Viking Fighting Moves from the Sagas of Icelanders

The Sagas of Icelanders are perhaps our best source of information about the use of weapons in the Viking age, giving many examples of men using weapons to resolve their disputes and to defend their honor. When combined with evidence from archaeology and from bioarchaeology, these examples paint a fairly clear picture of how Viking-age warriors fought. Importantly, they also give us a clear picture of the culture and society of the Viking-age people.

In this presentation, Dr. William R. Short will review the history, culture, and society of the Viking-age people. After a brief introduction to our multi-faceted approach to research, he will discuss Hurstwic’s recent research on the weapons and the fighting moves of Viking-age warriors.

Dr. William R. Short is an independent scholar and manager of Hurstwic, LLC, an organization based in Millbury, MA, that researches, practices, and teaches how Vikings fought and used their weapons. Dr. Short is also an author and filmmaker, having published several books and feature-length documentary films about Viking-related topics.