Best viking age shield replicas of today

 

In this blog article I have collected the best viking age shield replicas of today to be presented to all who are interested. Some of them are already famous replicas, some unknown to a wider public, but all of them are connected by the high standards of their attempts at historical accuracy.

 

Shields in the viking age were constructed with certain methods and from particular raw materials. The shields presented in this article replicate those methods and materials, as well as measurements of original viking age shields as precisely as possible, thus they are similar also in the features of their usage. Only a well made replica works in the same way as original viking age shields, so I have not included any shields that are made from plywood and fabric, or ones that are too thick and heavy. The minimum requirements for an authentic shield I have given are that the shield has to be made of planks, covered at least on the front side with animal hide, it has an authentically shaped boss, and the shield is correctly thinned towards its outer edge.

The information from the shields presented I have gathered from websites, as well as asking the makers themselves, whom all I would like to thank most greatly for giving good information and photographs to use in this article. Certainly other shields that fill my authenticity requirements have been made, but they have been hidden under my radar. If you have knowledge of such a shield replica, do not hesitate to contact me, for example in the comment box of this blog post.

I have however not included shields that are replicas from originals of other periods than the viking age. For example I've seen some high-quality replicas of Vendel shields (from pre-viking Sweden), but they are out of the scope of this article. The shields did not stay the same during the whole iron age, but there were both temporal and regional variations. Shields made in different parts of the Northern Europe were constructed differently, as you will see. The availability of materials might have played a big role in that.

The shield replicas are put in chronological order, starting from the one built earliest. With this order I don't want to put the shield replicas in order of superiority, since that would be pointless and impossible. Every shield presented in this blog post is an exemplary one, giving a good image of what the original shields in the viking age have looked like in reality.

 

The shield made by Edvards Pucirius, Latvia, ~2014

Some other shield bosses skillfully made by Edvards Pucirius.

 

The list is started with a shield that was made by a Latvian archaeologist, blacksmith, and historical reenactor Edvards Pucirius for himself some seven years ago. The shield has since changed its owner, and no pictures of it when it was new could be found. Now the shield is old and rugged, as you can see in the photos, but still usable. The explanation of the shield and its use Edvards gave me more than makes up with the lack of photographs of the shield when it was still pristine.

Let Edvards say it in his own words:

"My shield was made from split fir planks and covered with thin cow rawhide. During assembling the planks were glued together with bone glue but during its use the glue did not held anymore. So basically the planks were held together by the shield boss, long handle and the rawhide cover. 

The boss was forged using the raising technique and all the parts were riveted together. I am not sure if this is the right method because I had a round shield boss, these often have bent nails. Conical bosses are usually riveted. The rawhide was just covering the outer face of the shield, the inside was just planks. There is no separate edge around the shield, the front cover was just bent over the edge and stitched down.

The shield was painted both from in and out with red iron oxide powder (bought from a shop) mixed with linseed oil. The shield originally had a leather strap for carrying it on the back, but it has been replaced by a simple cord later on. The shield lasted surprisingly well. I think I used it for something around 7 years (sic!). And it was used in quite heavy fighting.

I believe there were two main aspects what made it last so long. First is the fact that the planks were split. They were around 8 mm thick in the center and thinner on the sides (6 mm?). Shields made from sawn planks lasted much shorter period of time. Secondly, the fact that the planks were not glued one to another. Sometimes after heavy fighting, or when someone fell on the shield, some plank would be bent/pushed inwards. But not broken! So I would just push it back to its place and everything was fine. So my experiece says that a light and flexible shield is the best!"

I cannot disagree with Edvards about light and flexible shields being the best. Two of my friends also have shield bosses made by him, and I can say that they are some of the best bosses I've seen. Very light, yet durable and strong at the same time, not to mention beautiful.

 

Technical details

Diameter: 86 cm.

Thickness: 8 mm at the centre, maybe 6 mm at the edge.

Planking: spruce (Picea abies).

Handle: as wide as the shield, attached with eight rivets.

Cover: face of the shield covered with cow rawhide.

Edge: no separate edge reinforcement, the cover leather is just turned over the edge and stitched down.

Boss: hemispherical, attached with six rivets.

Weight: lightweight.

 

The information about the shield Edvards gave me in a private conversation.

 

 

The shield of Benas Simkus, Lithuania, ~2017

 

The shield of a Lithuanian reenactor Benas Simkus is a fairly accurate replica of the viking age shield found in Tira bog in Latvia. That shield was made without any metallic parts, and so is this replica. The original shield is recently carbon dated to around the year 875.

 

The Tira shield is 6 mm thick, made of conifer planks, and thinned towards its edge. The shield is 85 cm in diameter. Its boss is carved out of a burl of a tree. The handle is wooden, and as wide as the shield. The shield is covered on both sides with untanned cow rawhide, and it seems it did not have a separate edge reinforcement.

 

The leather in this shield replica seems to be tanned leather, and it does have a separate edge, but otherwise it replicates the original Tira shield very closely. Also the backside of this replica shield is covered with leather, which is a rare thing to see in shield replicas, but was a feature in all original shields.

The planks of this shield are glued together, and all the other parts are sewn on. There is a cord of organic material going through the handle with which it is sewn to the shield board. The wooden boss has eight holes through which it is also sewn to the shield with a cord.

 

The face of the shield is uniquely treated, based on the Tira shield. The leather covering the shield has not been glued to the planks, but is just sewn at the perimeter and at the centre. The space between the cover leather and the shield board is filled with dry grass of some sort, like was in the original shield (the species of the softening material of Tira shield is not yet known). This makes the shield soft and flexible, which prevents the planks from braking under the hits of weapons.

 

 

 

Technical details

Diameter: 85 cm.

Thickness: planks 6 mm at the centre, thinner on the edge.

Planking: coniferous tree.

Handle: as wide as the shield, attached by sewing with a leather cord.

Cover: tanned leather on both sides of the shield, as well as dry grass between the face and board of the shield for cushioning.

Edge: lether edge reinforment, sewn all the way around.

Boss: hemispherical with a neck, carved out of a tree burl, laced on with a leather cord through 8 holes.

Weight: not available.

 

The shield made by Roland Warzecha, Germany, 2017

The shield of German historical reenactor and combat researcher Roland Warzecha is made by himself. I will let him tell you about its details:

"My shield is made from poplar wood, the handle is carved from beech wood and its decoration is based on the one from Trelleborg fortress, Denmark. The planks are split from the tree trunk, not sawn. 

 

The shield has a facing and an edge strip made from goat hide that was scraped down to an even thickness of about 1 mm. I used hide glue and hand forged nails for assembly. 

 

Edge clamps are of copper alloy sheet metal and they are embossed with a simple decoration based on a find (from Ireland or Scotland – cannot remember). They were tin-coated, however, most of the coating rubbed off over the years. 

 

The shield is painted with egg tempera paint using historical pigments. It was sealed with linseed oil which took a few months to completely dry. After two years, it was recoated with linseed varnish which I liked better. Now it does not react to changes of humidity as it did before. It used to slightly warp in too dry an environment which it hardly does anymore. I occasionally use a balm based on beeswax which was developped by Arthur von Eschen to maintain the wood and painting. 

 

The shield is currently [in late 2020] in my workshop for repair: After three years of regular use, the parchment on the prominent edge has rubbed through and has to be replaced."

In 2018 I was visiting England for a viking age fighting course arranged by Roland, where I had the privilege to fight with him and to test his shield myself. I can honestly say that it is the best shield I've ever held in my hand, very lightweight compared to its size, and nimble to use.

There is also a video where me and my friends are fighting with Roland in the event, him using his awesome shield. He bested us quite easily, do check that out.

 

Technical details

Diameter: 88 cm.

Thickness: 10 mm at centre, 6 mm at edge.

Planking: poplar (Populus spc.).

Handle: beech (Fagus sylvatica), as wide as the whole shield, attached with eight nails.

Cover: 1 mm thick goat rawhide on the face of the shield.

Edge: 1 mm thick goat rawhide edging, glued on, with three bronze clamps for strengthening.

Boss: hemispherical, attached with four nails.

Weight: 3,25 kg.

 

In this video Roland tells about the making of the shield (first part in a series).

 

 

A shield for the archaeological exhibition of the Museum of Satakunta made by JT Pälikkö, Finland, 2018

 

This shield is made by JT Pälikkö, a Finnish master smith, in the year 2018 for the new archaeological exhibition of the Museum of Satakunta. The shield is constructed of ten alder planks which are split from a tree trunk, and the surfices of the planks were planed before gluing. The planks thin towards the edge of the shield, the thickness is maybe 10 mm at the centre, and about 6–7 mm at the edge.

The shield is covered from the front side with goat rawhide, also the edge strip is goat rawhide, and stitched all the way around the shield. The handle is made of ash, and attached to the shield with five bossed rivets, one of which it shares with the shield boss.

The shield boss is hand hammered, hemispherical in shape, and attached to the shield with five bossed rivets. The shield boss is of 1,5 mm thick iron, by the words of Pälikkö "pretty thin stuff", but quity sturdy because of its small size. He told me that the size of it required the most work, and a larger boss is much easier to make.

Pälikkö did not unfortunately remember the weight or the circumference of the shield, but for its size it was surprizingly light, and by looking at a photograph the shields diameter is almost exactly the same as the length of the blade resting on it, which is 78.5 cm long.

This shield you can see at the iron age exhibit of Satakunta Museum in Pori, Finland, and that exhibit is worth a visit any way.

 

Technical details

Dimater: ~80 cm.

Thickness: ~10 mm at the centre, 6–7 mm at the edge. 

Planking: alder (Alnus spc.), 10 planks.

Handle: ash (Fraxinus excelsior), as wide as the shield attached with five rivets.

Cover: goat rawhide on the front.

Edge: goat rawhide, glued and stitched all the way around.

Boss: 1,5 mm thick iron, hemispherical, attached with five rivets.

Weight: surprisingly light for its size.

 

More pictures of the this shield you can find from JT:s website, on the "museotöitä ja koruja" (museum works and jewelry) -tab. The info about the shield he gave me in a private conversation.

 

 

The shield built by Vegard Vike, Norway, 2019

This shield is built by Vegard Vike, a curator of the Cultural History Museum in Oslo, a conservator of viking age weapons and gear, and one of the two writers of the book Vikings in War. The shield is made of thirteen pinewood planks. The shields board is 89 cm in diameter, and at the centre it is 8,5 mm thick, thinning towards the edge being 5,5 mm thick at one and a half centimeters from the edge, and ultimately only 1–2 mm thick at the very edge.

Both sides of the shield are coated with calf rawhide, which is only 0,5 mm in thickness, being so thin that it is fully transparent. The hides were at first soaked in water for half an hour, and then dried a bit before gluing. The glue is cheese glue, with four parts of casein and one part of slaked lime, and a little bit of water to make it run smoother. The hides were glued on the shield inside a press, and the whole thing was left to dry for a couple of days, so that the shield would not warp. The edge of the shield is of the same thin calf rawhide, glued on, after which it is also stitched all the way around the shield.

The shield boss is hammered from iron, and it is 1 mm thick. It only weighs 140 grams, and is attached to the shield with four nails. The handle is a straight piece of wood running across the whole perimeter of the shield, thinning towards its ends. It is carved out of some lightweight wood species, possibly of alder. The handle is attached with six nails, two of which it shares with the boss. To the handle nails is also attached a leather strap for carrying the shield on back. The shield weighs a little bit over three kilos. Finishing the shield still requires one coat of linseed oil, so that it becomes waterproof, and does not warp because of rain.

 

Technical details

Diameter: 89 cm.

Thickness: 8,5 mm at the centre, 5,5 mm at 1,5 cm from the edge, 1–2 mm at the edge. 

Planking: pine (Pinus sylvestris), 13 planks.

Handle: possibly alder (Alnus spc.), as wide as the shield, attached with six nails.

Cover: 0,5 mm thick calf rawhide on both sides.

Edge: 0,5 mm thick calf rawhide, glued and stitched all the way around.

Boss: 1 mm thick iron, 140 g, hemispherical, attached with four nails.

Weight: a little over 3 kg.

 

Vegard tells more about making the shield in Twitter.

 

 

The shields for Viking Fortress Trelleborg / National Museum of Denmark commissioned by Rolf Warming, Denmark, 2019–2021

The first shield commissioned by Rolf Warming, 2019.

 

The second shield commissioned by Rolf Warming, 2021. The rest of the pictures are of the second shield.

  

 

These shields are made for Trelleborg Viking Fortress / National Museum of Denmark during "The Viking Shield Project" that was helmed by Danish archaeologist and combat researcher Rolf Warming of Society for Combat Archaeology. The shields were built by a number of professionals following Warmings directions. The first shield is made of six radially split planks, of which four are of oak and two out of pine. Oak planks had to be used because ordering the pine planks took too long. The second shield replica is fully out of pine.

The following information is about the first shield, but is most probably exactly the same for the second shield, except for the weight. The diameter of the sield is 89 cm as in the Trelleborg shield from Denmark. The thickness is 8 mm at the centre, thinning towards the edge at 4 mm, the thinning starts about a palms breath from the edge and thins parabolically. The thickness measurements are taken from the Gokstad ship burial shields from Norway. The board of the shield was built by artisan Tom Jersø.

The shield is covered on both sides with 1–1,5 mm thick tanned sheepskin, and the edge strip of the shield is 2 mm thick tanned cow leather, like in the shield from the Birka grave Bj850. The leathers are glued on place with casein glue, which is made based on the recipe from Theophilus, a 12th century source, on top of which the edging strip is stitched to the shield at its ends (most often the edging was not sewn fully around the shield). The facing leather was sewn from two pieces, based on traces of that in the shields from Gokstad and Tira.

The iron needed for the shield boss is reduced from Danish bog ore by iron smelter Jens Jørgen Olesen, and from that it was hammered into a boss by smith Tord Bergelin. The boss is in shape the same as the one found in the Trelleborg fortress in 1936/1937, which is of Rygh's type R563. The boss is attached to the shield with four nails, which are made by smith Jesper Jørgensen. The wooden handle is attached with six nails, two of which being also the nails of the boss.

The first shield weighs 4,5 kilos, which is quite much. This is because mostly oak had to be used instead of pine in the construction of it. The second shied replica was made of lighter pine only, but otherwise in the same way, and it weighs 3,8 kilos. The handle of it is made of beech, and in shape is similar to the handle of the Trelleborg shield, but in length similar to those found in Gokstad.

 

Technical details

The first shield

Diameter: 89 cm.

Thickness: 8 mm at the centre, 4 mm at the edge.

Planking: ⅔ of the planks are oak (Quercus robur), ⅓ of them pine (Pinus sylvestris).

Handle: as long as the shield, attached with six nails.

Cover: 1–1,5 mm thick tanned sheepskin on both sides.

Edge: 2 mm thick tanned cowskin, glued, and stitched only at the ends of the strip.

Boss: hemispherical, attached with four nails.

Weight: 4,5 kg.

 

The second shield

Diameter: 89 cm.

Thickness: 8 mm at the centre, 4 mm at the edge.

Planking: pine (Pinus sylvestris).

Handle: beech (Fagus sylvatica), as long as the shield, attached with six nails.

Cover: 1–1,5 mm thick tanned sheepskin on both sides.

Edge: 2 mm thick tanned cowskin, glued, and stitched only at the ends of the strip.

Boss: hemispherical, attached with four nails.

Weight: 3,8 kg.

 

Via this link  you can read more about the building of Rolf's shields.

 

 

The shield of Bartosz Ligocki, Poland, 2020

This shield has been built for Polish reenactor Bartosz Ligocki, and is made with the help of several professionals. Let us hear it with his own words:

"This project was blooming in my head for several years. To make shield as close to the original materials as it can be. And where is a will – there's a way. All I needed is to find the right people. And I've found them. It seems that our minds circulated around similar subject separately, for some time now. 

So the planks are linden. Made by Slawek Wedkarz. Glued together with bone glue, only to bond them during thinning the surface: 8 mm around the boss-whole and 4 mm on the edges. Jan Dołgowicz from Authentic Viking Shields covered it with 0,8 mm goat rawhide on both sides (from Marcin Bortkiewicz) Like the one from Tira bog shield from 9th century from Latvia. They are overlapping on both sides on the edges, so finally there is 4 mm of wood and 4 mm of rawhide on the edge. 

The replica of the Oldenburg shield boss was forged from bloomery iron by phenomenal blacksmith Maciej Tomaszczyk from Officina Ferraria. And it is attached with bloomery iron forged nails. The handle as well. On the end there will be gesso and tempera painting on the external side, but that might take a while."

Since then Bartosz told me that he had ordered another shield to be made, but no pictures of it was available yet.

 

Technical details

Diameter: 84 cm.

Thickness: 8 mm at the centre, 4 mm at the edge.

Planking: linden (Tilia spc.).

Handle: ash (Fraxinus excelsior), as long as the shield, attached with five rivets, one of which it shares with the boss.

Cover: 0,8 mm thick goat rawhide on both sides.

Edge: the covering skins turn around the edge, and are stitched around the perimeter.

Boss: iron made from ore, replica of the Oldenburg boss, attached with five rivets.

Weight: 3,89 kg.

 

 

A shield built by Arttu Peltoniemi, Finland, 2021

 

My good friend Arttu Peltoniemi has built this shield for our Hirdmenn-project. The shield was supposed to become as light and nimble as possible, and at this it has succeeded. It depict a Finnish viking age shield. The idea of the shield is based on a mention in Egills saga, where it is said that the Finnish (or Kven) shields were not as strong as the Scandinavian (Norwegian) shields. More about the subject of Finnish shields you can read from my bachelor's thesis here. 

 

The details of the shield are mainly based on the shield found in the Tira bog in Latvia, which is made without any metal parts. Most Finnish shields in the viking age were most probably made in the same manner.

Arttu's shield is made of seven radially cut spruce planks. The radial cutting equate to radial splitting of planks with viking age methods, and thus the planks become stronger than the ones cut in modern way. The planking is 6 mm thick at the centre, as in the Tira shield, thinning towards to edge at 3 mm.

The shield handle is made of ash. The original handle for this replica shield was quite thin, so that it let the shield warp when the rawhide shrunk when it dried. Because of this the handle was changed to a little sturdier one, which straightened the shield out again. The shield is covered with deer rawhide on the front side only. The backside Arttu left uncovered so hw could show off with his radially sawn planks, but the backside of the shield is wholly covered with animal glue.

The shield boss is carved out of a tree burl, and all the parts of this shield were originally only attached to each other with the help of animal glue. The shield held together without any nails or stitching for a couple of years. During some tests made with sharp weapons the boss fell off, when the glue had been crystallized, and became brittle. The boss just fell to the ground after a blow. Also the handle snapped off one night by itself when the glue had brittled enough.

Thus Arttu reglued the handle and the boss, but at this time also stitched them to the shield, like was done in the Tira shield. The handle is stitched with several different pieces of reindeer tendon, so that if one of them breaks, the whole handle does not come off. The boss is stitched with the same tendon in three places, and the wholes are drilled so that they cannot be seen from the front side of the shield.

The diameter of the shield is 85 cm, and it weighs 2150 grams, which is very light for a shield. The wooden boss is about 1 cm thick, and holds up against the strikes of sharp weapons very well. In tests it has been thrown at with a javelin, hit with a sword and axe, and shot at with arrows. The shield is not yet painted.

 

Technical details

Diameter: 85 cm.

Thickness: 6 mm at the centre, 3 mm at the edge. 

Planking: spruce (Picea abies), 7 planks.

Handle: ash (Fraxinus excelsior), as long as the shield, glued and stitched with reindeer tendon.

Cover: thin deer rawhide at the front.

Edge: the front hide is bent over the edge and glued there, no separate edging.

Boss: tree burl, 1 cm thick, glued and stitched with reindeer tendon.

Weight: 2,15 kg.

 

Arttu tells more about the making of this shield in the Hirdmenn blog. A more recent update on the state of the shield after some tests had been done on it can be read in the same blog. Some of the information I asked Arttu personally.

 

 

 

 

Thank you:

 

Bartosz Ligocki

Arttu Peltoniemi

Edvards Pucirius

JT Pälikkö

Benas Simkus

Vegard Vike

Rolf Warming

Roland Warzecha