London.

HÄRKE, H. (1981). "Anglo-Saxon laminated shields at Petersfinger - a myth". Medieval Archeology 25, p.141-144.

HOUGEN, B. (1940). "Osebergfunnets billedvev". Viking 4, p.85-124. Oslo.

KARLSSON, U. (1993). Medieval round shields. New Hedeby(January 1993), p.26-27.

LOWE, S. (1990). "Everything you wanted to know about Viking shields (and one helmet) but were afraid to ask". Varangian Voice(issue 17), p.24-25.

MAGNUSSON, M. (1979). Viking: hammer of the north. Orbis: London.

MARXEN, I. and MOLKTE, E. (1981). "The Jelling man: Denmark"s oldest figure-painting". Saga - Book of the Viking Club 20, p. 267-275.

MULLER-WILLE, M. (1976). "Das Bootkammergrab von Haithabu". Berichte über die Ausgrabungen in Haithabu 8. Karl Wachholtz: Neumünster.

MULLERWILLE, M. (1978). "Das Schiffsgrab von der Ile de Groix: ein Exkurs zum Bootkammergrab von Haithabu". Berichte über die Ausgrabungen in Haithabu 12, p.48-84.

NICOLAYSEN, N. (1882). The Viking ship discovered at Gokstad in Norway. Christiana: Oslo (reprinted 1971 Gregg International Publ.: Westmead UK).

OWEN, O. and DALLAND, M. (1994). "Scar, Sunday: a Viking boat-burial from Orkney". Birka Studies 3, p.159-172.

RADDATZ, K. (1987). Der Thorsberger Moorfund Katalog: Teile von Waffen und Pferdegeschirr, sonstige Fundstücke aus Metall und Glas, Ton- und Holzgefuße, Steingeräte. Karl Wachholtz: Neumünster.

RAMSKOU, T. (1976). "Lindholm Höye gravpladsen". Nordiske Fortidsminder Ser.B, Bind 2. Lynge & Son: Copenhagen.

ROESDAHL, E. (1982). Viking Age Denmark. British Museum: London.

THORVILDSEN, K. (1957). "Ladby-skibet". Nordiske Fortidsminder, Ser.1 v.6. H.J. Lynge & Son: Copenhagen.

V. A. Urtan (1961). "Ancient Shields on the Territory of the Latvian SSR". Soviet archeology 1961, No. 1, pp. 216-224.

Shields of the Viking Age - general overview and historical digression

Design and dimensions.

The usual size of shields of that time was 80-90 cm in diameter. For comparison - shields found in pagan Anglo-Saxon burials (23 copies) - from 42 to 92 cm; from Thorsberg – 7 specimens, Roman Iron Age – from 65 to 104 cm in diameter; Valsgarde, Sweden - 3 specimens, Vendel period - from 84 to 110 cm in diameter). The field of the shield was flat; It was made from one layer of planks (boards), knocked down (fastened) together. The Gokstad shields are made of seven or eight planks of pine (softwood seems to have been used in most cases, but not always) of varying widths, with fewer wider planks appearing to be more practical; for example, the central plank of the Vendel-era shield from Valsgarde was 52 cm wide. The thickness of the planks was usually 6-10 mm; decreased towards the edges. Confirmation of hypotheses about the existence of multilayer structures has not yet been found (Härke 1981).

Fig. 1 - shield from the burial in Gokstad, Vestfold, Norway, 905 AD. Diameter 94 cm (Nicolaysen 1882). a. Front view. Umbon type - Rygh 564. b. Back side; holes for attaching the rim (plating) and one wooden plank serving as a handle are visible - the rest of the structural reinforcement elements visible in the photo are modern additions. with. Section-side view; visible thinning towards the edges.

Fig 1.1 - Shield 1 found in Tirskom, Latvia. Left - found, right - reconstruction.

Shield 1. This shield, dated to the 9th century, was assembled from six planks of spruce or fir (Yrtan 1961). The diameter of the shield is 85.5 cm, the thickness of the slats is 0.6 cm. On both sides, the shield is covered with leather and lined with compressed grass, possibly to soften the blow. In some places, the skin is fixed on the edge (nailed (?) or sewn (?)). Interestingly, the shield umbon from the Tire peat bog is made of wood, although it is identical in shape and size to local iron samples (another wooden umbon was found at the site of a Slavic settlement in Gross Raden, Northern Germany). The umbon measures 13.1 by 10.5 cm and closes a hole in the center 11.5 cm wide. It is riveted with 14 rivets (which have not been preserved). Traces of blows on the surface of the skin and umbone indicate that the shield was used in battle.

Umbon.

A round hole was made in the center of the shield (at least it was in the shields from Gokstad; oval, 8-D-shaped ones are known from materials relating to the Vendelian and earlier periods. The second shield from Tirskom had a square hole). It (the hole) was closed with a hemispherical iron umbon, the diameter of which was about 15 cm (together with the margins); umbon covered the handle. The iron on the dome was quite thick (3-5 mm), although the margins of the umbon were thinner (Note by S.K.: about a dozen old Russian umbons measured by me gave a thickness of about 1.5 mm, so 3-5 mm is a clear overkill ).

Rice. 2 - shield umbos.

Usually, the umbon was attached with iron nails (rivets), the tips (ends) of which were either bent or riveted from the back of the shield (Fig. 3-d, h). (Note by S.K.: fastening with nails is the most common, rivets are found, but less often). The samples found in Birka usually have 4 nails, sometimes six (as in Gokstad). There are also cases of fastening with five rivets, as in Cronk Moar, Man and Groix, France.

Fig. 3 - shield umbos. a - umbon with scalloped edges, Telemark, Norway. b-e - Ile de Groix, France. The ends of the nails are often riveted rather than bent. f - Birka, tinned application is shown. g - Birka, copper edging on the flange. h - Birka, in the side view, the bend of the rivets is noticeable.

Handle.

Rice. 4 - shield handles, 10th c. a – two fragments of a silver-decorated iron handle with a wooden core from a burial in Hedeby, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. b - a fragment of the "spade" end of the handle, Gokstad. c-d - three-pronged bronze mounts for a handle in the form of human-animal images, burials of Hedeby and Birka.

Edge reinforcement.

Rice. 5 - Metal clamps from the rims of the shields. a – burial in Birka, Sweden. Type A is a simple U-bracket. b – burial in Birka, Sweden. Type B - with an extension for attaching a leather strip. c – Lindholm Hшye 1112, Denmark. There are traces of chasing (?) around the rivet.

Rice. 6 – Burial in Birka Bj736, 10th c. a - shields, as they were found during excavations. b - reconstruction.

Rice. 7 – Burial in Birka Bj850, 10th c. a - shield, as found during excavations (Arbman, 1943). 1 - umbon, 2 - rim brackets, 3 - end of the handle (near the remnants). b - shield reconstruction (Peter Beatson). c - section - area with a bronze bracket; the material of the shield, the leather lining and the strip along the edge are shown.

Other metal parts

Rice. 8 - metal parts. a - burials in Birka Bj727, 10th c. The rivet served to fasten the handle to the shield. b - burials in Birka Bj407. The ring and fasteners are similar to all others found in Birka c – a schematic distribution of brackets with rings on the back side of shields from Birka, burial numbers are indicated. a,b - from Arbman (1943)

Decorations

Archaeological as well as literary and artistic sources show that the shields were often painted. The front parts of shields from Gokstad were painted in yellow (? orpiment = As2O3) or black (? charcoal) colors; shields of different colors were arranged alternately along the sides (Lowe 1990; Nicolaysen 1882). Red shields may also have been common (the red pigments appear to have been derived from minerals, such as red ocher (Fe2O3 as on the Jelling statuette (Marxen and Molkte 1981)), or vermilion (HgS, as on the Illerup shield, 200 CE). (Forhistoriskmuseet, Moesgard Denmark: pers. obs. 1994) On the same figurine, a dark blue pigment was found, made by mixing crushed chalk with burnt organic material (? charcoal) and a yellow component (As2O3 orpiment) on oil A red shield was noted on a Danish runestone (?) (Roesdahl 1992) and there are also references to such shields in the sagas. Uppsala Universitet: pers.comm. 1993) Roman Iron Age shields (from Thorsberg) were painted red or blue (Nationalmuseet, Copenhagen: pers. obs. 1994).

Fig. 11 - shields in modern art. a,b - drawings on stone, Gotland, 7th-8th centuries. c, d - silver pendants in the form of shields, Birka, Sweden, 10th c. e - bronze pendant "Valkyrie", Hedeby, Germany, 10th century. f - fragments of tapestries, Oseberg, Norway c. 834

Fig.12 - drawings from a small coffin from a burial in Birka. The style bears a resemblance to the shield from Ballateare.
Fig.13 - shields with a spiral pattern and segmental coloring, Golden Psalter of St. Gall, Frankish, 10th c.

Fighting technique.