Force

Jomsvikings

Legendary band of Viking mercenaries.

• Ulfberht Sword

  The Ulfberht swords are a group of about 170 early medieval sword blades inscribed with the name +VLFBERH+T, made between the ninth and eleventh centuries and found mostly in Scandinavia. Probably the mark of a Frankish workshop in the Rhineland, the name became a byword for quality, and some Ulfberht blades are made of an unusually pure, high-carbon steel that metallurgists have compared to crucible steel. Others are later copies of poorer iron, with the name misspelled. Carried by Viking warriors, they are among the finest swords of the Viking Age.

• Viking Round Shield

  The round shield was the main defense of the Viking warrior: a disc of wooden boards, usually about 80 to 95 centimeters across, with an iron boss protecting the hand at the center. Light, cheap and quick to make, it was held by a single central grip, and in battle warriors locked their shields together in the shield wall. The best surviving examples are the 64 shields found with the Gokstad ship in Norway, painted black and yellow. It was used from the Iron Age until the kite shield replaced it in the eleventh century.