Viking Battle-Axes

Did viking axes belong to people of high status, or low status? What do you know about bearded axes?

You see I have two, the picture i am showing you is believe to have belonged to a person of high status. What do you think?

Edited by HistoryGuy

Northman seems knowledgeable about Vikings.  Try him.

Northman, did the Danes or the Norse ever use the labrys (double-headed axe)?

That picture is a battle axe from my personal collection... It was believed to be a throwing axe.. Were throwing axes honoured?

I like the scenes depicting the Huscarl wielding his Danish Axe with the dead horses around his feet on the Bayeux tapestry,take that you smelly Normans.
Its a awesome destructive weapon but how do you defend with a Axe ?you cant carry a shield because you need both hands to use the Axe and i dont think it would be any good at parrying a sword (i've never tried it though).You've got to be a very skilled warrior to use a Axe in battle and survive to the end.

The throwing Axe used by the Franks is called the Fransisca (i dont know if any Vikings used those type of weapons though),they released the weapon into the opposing shieldwall just before they ploughed into it to try and disrupt the enemy ranks.Giving them an oppartunity to wack there Swords/Axes's into some Helmets .


Edited by Gavriel - 10-Jun-2006 at 04:54

Northmen could you give some more information on the hirth-men? I would really like to learn more about them.

To understand the concept about "Hirdm�nd" (hirth-men) and the leidang fleet, a little backgroud can be usefull.

In Denmark, before and in early Viking Age, it was the free farmers (landowners) who was the ruling class. In each village or town, a "Byting" (town-thing) was summoned  frequently, and here they gave themselves laws, rules and verdicts. Cases involving more than the town itself, was brought to the "Herredsting" (shire-thing) and above these, were the five "Landsting" (country-thing), located in Viborg, Urnehoved, Odense, Roskilde and Lund.
The representatives from the Townthings and Shirethings would be considered chieftains.
The Countrything's elected the king, so until the earliest attempts to establish a royal power who could and would defend the whole area as such, Denmark had at least 5 locally elected kings.
(Largely same system in Scandinavia as a whole)
These kings were as described, leaders of farmers - "The first amongst Equals", and they had only few or none of the rights we normally would consider belonging to a king.
No power to issue laws or convict anyone -  only the landowners Thing's could do that.
Later on, the kings and chieftains would elect a common king to protect the country. They could see a need for this with all the turmoil going on in Europe at that time. They swore him support and allegiance, they accepted to support with armed men and ships when he called in order to protect the country, attack an enemy or simply to go "in Viking" (raiding).  This is known as the "Ledings Flaaden" (leidang fleet), and  some of these men,the hirth-men, also served as personal lifeguards and advisors to the king.
However, any free man with a ship - Chieftain or Hirthman could go raiding as he pleased - and they did.