Customer Reviews

Viking Weapons and Combat Techniques

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William Short does a fine job of intertwining the knowledge of Viking Age weapons, the context of the Icelandic Sagas and the Viking Culture of the period into a comprehensive look into how the Vikings may have used weaponry. He provides an overview of viking culture, presents the historical sources and then based upon his experiences as a reenactor and researcher (experimental archaeology if you will), goes on to develop the relationship between what may have been possible with Viking age weaponry. He draws on Talhoffer(1467) and Meyer(1570) as a more modern source to illustrate the relationships between the techniques that are well known versus those that are speculated upon from the Viking Age.

The writing style, clearly is scientific in its approach, but is in plain language and provides for some great quotes and anecdotes from the Sagas to make it entertaining. Its well illustrated, referenced and nicely organized so that information is easily found.

I highly recommend it as one of those books you should have in your collection as a guide and reference source for the reenactor or historian alike.

Warren Cummins B. Ed.,
Jarl
[...]

For the dedicated Viking enthusiast, this is a priceless exploration of weaponry and combat technique. It relies a little heavily on re-enactment, and could include a little more archeological data, but the work as a whole is fantastic.