Viking Shields

[Hunlion]

 Victrix has two types of Plastic Viking shields,
My question is did the Bondi use the large shield only or did they use both sizes? Also, were they simple designs, or can they be more complicated in design?
 
Hunlion

[Atheling]

Victrix has two types of Plastic Viking shields,
My question is did the Bondi use the large shield only or did they use both sizes? Also, were they simple designs, or can they be more complicated in design?
 
Hunlion

The equipment of armies in the age of the Norse raids on England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland would vary from one individual to another. One might have a Hirdman, down on his luck and can only afford a padded gambeson or maybe just the short he is wearing! . One might find a relatively wealthy farmer (Bondi) who could afford his own mail hauberk.

So, any size you fancy really

[Aethelflaeda was framed]

I am not certain there was any particular standard size other than if the same craftsmen made some it is likely they might repeat the sizes since the extra slats left over from one shield’s making would be used for the next .  it’s not like they had cad/cam or even jigs.  the idea of uniformity in kit at this time is as absurd even for a ship’s crew or warband  as much as it was for a Roman legionnaire cohort 500 years earlier.

[Psychlic Bob]

There is a train of thought that earlier armies fought in a looser and more individual manner requiring smaller shields. Later armies were larger and more formal shieldwalls were formed for which the larger shields were used.

[Atheling]

There is a train of thought that earlier armies fought in a looser and more individual manner requiring smaller shields. Later armies were larger and more formal shieldwalls were formed for which the larger shields were used.

Indeed, that is Ken Dark's thesis on the early Saxon migration/invasion. I'm not sure how applicable it would be to the "Viking" era, nor in fact the Vendal era.