Nordic Arms and Armor

We'll start off with something old and nordic, two of my favorite things. These are swords, a helmet and the center of a shield from the very early middle ages. These swords are not your average sword but were hand crafted by expert blacksmiths and were often handed down from generation to generation.


The fine detailing work is evident on the hilts, a mark of an expert metal worker.
This is an old, rotted helmet. The over all shape was fairly popular at the time and the detail work is still visible around the bottom.
This piece of armor, while looking much like a buckler, was in fact the metal center of a round wooden nordic shield. The shields were made out of wood and painted with designs that masked the natural grain of the wood to prevent easy destruction. A wooden shield was easily cleaved if struck by an axe along the grain.
Here we have a more decayed version of the same item.

This is an old spear head and next to it is an old stirrup. Visible on the bottom of the spear head is a typical swirl design.