Anglo-Saxon Armor

Small hand axes tended to just be wood-axes which were used for combat. The construction of all axes followed the same general principles.

Bows and arrows; javelins; slings; and other thrown items.

The most prized and lauded weapon, but not the most common one, was the sword.

Almost all warriors, from the highest to the lowest carried a single edged knife known as a scramseax. Although primarily an everyday tool, in battle it could be used to finish off a felled opponent, and in the case of some ceorls, a mid to large sized scramaseaxe could have taken the place of a sword.

The main weapon of the period was the spear, not only for the peasant but also for the professional soldier and even the nobility. It was the traditional weapon that Woden used and remained the weapon par excellence among the Germanic peoples even during the tenth and eleventh centuries.

Good resource with great instructio ns and diagrams.

The chest harness known as the `Varangian Bra' is a leather harness consisting of a breast strap with two shoulder straps going over each shoulder, connecting the front and back of the breast strap