
Norse man.

Norse woman

Wool and linnen where usual materials.

Often cloakes, brooches, glass beads and pendants where added for decoration.The sleeves on this one suggests that it´s a bit later.
(via wyrdsister)
Viking womanby ~VendelRus
Model: Cajsa
Research by archeologist Annika Larsson has shown that imported clothes and fabrics where in use among those few that could afford it.

Norse man and woan with clothes of foreign influence.
”They combined oriental features with Nordic styles. Their clothing was designed to be shown off indoors around the fire,” says textile researcher Annika Larsson, whose research at Uppsala University presents a new picture of the Viking Age.

Vikings. The one in the fron is probably wealthy since he owns a sword.
When it came to arms the typical armor would have been padding or leather, if you could afford it maille (mistakenly referred to as chain mail by some) and a helmet with a nose guard or a mask like protection.
Weapons where the spear and an axe called “bearded axe” who could also be used as a tool.
Swords where unusual and would have cost as much as a whole farm.Those that one usually let it become a family heirloom.
The swords had the shape called a “spatha” but longer and actually, most Europeans used rather similar swords at the time (so the term “Viking sword” is not entirely correct).
The shield was round with a buckle in the middle.

Typical viking age helmet.
Håkan Norhjelm showing viking age fighting techniques.
This guy has all the equipment you can ask for. If you look at Norman knights
and knights in general, not much changes for hundreds of years with the armor.
When people think of Viking age weapons, they usually think first of the battle axe, and the image that forms in their mind is a massive weapon that only a troll could wield. In reality, battle axes in the Viking age were light, fast, and well balanced, and were good for speedy, deadly attacks, as well as for a variety of nasty tricks.
The axe was often the choice of the poorest man in the Viking age. Even the lowliest farm had to have a wood axe (right) for cutting and splitting wood. In desperation, a poor man could pick up the farm axe and use it in a fight.
The spear was the most commonly used weapon in the Viking age. It was often the choice of someone who was unable to afford a sword.
During the Viking era, helmets typically were made from several pieces of iron riveted together , called a spangenhelm style of helm. It’s easier to make a helmet this way, requiring less labor, which may be why it was used.
More than anything else, the sword was the mark of a warrior in the Viking age. They were difficult to make, and therefore rare and expensive. The author of Fóstbræðra saga wrote in chapter 3 that in saga age Iceland, very few men were armed with swords. Of the 100+ weapons found in Viking age pagan burials in Iceland, only 16 are swords.
n the Viking age, fighting men used large, round, wooden shields gripped in the center from behind an iron boss.
Our heritage, ANY heritage is worth preserving or understanding.
Without a past how can we navigate towards a future?