Armor Up - 10th Century Early Medieval Europe

Frankish, Anglo Saxon and Nordic (Viking) era kit from the late migration/early medieval period.

 Chain mail hauberks were becoming more common, usually 3/4 length sleeves and groin length. Worn over linen or wool tunics (and most likely some kind of padded gambeson apparel). Winnegas or leg wraps made of strips of wool were still fashionable over trousers worn from knee to ankle.

Seaxes continued to be the most commonly used blade and were utilized as multi purpose camp and combat knives of varying length. They were generally of the brokeback variety with only a single sharpened edge. Often carried horizontally  suspended from a belt either on the front or back.

Swords remain prohibitively expensive and most often used by nobility and elite warriors who possessed some means to afford such a status symbol. As a result axes and spears are commonly used by the majority of combatants. Axe design was somewhat standard with most being of the bearded variety that included everything from the smaller Francesca throwing axes up to the longer Dane ax used famously by the Anglo Saxon huscarls.

Centre boss shields round out the warriors kit comprised of varying diameters to facilitate the defensive strategy of using shield walls.

Helmets are becoming more common as the classic design of the spagenhelm nasal helmet is beginning to replace the more ornate Anglo Saxon Sutton Hoo typology and Norse style spectacle helms.