Ready-Made Viking Shield – For the Fiercest Warriors

We don’t just sell shields – we make them ourselves. Each piece is born in our workshop, drawing on decades of experience in actual combat use. Key qualities: high durability, lightweight, and reliability.

Following the traditions of the early Middle Ages, we cover the inside of the shield with linen and the outside with wild boar rawhide. But here’s what really sets it apart – the edges: they are reinforced with raw hide and additionally stitched with raw hide straps. This isn’t just about looks – it makes the shield battle-ready and long-lasting in real combat.

Viking Shield Specifications

Materials: wild boar rawhide, linen, wood, metal

Construction: The core is glued together from three layers of 3mm poplar plywood. Between the layers of plywood – linen. This creates an incredibly strong composite material.

Delivery Time: Approximately 2 weeks from order (sometimes we can ship faster if the workshop isn’t too busy).

Looking for a larger shield? Interested in a shield from a later period? Our ready-made kite shield should be right up your alley!

Historical Background

The Viking shield is a true survivor on the battlefield. It was beloved in the early Middle Ages and beyond, but this form became especially associated with the warriors of Northern and Eastern Europe: Slavs, Germanic tribes, and Scandinavians. Yes, the same Scandinavians among whom were the Vikings. Let’s be clear: “Viking” isn’t a people – it’s a “craft” of seafarers, seekers of plunder and glory. But they all shared the same shield – round, fierce-looking, and surprisingly light.

That said, no one kept the Viking round shield as a family heirloom. It was a classic consumable: tough enough to survive a couple of battles, and cheap enough that a carpenter could knock together a dozen of them in just a few days before a campaign.

Finishing, however, was a matter of taste and budget. Some proudly covered their shields in leather and decorated them with patterns – beautiful and intimidating. Others simply painted them with ochre or soot. And the most hardcore pragmatists (or the poorest) carried bare wooden planks into battle. But those didn’t last – they absorbed moisture, cracked, and fell apart after the first serious fight.

It was precisely this combination of simplicity, affordability, and durability that made the round shield the true “workhorse” of medieval Europe.