Ten-foot spears, three-foot shields, and a thousand raving warriors - Viking combat was brutal, bloody, and often deadly. Whether raiding a defenseless monastery to haul off gold and jewels or ...

New research is finding that some women in Viking Age Scandinavia were buried with war-grade weapons. Experts are divided about what that means.

The most common weapon was the spear, which could be thrown or used to stab at an opponent’s face or exposed body. A line of Vikings with shields and spears was a formidable obstacle.

Scientists studying the Viking woman's ... Her head rested on a shield, a bridled horse skeleton lay curled at her feet, and her body was boxed in by a sword, spear, battle-ax and arrows.

The spear was the commonest weapon ... it is said they bit on the edges of their shields, and could even ignore the pain of wounds. Nova Online: The Vikings. Build a Viking village, write your ...

581 at the Swedish Viking Age trading town of Birka ... objects buried with the skeleton — weapons like swords and spears, shields, and even the remains of several horses — and declared ...

Axes and spears made of wood and metal were cheaper ... while defending themselves with shields. The Vikings built fast 'dragonships' and 'longships' for raiding and war. A ship carried everything ...

What it tells us about the past: This cast silver figurine of a Valkyrie — a mythological maiden who assists Odin, the Norse god of war — is a unique example of Viking Age metalworking that ...