dimecres, 23 d’abril del 2014

It is thought  that Vikings stored their shields along the gunwales of a ship, as extra protection against the waves and the wind.  This image, of the replica ship Islendigur crossing from Iceland to North America in 2000, shows many different designs for shields, which could include entire scenes.  Skaldic poetry offers "shield poems" and we know that the round Viking shields, often reinforced at the edges with leather or iron, were frequently used in interlocked formations.  How might these shields have appeared, to a young boatsman who had never seen a Viking ship?

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