Hurstwic: Other Viking Weapons

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One source means that atgeirr, kesja, and höggspjót all consult with the same weapon. A extra careful reading of the saga texts does not support this concept. The saga text suggests similarities between atgeirr and kesja, which are primarily used for thrusting, and between höggspjót and bryntröll, which have been primarily used for chopping. Regardless of the weapons might need been, they appear to have been simpler, and used with better Wood Ranger Power Shears price, than a more typical axe or spear. Perhaps this impression is as a result of these weapons had been sometimes wielded by saga heros, resembling Gunnar and Egill. Yet Hrútr, who used a bryntröll so effectively in Laxdæla saga, was an 80-12 months-outdated man and was thought not to current any real threat. Perhaps examples of those weapons do survive in archaeological finds, but the features that distinguished them to the eyes of a Viking are usually not so distinctive that we in the fashionable era would classify them as completely different weapons. A careful reading of how the atgeir is used within the sagas gives us a rough concept of the dimensions and form of the top essential to perform the strikes described.



This dimension and shape corresponds to some artifacts found within the archaeological record which are normally categorized as spears. The saga text also offers us clues concerning the size of the shaft. This information has allowed us to make a speculative reproduction of an atgeir, which we've used in our Viking fight coaching (proper). Although speculative, this work means that the atgeir actually is particular, the king of weapons, both for range and for attacking possibilities, performing above all different weapons. The lengthy attain of the atgeir held by the fighter on the left could be clearly seen, compared to the sword and one-hand axe in the fighter on the best. In chapter sixty six of Grettis saga, a large used a fleinn towards Grettir, usually translated as "pike". The weapon is also known as a heftisax, a word not otherwise recognized within the saga literature. In chapter fifty three of Egils saga is an in depth description of a brynþvari (mail scraper), Wood Ranger Power Shears price often translated as "halberd".



It had a rectangular blade two ells (1m) long, but the wooden shaft measured only a hand's length. So little is thought of the brynklungr (mail bramble) that it is usually translated merely as "weapon". Similarly, sviða is typically translated as "sword" and generally as "halberd". In chapter 58 of Eyrbyggja saga, Þórir threw his sviða at Óspakr, hitting him within the leg. Óspakr pulled the weapon out of the wound and threw it back, killing one other man. Rocks were often used as missiles in a combat. These efficient and readily accessible weapons discouraged one's opponents from closing the gap to fight with typical weapons, they usually may very well be lethal weapons in their own proper. Previous to the battle described in chapter forty four of Eyrbyggja saga, Steinþórr selected to retreat to the rockslide on the hill at Geirvör (left), the place his men would have a prepared supply of stones to throw down at Snorri goði and his men.



Búi Andríðsson never carried a weapon other than his sling, which he tied around himself. He used the sling with lethal results on many events. Búi was ambushed by Helgi and Vakr and ten different men on the hill known as Orrustuhóll (battle hill, the smaller hill within the foreground within the photograph), as described in chapter eleven of Kjalnesinga saga. By the time Búi's supply of stones ran out, he had killed 4 of his ambushers. A speculative reconstruction of using stones as missiles in battle is shown on this Viking fight demonstration video, a part of a longer combat. Rocks have been used throughout a fight to finish an opponent, or to take the battle out of him so he could be killed with conventional weapons. After Þorsteinn wounded Finnbogi with his sword, as is advised in Finnboga saga ramma (ch. 27) Finnbogi struck Þorsteinn with a stone. Þorsteinn fell down unconscious, permitting Finnbogi to chop off his head.