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I have recently read Max Adams' book - Alfred's Britain war and peace in the Viking Age. In this book, he suggests (at the start of chapter 10) that the Anglo Saxon elite may have had leather tents. Having been in contact with Mr Adams, he cannot remember where he came across his evidence for this. ...

Most of mine are from Armourclass in Glasgow. Many people will recommend Paul Binns as well. There are some nice one available through 'Merchant of Menace'. The one problem will be if they have any in stock and, if not, how long it will be until they have. You could always learn to play with a hand ...

I'll just leave this here.........
I'm fairly sure that it might just provoke a little discussion.........

https://phys.org/news/2017-09-genetic-p ... riors.html

Given the erosion & wear on the carving, it's extremely difficult to interpret what, exactly, the Cain figure is wearing on their head. It could be a 'Spangen Helm' type helmet, it might have a solid neck piece - but then again - it could be an interpretation of a maille aventail; it could be an int...

The National Museum of Ireland in Dublin have a couple of prime Viking-Age examples. Exhibit A is a long bone that has three square(ish) dents in its' surface from where it has been hit (but not broken) by a sword. Exhibit B is a skull with one quarter removed completely by a single axe blow. (http:...

Merchant of Menace ( http://www.merchantofmenace.co.uk/ ) do very good gloves.

Hoods are good. I have two I use regularly - a light weight (linen, wool silk mix) for warm weather (factor 5 million sunscreen!) and an all wool one for cooler weather. I would strongly recommend hoods.

Try Fabworks - https://www.facebook.com/fabworks.millshop?fref=ts. They're rather good.........

When my wool kit gets oily, I soak it overnight with some Ecover washing stuff then run it through the machine with another dose of Ecover. Occasionally, it might need this doing twice but once through is usually more than enough.

Dunholm is part of the Vikings and, all weapons need training with and, before you get out onto a battlefield, you'll have to pass the appropriate safety assessment. There is one for swords or axes, one for single handed spears and shields etc.

I would always start with a hand axe and/or a one handed spear - remember different societies have different rules for weapons, for someone starting with a one handed spear, The Vikings (my lot) limit it's overall maximum length of 5 ft 6 inch butt to point. Axes and spear could also come from Merch...

I would always recommend making as much of it yourself as possible. Shoes and other leatherwork - try Merchant of Menace. For cloth stuff, try Iduna Crafts (I think that's how you spell it)

Sounds interesting but, without dates, people who work and would need to book time off, can't - unless they know when it's happening. Unless this falls during half-term (I work in a school) it's not worth me applying.

English Heritage are deciding who to invite to this years bash. If you have not already heard from them, I would either contact them ASAP or assume that you're not on the list for invites this year. Assuming you get an invite, once you are there, The Vikings will be doing the organisation for the au...

Assuming it's a blunt, combat chopper...... I doubt that there are any rules and regs in place. I would suggest that wrapping it well to pad and disguise its' shape ought to be enough.
If in doubt, however, consult your local post office.

BOO!

http://www.vikingsonline.org.uk/membership/groupdb/

Try this. It lists all The Vikings groups by county.

Where are you based?

Ditto. It aint broke, don't fix it.

Whilst I cannot speak for the other societies involved, all members of The Vikings were in authentic footwear at all times when on public display. I am fairly confident that the other societies involved would have operated in similar vein. However........ There are huge numbers of Members of the Pub...

Use a sharp knife and trim feet to size?

Late Victorian/Edwardian/Belle Epoch boot stretchers? Akin to glove stretchers but slightly different in application......

Well, for a start, there is no such thing as a 'low class Druzhina'. The Druzinha were drawn from the ranks of the nobility. Have a look for - The Archaeology of Novgorod - ISBN 0583-9106; The Early Slavs (PM Barford) - ISBN 0 7141 2804X; Pechenegs, Cumans, Iasians - Steppe People in Medieval Hungar...

I know it predates your period but....... The Oseberg dress from the Norwegian boat burial is one of the few silk finds known. The silk in question is 'brocaded' with a variety of Byzantine style designs. Many of these pieces of silk have then been cut into strips and used to decorate and re-enforce...

Apart from the obvious ones like Beowulf, the Wanderer, Finnsborough Fight and Brunnaborough fragments - look at genealogies for your lord and master as well as for the appropriate Kings for the time. Riddles were also popular. A couple of books you may want to check out include -'English Heroic Leg...

I know of Roman leather tents but nothing as late as the Viking period. I would suggest woven wool that is subsequently felted, rather than 'traditional' felt might have been used. Summer in Mongolia tends to be somewhat drier than the Northern European 'summer' and felt gets very heavy and fragile ...

The idea that such things did not exist is, frankly, absurd. The problem, however, is finding archaeological proof as, being textiles, they are most unlikely to survive in the ground. I am sure I have come across references to games like 'Kingy Bats' - two or more wooden paddles and a soft ball for ...

And if it were for sale - how much?

Guilty as charged! I was, indeed, running around daft at Whitby smacking people with a variety of steel sticks........

Some good, and relatively easily available ideas can be had from the original 'Prince Valiant' film. This was made just after the Godstagt ship burial report was published. Ignore the horns and the furry knickers (not to mention the furry everything else) but the tents used in the camp scene were ba...