When someone is asked to draw a typical Viking, there will always be some recurring points…
Tall, blond, bearded, long-haired, with one (or two, or three) double-edged, double-edged (bloody) two-handed hatchets, and a horned helmet, standing on a long ship.
The Real Viking Appearance
Bearded, it’s a fact. When people sail and fight, they do not have time to shave. And that’s what differentiates male men (and women with beards) from women. So yes for the beard; although it could obviously be shaved/cut for special occasions.
Long hair; of course. But why did the Vikings have long hair? This is the subject that can take up a whole chunk of words. But many believe that it had something to do with keeping out the cold.
With regard to dress, the Vikings did not know fear and were simply dressed in a shirt or could even go shirtless depending on the weather; sometimes they could be seen wearing bear skin (hence the appearance of the word Berserker.) Do you want jewelry showcasing authentic Vikings designs? LYR Design will be the place to go.
Armor and weaponry
Vikings didn’t much prefer armor even though somecoat of mails especially chain mails have been dug up by archeologists. But most likely those belonged to the elites and not the common Vikings. They basically fought in their shirtsleeves so to speak.
There is a myth that Vikings fought with axes, that is not true. The Vikings fought with the sword and shield, and not with big axes! Throwing axes however were included in their arsenal.
Obviously, the Vikings being (I repeat) initially peasants, their personal weapon were often tools that they were familiar with. And since they’re not stupid, they’d rather take an axe than a trowel. (Especially since the trowel probably did not exist, this made it even less convenient to fight.)
Now to bust the biggest myth; no horned helmets. Yes you heard me right the horned helmet was never a part of the Vikings’ war regalia. It might have some sort of significance as a crown, or could have been used in ritual fights, but in combat Vikings wore leather hats, and over the years they became more complex and metal helmets came into being.
The image of the horned Viking remained in our culture; because of the Christian imagery. The horns have remained to “demonize” the Vikings vis-à-vis Christians; Just like the devil!
At least, the long ship is not a myth
