Construction and dimensions
Shields were typically 80-90 cm in diameter [ 1] (Table (Table 1). 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 [3]. The planks were usually only 6-10mm thick (Table ( Table 2), 2), and were bevelled even thinner at the outer edge (Fig. ( Fig. 1; 1; Table 2). 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 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 [ 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.
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).
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).
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).
Figure 4 - Shield grips, 10th cent. a. Two fragments of a silver-embellished iron grip
with wooden core from Hedeby boat grave, Schleswig-Holstein Germany (from Müller-Wille 1976). b. Fragment of shield grip with spatulate terminal, Gokstad ship burial (from Nicolaysen 1886). c-d. Three-armed bronze fastenings for shield handle in the form of animal/human masks, Hedeby boat grave and Birka grave Bj944 (from Müller-Wille 1976, and after Arbman 1943).
The handle was long, often crossing the full diameter of the shield, and was tapered towards both ends. The tips could be flattened out into a spatulate terminal which was nailed directly to the
board (Fig. 4-b), or be fastened down by separate bronze mounts (Fig. 4-c,d). Occasionally the nails fastening the boss also passed through the handle. The handgrip may have been wrapped with leather (eg. Birka grave Bj504, and as known from early Anglo-Saxon finds: Arwidsson 1986; Härke 1981).
Edge Reinforcement
Continuous gutter-shaped metal edge bindings like those known from Vendel, Välsgarde, and Thorsbjerg were obsolete by the Viking Age. In the vast majority of finds there is no evidence of edge reinforcement, which must therefore have been absent, or of a perishable nature. On the Gokstad shields, small holes are bored about 2 cm in from the edge, at intervals of c.3.5 cm (Fig. 1-a,b), presumably to fasten a rim, all other traces of which have perished. It can be speculated that the edge was bound with a leather strip fastened with stitches or thongs, or possibly very fine iron nails.
Figure 5 - Metal clamps from shield rims. a. Grave Bj944, Birka Sweden. Type A, simple U-shaped clamp. b. Grave Bj369, Birka. Type B with expansion for leather rim binding. c. Lindholm Høye 1112, Denmark. Raised punchmarks surround the rivet heads (a, b. from Arwidsson 1986; c. per. obs. Lindholm Høye Museum,
Aalborg Denmark 1994).
Small clamps made of iron or bronze sheet are occasionally found in graves (Table 3; Fig. 5). Clamps were sometimes simply decorated by tinning, punching or engraving ( Fig. 5-c). In Birka graves Bj 628 and 736 the clamps were butted to produce a continuous edge ( Fig. 6), however, only sections of the rim survive, perhaps indicating deliberate damage before burial.
Figure 6 - Birka grave Bj736, 10th cent. a. Shield remains as found on excavation (after Arbman, 1943). b. Reconstruction of shield, by author.
Sometimes several clamps are distributed evenly around the shield rim (Bj 842, Valsgarde 12), perhaps to fasten a leather edge binding, traces of which sometimes remain. Clamps from grave Bj 850 were fastened over a leather edging (Fig. 7), though their low number and uneven distribution suggests that this was not their primary purpose. Here they might have fastened joins between planks, or shored up a damaged edge.
Figure 7 - Birka grave Bj850, 10th cent. a. Shield remains as found on excavation
(after Arbman, 1943) 1 = boss; 2 = rim clamps; 3 = grip terminal, next to remains of grip. b. Reconstruction of shield, by author. c. Cross section of a bronze rim clamp from Bj850, enclosing organic material from the shield, including leather facings and edge strip (after Arbman, 1940).
Other Fixtures Other metal fittings from shields, including nails (Fig. 8-a) are occasionally recovered. Some Birka graves contained one or two small rings held by eyelets (Fig. 8-b,c) which passed through the boards, and sometimes also the handle, with the ring projecting on the rear side (Arwidsson 1986). They may have served to hang up the shield, or as attachment points for a guige strap.
Figure 8 - Other metal shield fittings. a. Birka grave Bj727, ?10th cent. Clench nail
with bifurcated shank used to fasten grip to shield. Most nails were however the normal type. b. Birka grave 407. Ring and staple similar to those from Birka shields. c. Schematic distribution of eyelets with rings on reverse of Birka shields, grave numbers indicated. a, b. from Arbman (1943).
In the 11th C. Valsgarde 11 burial, a shield appears to have been repaired by nailing 13 thin brass strips (15-30 by 6-7 mm) across the break (Museum of Norse Antiquities, Uppsala Sweden: pers. obs. 1994).
Decoration
Archaeology as well as literary and art sources indicate that the shield was often painted. The faces of the Gokstad shields were painted yellow (?orpiment = As 2O3) or black (?charcoal), and arranged alternately along the ship's sides (Lowe 1990; Nicolaysen 1882). Red shields may have been popular [6]. A red shield is mentioned on a Danish runestone (Roesdahl 1992), as well as in several sagas. Distribution of a pigment layer in the Viking Age Välsgarde 9 grave indicated a red painted shield (G. Hedlund, Uppsala Universitet: pers. comm. 1993). Shields from t he Roman Iron Age weapon sacrifice at Thorsberg were painted red or blue (Nationalmuseet, Copenhagen: pers. obs. 1994). Fragments from Ballateare, Man suggest that the leather facing of this shield was painted with black and red patterns on a white background (Fig. 9). It was suggested that a gesso (organic matrix, such as egg yolk) paint was used (Bersu and Wilson 1966). Traces of white paint were found on a wooden fragment from the Manx Cronk Moar shield (Bersu and Wilson 1966).
Figure 9 - Fragment of gesso from shield face, Ballateare, Man 10th cent., after
Bersu and Wilson (1966). A recently discovered 10th C. chamber grave at Grimstrup, Denmark contained a circular wooden board which covered the corpse from head to hip (unpublished: I. Stoumann, Esbjerg Museum, Denmark, pers. comm. 1994). As no other traces (ie. boss) were found in an otherwise fully equipped male burial, it has been suggested that the board is a 'blank' or unfinished shield. The board was elaborately painted with interlace patterns (Fig. 10), though the overall design is no longer discernible. The background colour is dark blue, the interlace is grey-green edged with white lines. Some lines of red paint and white dots are also visible.
Figure 10 - Possible shield from Grimstrup chamber grave A, Denmark 10th cent. Two details of
design painted on board. After photos on exhibit at Esbjerg Museum (pers. obs. 1994). Representations of shields in Viking art (Fig. 11) are frequently marked with 'pinwheel' patterns of radiating curved lines (Fig. 11-a,b,c,d). These might possibly represent metal strengthening bands (unknown from archaeology but required in later law codes for levy equipment: Dickinson and Härke 1992; Nicolaysen 1882); or even seams in the leather facing; or may mark segments originally painted in contrasting colours, as shown in a few contemporary Frankish manuscripts (Fig. 12). Inspiration for decoration of a reconstructed shield might also be sought in surviving painted wooden objects from the Viking Age [7].
Figure 11 - Shields in contemporary art. a, b. Picture stones, Gotland 7-8th cent., after Magnusson (1979). c, d. Silver shield pendants, Birka Sweden 10th cent., after Duczko (1989). e. Bronze 'valkyrie' pendant, Hedeby Germany 10th cent., after Elsner (1985). f. From tapestry fragments, Oseberg Norway ante 834AD, after
Hougen (1940).
Figure 12 - Spirally marked and segmented shields in the Golden Psalter of St. Gall, Frankish ms., 10th cent., From Duby (1970).
Sheet metal decorations in the form of beasts or birds fixed to the shield face are confined to the preceding Vendel period, though an applique of wooden strips was suggested for the Cronk Moar shield (Bersu and Wilson 1966). Some examples of decorated metal parts (bosses, grips, clamps) from Viking Age shields have already been mentioned above.
Combat techniques Analysis of battle damage to weapons from the massive Roman Iron Age deposit of Nydham indicated the primary use for the large round shields was in fending off missiles, while sword duels were conducted blade on blade (Schloß Gottorf: Archäologische Landesmuseum der ChristianAlbrechts Universität, Schleswig Germany: pers. obs. 1994). However, the use of shields in hand to hand combat is recorded in customs such as the holmgang duel. The heavy iron construction of the Viking Age boss is unlike the Roman Iron Age examples of thin bronze, perhaps indicating a change to a hand-to-hand fighting style in which parrys with the boss were possible. The thin boards would split easily, and could perhaps have been deliberately made so, in order to snare an attacker's blade.
Table 1
Table 1. Estimated diameters of Viking age shields from archaeological finds. All dated 10th century, except Tirskom (9th cent.) and Krimylda (11th cent.).
Table 2
Table 2. Thicknesses of Viking age shields from archaeological finds. Most of these graves are probably 10th century, except Tirskom (9th cent.). For comparison, shields from (much earlier) pagan Anglo-Saxon graves average 0.75 cm thick (103 examples: Dickinson and Härke 1992).
Table 3
Table 3. Metal clamps from shield rims: numbers, dimensions, distribution on shield rim (if known).
FOOTNOTES
[1] For comparison, dimensions of pre-Viking shields: from pagan Anglo-Saxon graves (23 examples) 42 to 92 cm diam. (Dickinson and Härke 1992); Thorsberg moorfind, Denmark (7 examples, Roman Iron Age) 65 to 104 cm diam. (Raddatz 1987); Välsgarde, Sweden (3 examples, Vendel period) 84 to 110 cm diam. (Arwidsson 1986). [2] Softwood from conifers seems to have been used in most, but not all cases. [3] A smaller number of broader planks would seem more practical: eg. the pine central plank of a pre-Viking shield from Välsgarde was 52 cm wide (Dickinson and Härke 1992). [4] A grip fragment from a more ornate shield was found within the grave chamber (see Fig. 3-b.). [5] Circular on the Gokstad shields at least. Oval, 'figure-8', and 'D'-shaped openings are known from pre-Viking material (Dickinson and Härke 1992; Härke 1981). The second (fragmentary) shield from Tirskom, Latvia had a quadrangular opening (Yrtan 1961). [6] Red pigments in ancient paints seem to derive from mineral sources ie. red ochre (Fe 2O3, as on the Jelling figurine: Marxen and Molkte 1981); or cinnabar (HgS, as on the Illerup shield of c.200AD: Forhistoriskmuseet, Moesgard Denmark: pers. obs. 1994). Also on the Jelling figurine were a dark blue paint made by mixing powdered white chalk with burnt organic matter (charcoal?), and a yellow of orpiment (As 2O3) in an oil base. [7] Examples: Jelling figurine (see Footnote 6) and associated fragments; board with snake design from Hørning church, Denmark and painted runestone from St. Pauls churchyard, London (Graham-Campbell 1980); numerous painted objects from Oseberg and Gokstad, Norway (Christensen 1993; Nicolaysen 1882); painted board from Ladby ship burial (Fyn, Denmark: Thorvildsen 1957); casket in Birka grave Bj639 (Arbman 1943), see Fig. 13 below.
Figure 13 - Painting on small casket from Birka grave Bj639 (after Arbman 1943, colours added according to notes). The style resembles the Ballateare shield. a. From 19th c. sketches by Hjalmar Stolpe b. Paint flakes still on wood.
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