Viking Weapons and Combat Techniques

Viking Weapons and Combat Techniques PDF Author: William R. Short
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781594162176
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
A History of the Arms, Armor, and Individual Fighting Strategies of Medieval Europe's Most Feared Warriors A source of enduring fascination, the Vikings are the most famous raiders of medieval Europe. Despite the exciting and compelling descriptions in the Icelandic sagas and other contemporary accounts that have fueled this interest, we know comparatively little about Viking age arms and armor as compared to weapons from other historical periods. We know even less about how the weapons were used. While the sagas provide few specific combat details, the stories are invaluable. They were written by authors familiar with the use of weapons for an audience that, likewise, knew how to use them. Critically, the sagas describe how these weapons were wielded not by kings or gods, but by ordinary men, as part of their everyday lives. Viking Weapons and Combat Techniques provides an introduction to the arms and armor of the people who lived in Northern Europe during the Viking age, roughly the years 793-1066. Using a variety of available sources, including medieval martial arts treatises, and copiously illustrated with images of historical artifacts, battle sites, and demonstrations of modern replicas of Viking weapons, the author and his colleagues at Hurstwic (a Viking-age living history organization) and at the Higgins Armory Sword Guild have reconstructed the combat techniques of the Viking age and what is known about the defensive and offensive weapons of the time in general. Throughout, the author corrects some popular misconceptions about Viking warriors and warfare, such as the belief that their combat techniques were crude and blunt rather than sophisticated. In addition, the book provides an overview of Viking history and culture, focusing on the importance of weapons to the society as well as the Vikings' lasting impact on Europe through their expeditions of trade and exploration.

Viking Weapons and Combat Techniques

Viking Weapons and Combat Techniques PDF Author: William R. Short
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781594162176
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book

Book Description
A History of the Arms, Armor, and Individual Fighting Strategies of Medieval Europe's Most Feared Warriors A source of enduring fascination, the Vikings are the most famous raiders of medieval Europe. Despite the exciting and compelling descriptions in the Icelandic sagas and other contemporary accounts that have fueled this interest, we know comparatively little about Viking age arms and armor as compared to weapons from other historical periods. We know even less about how the weapons were used. While the sagas provide few specific combat details, the stories are invaluable. They were written by authors familiar with the use of weapons for an audience that, likewise, knew how to use them. Critically, the sagas describe how these weapons were wielded not by kings or gods, but by ordinary men, as part of their everyday lives. Viking Weapons and Combat Techniques provides an introduction to the arms and armor of the people who lived in Northern Europe during the Viking age, roughly the years 793-1066. Using a variety of available sources, including medieval martial arts treatises, and copiously illustrated with images of historical artifacts, battle sites, and demonstrations of modern replicas of Viking weapons, the author and his colleagues at Hurstwic (a Viking-age living history organization) and at the Higgins Armory Sword Guild have reconstructed the combat techniques of the Viking age and what is known about the defensive and offensive weapons of the time in general. Throughout, the author corrects some popular misconceptions about Viking warriors and warfare, such as the belief that their combat techniques were crude and blunt rather than sophisticated. In addition, the book provides an overview of Viking history and culture, focusing on the importance of weapons to the society as well as the Vikings' lasting impact on Europe through their expeditions of trade and exploration.

The Illustrated Guide to Viking Martial

The Illustrated Guide to Viking Martial PDF Author: Antony Cummins
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0752484699
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
Martial Arts researcher Antony Cummins reveals the hitherto hidden world of Viking hand-to-hand combat, which employed the sword, the spear, the axe and the shield. Based upon a careful analysis of the Viking sagas, the techniques described are recreated precisely, from knocking down a spear in mid-flight to the shield cleave. Illustrated with over 250 images, The Illustrated Guide to Viking Martial Arts in effect represents the earliest combat manual in the world. This insight into the warriors who were the scourge of Dark Age Europe is a feat of textual interpretation – and imagination.

Viking Sword and Shield Fighting Beginners Guide Level 3

Viking Sword and Shield Fighting Beginners Guide Level 3 PDF Author: Colin Richards
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783981162752
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 160

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Book Description
This book is the third and final volume in the series Viking Sword and Shield Fighting: Beginners Guides. It is a step by step guide on how to fight with Viking era sword and shield. It contains three main sections, examples of the techniques and movements, Single Person Drills and Partner Drills, so that students can train alone or with a partner. This series takes the fighter from knowing nothing to competence in three comprehensive though simple books. These books are designed to facilitate easy learning using the unique Timeline system, because the pictures are arranged specially in a flow from left to right. The Author has over 33 years experience fighting with these weapons and has brought together research in old fighting manuals and combined it with his own knowledge to produce the definitive introduction to Viking Era Fighting techniques.

Weapons of the Viking Warrior

Weapons of the Viking Warrior PDF Author: Gareth Williams
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472818369
Category : Antiques & Collectibles
Languages : en
Pages : 81

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Book Description
Between the late 8th and late 11th century Viking warriors had a massive impact not just in northern Europe, but across a huge arc from the western Mediterranean round through northern Europe and the Baltic to the Middle East and Central Asia. Their success depended in part on their skills in battle, their unique sense of strategic mobility, and on the quality of their weapons and equipment. Written by an expert on early medieval weaponry, this book examines the weapons of the typical Viking warrior, dispels some of the myths of the popular image, such as double-headed axes, and considers the range of weapons that actually underpinned the Vikings' success including bows and arrows. Drawing upon contemporary literary and historical accounts from the North Atlantic to the Arab world, surviving examples of weapons and armour, and practical experimentation and reconstructions by modern weapon-smiths and re-enactors, this study casts new light on how Viking weapons were made and used in battle.

Viking Weapons & Warfare

Viking Weapons & Warfare PDF Author: J. Kim Siddorn
Publisher: Pitkin
ISBN: 9780752428475
Category : Military art and science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
A history of Viking Weapons & Warfare

The Saga of the Volsungs

The Saga of the Volsungs PDF Author:
Publisher: Hackett Publishing
ISBN: 1624666353
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 183

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Book Description
From the translator of the bestselling Poetic Edda (Hackett, 2015) comes a gripping new rendering of two of the greatest sagas of Old Norse literature. Together the two sagas recount the story of seven generations of a single legendary heroic family and comprise our best source of traditional lore about its members—including, among others, the dragon-slayer Sigurd, Brynhild the Valkyrie, and the Viking chieftain Ragnar Lothbrok.

Fighting Techniques of the Medieval World

Fighting Techniques of the Medieval World PDF Author: Matthew Bennett
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 9780312348205
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
Describes the fighting techniques of soldiers in Europe and the Near East in an age before the widespread use of gunpowder.

Vikings at War

Vikings at War PDF Author: Kim Hjardar
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1612004547
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 401

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Book Description
An illustrated guide to Viking warfare from strategy and weapons to culture and tradition: “a very excellent introduction to the Viking age as a whole” (Justin Pollard, historical consultant for the Amazon television series Vikings). From the time when sailing was first introduced to Scandinavia, Vikings reached virtually every corner of Europe and even America with their raids and conquests. Wherever Viking ships roamed, enormous suffering followed in their wake, but the encounters between cultures also brought immense change to both European and Nordic societies. In Vikings at War, historian Kim Hjardar presents a comprehensive overview of Viking weapons technology, military traditions and tactics, offensive and defensive strategies, fortifications, ships, and command structure. The most crucial element of the Viking’s success was their strategy of arriving by sea, attacking with great force, and withdrawing quickly. In their militarized society, honor was everything, and ruining one’s posthumous reputation was considered worse than death itself. Vikings at War features more than 380 color illustrations, including beautiful reconstruction drawings, maps, cross-section drawings of ships, line-drawings of fortifications, battle plan reconstructions, and photos of surviving artifacts, including weapons and jewelry. Winner of Norway’s Saga Prize, Vikings at War is now available in English with this new translation. “A magnificent piece of work [that] I’d recommend to anyone with an interest in the Viking period.” —Justin Pollard, historical consultant for the Amazon television series Vikings

Icelanders in the Viking Age

Icelanders in the Viking Age PDF Author: William R. Short
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786447273
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 285

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Book Description
The Sagas of Icelanders are enduring stories from Viking-age Iceland filled with love and romance, battles and feuds, tragedy and comedy. Yet these tales are little read today, even by lovers of literature. The culture and history of the people depicted in the Sagas are often unfamiliar to the modern reader, though the audience for whom the tales were intended would have had an intimate understanding of the material. This text introduces the modern reader to the daily lives and material culture of the Vikings. Topics covered include religion, housing, social customs, the settlement of disputes, and the early history of Iceland. Issues of dispute among scholars, such as the nature of settlement and the division of land, are addressed in the text.

Viking Weapons & Warfare

Viking Weapons & Warfare PDF Author: J. Kim Siddorn
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 188

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Book Description
Written from the point of view of the Viking warrior and of those who had to face him, this book details the design and construction of the various weapons used by the Norse peoples we have come to call 'the Vikings'. In particular it explains the advantages and constraints of each weapon and describes how these weapons appeared to their original users -- and how they appeared to their opponents.