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 ...

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.

In Birka, Sweden, there is a roughly 1,000-year-old Viking burial teeming with lethal weapons — a sword, an ax-head, spears, knives, shields and a quiver of arrows — as well as riding equipment and ...

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 ...

Archaeologist Julia Wihlborg suggested that the sword and shield of the Hårby Valkyrie may represent a woman who had manly qualities or who became a man, raising the question of whether female ...