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Round Shields

More Armour pages

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Viking Age Compendium articles on Shields:

Wargear Round Shields Shields found in Round Shield

Overview Britain Designs

Round Shield Kite Shields

Bosses

Contents

Flat round shield

Lenticular round shield

Round shield back and grip

:
 Round shield boss (Umbo)

Oval shields (Poached egg)

Round shield decoration

Shield edging
Leather or rawhide shield edge

Sewn on

Nailed on

Metal shield edge

References

Flat round shield

Art
--
Literature
--
Archaeology

Oseberg, Norway, 834AD. Shield boards [FOOTE and WILSON 1970: plate
25b]

Gokstad, Norway, 900AD. Shield boards [NICOLAYSEN 1882]

Trelleborg, Denmark. Shield boards [Kongens Borge]

Tira, Latvia, C9th. Shield boards [BEATSON-a]

Discussion
Beason has discussed the use of the flat round shield [BEATSON-a] All are of
planked construction. The Romans used plywood shields but no examples
:
 have been found since the C3rd. There is no evidence of plywood shields being
used in the Viking Age. [STEPHENSON 2002:p.43] Additionally they were
probably covered in leather at least on the face but more likely on both sides.
[CAMERON 1998]

Lenticular round shield

A shield constructed from convex boards in such a way as to create a shallow

dish.
Art
--
Literature

The battle of Maldon refers to ‘cellod bord’ which has been translated as
‘hollowed shield’ i.e. lenticular although Pollington express doubt regarding this
interpretation [POLLINGTON 2006]:p.148

Archaeology
No curved boards have been found from archaeology.
Discussion
A number of bosses with curved flanges have been found however. These
bosses can be interpreted in two ways. Firstly the curved flange helps the boss
to bite into the shield board [HARKE 1992]. The second interpretation is that they
were used on curved lenticular shields [BEATSON (N.D.) A]. Illustrated manuscripts
do however show numerous examples of shields that appear to be curved.
Again these are open to interpretation with many some people arguing that
they are an artistic way of showing flat shields side on [STEPHENSON 2007].

Round shield back and grip

Art
:
 Bible of S Paolo fuori le Mura C9th f.50v

St Gallen – Golden Psalter f.??

Suffolk, Valkyrie figure [PAS 2003]

Literature
--
Archaeology

Trellebord, Denmark. Wooden shield handle [Kongens Borge]

Balladoole, Isle of Man. Iron shield grip with bands of cross hatched and
diagonal decoration and boss shaped terminals – probably insular [BERSU and
WILSON 1966:p.14-15]

Discussion
The reverse of the shield is visible on some Carolingian manuscripts.

Round shield boss (Umbo)

See main article Round Shield Bosses

There are four main types of bosses: Viking Domed, Hiberno-Norse / English,
Irish and Carolingian.

Oval shields (Poached egg)

An oval shaped usually curved shield.

Art

A figure on the Bayeux Tapestry c.1086AD [WILSON 1985]

R2 Life of St Aubin, Angers Abbey c.1100AD

:
 Lotharingen, France, c.1000AD Now in the cathedral treasure of Aachen
[SKODELL 2008]

Literature
--
Archaeology

2 possible shields from Norway Trondheim, Norway dated to 1075AD –

1125AD [SKODELL 2008]

Discussion
--

Round shield decoration

See Round Shield Designs

Shield edging

Leather or rawhide shield edge

Sewn on

The shield boards that have been found have a row of holes around their
perimeter. No traces of metal have as yet been identified in them. This means
that it is likely that some sort of organic material was used to sow on an edge,
probably leather thong, sinew or bast. Late Roman shields have been
recovered from Dura Europos and ??? that have remnants of sowing [CAMERON
1998]
. The stone carving at Repton has been suggested as having a thickened
:
 shield rim [CAMERON 1998]:p.53

Nailed on

An alternative interpreted method for attaching shield edges is by the use of

nails. Even though no trace of metal has so far been detected it is possible that
shield edges could have been attached by nails.

Metal shield edge

Art
--
Literature
--
Archaeology

Birka, Sweden. Metal clips

Discussion
--

References

Arwidsson, Greta (ed.) (1989) Birka II:3 Systematische Analysen der

Graberfunde. [Systematic Analysis of the Graves Findings] Birka, Kungliga
Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien: II:3 [ARWIDSSON 1989] *
Beatson, Peter (n.d.) The Viking Shield from Archeology. [Accessed: 2010].
[BEATSON (N.D.) A] ^
(Available Online) Peter Beatson *
Bersu, Gerhard and Wilson, David M. (1966) Three Viking Graves in the Isle of
Man. The Society for Medieval Archaeology Monograph Servies: No 1
[BERSU & WILSON 1966]
*
Cameron, Esther A. (ed.) (1998) Leather and fur: aspects of early medieval
trade and technology. [CAMERON 1998] ^ 1 2 3 *
:
 Devires, Kelly & Robert Smith (2007) Medieval Weapons, An Illustrated History
of Their Impact. [DEVIRES & SMITH 2007] *
Foote, P.G., and D.M. Wilson (1970) The Viking Achievement. Book Club
Associates. [FOOTE & WILSON 1970] *
Härke, Heinrich (1992) In Dickinson, Tania and Härke, Heinrich (1992) Early
Anglo-Saxon Shields. [HARKE 1992] ^ *
Heath, Ian (1985) The Vikings. Osprey: Elite 3 [HEATH 1985] *
Kongens Borge (2010) The Trelleborg Shield. [Accessed: 2010] (Available
[KONGENS BORGE 2010]
Online) *
Nicolaysen, N (1882) The Viking Ship Discovered in Gokstad, Norway.
[NICOLAYSEN 1882] ^
*
Portable Antiquities Scheme. Annual Report 2001/2-2002/3. British Council for
Museums Archives and Libraries, 2003. [PAS 2003] ^ *
Pollington, Stephen (2006) The English Warrior from the Earliest Times Till 1066.
Anglo-Saxon Books [POLLINGTON 2006] ^ *
Skodell, Henry (2008) Schutzausrüstung zur zeit der Schlacht von Hastings
[Protective Equipment Present at the Battle of Hastings]. (Available
Online) [Accessed: 2011]. [SKODELL 2008] ^ 1 2 *
Stephenson, I. P. (2007) The Late Anglo-Saxon Army. Tempus. [STEPHENSON 2007]
^ *
Wilson, David M. (1985) The Bayeux Tapestry. [WILSON 1985] ^ *

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