PROTECTION
It seems to be self-evident that men threatened by deadly hand-to-hand combat with sharp weapons will try and protect themselves with some kind of bodily defences.
This is not true. Deadly combat is not an everyday experience for most people and never was.
In a world which is not awash with consumer products, where the common man has very limited and local resources and where armed combat is unlikely there is no incentive for the common man to invest in some kind of armour. If he does, it will hang and moulder in his hut for most of the time.
The best way to avoid injury is to avoid combat. This is the way common people react to war. They do not immediately buy or put on armour. They run for it.
The second best way to avoid injury is to hide in a fortified place. Communal armour, one could say.
The most unlikely thing for a man to obtain is armour. Unless violence is his business.
When considering armour in the Viking Age one has always to consider the nature of the owner/wearer. The only type of people who will have anything to do with armour are a warrior group. The section of any society charged with the fighting. Even up to the nineteenth century it was worth murdering people for a set of clothes. How could members of an economy with so little surplus afford to have something as expensive and specialised as armour lying around in the hovel?
The corollary of this is that the armour must be effective. If it does not work then it is not worth the expense.
If it requires a lot of difficult maintenance or is fragile it will not be effective.
This is a useful test for any item offered as armour. If it does not work in the broadest of contexts then it is unlikely to be an authentic example of armour.
This is not true. Deadly combat is not an everyday experience for most people and never was.
In a world which is not awash with consumer products, where the common man has very limited and local resources and where armed combat is unlikely there is no incentive for the common man to invest in some kind of armour. If he does, it will hang and moulder in his hut for most of the time.
The best way to avoid injury is to avoid combat. This is the way common people react to war. They do not immediately buy or put on armour. They run for it.
The second best way to avoid injury is to hide in a fortified place. Communal armour, one could say.
The most unlikely thing for a man to obtain is armour. Unless violence is his business.
When considering armour in the Viking Age one has always to consider the nature of the owner/wearer. The only type of people who will have anything to do with armour are a warrior group. The section of any society charged with the fighting. Even up to the nineteenth century it was worth murdering people for a set of clothes. How could members of an economy with so little surplus afford to have something as expensive and specialised as armour lying around in the hovel?
The corollary of this is that the armour must be effective. If it does not work then it is not worth the expense.
If it requires a lot of difficult maintenance or is fragile it will not be effective.
This is a useful test for any item offered as armour. If it does not work in the broadest of contexts then it is unlikely to be an authentic example of armour.
