As you look through this page you will see commonly used armour in reenacting, along with a short description and archaeological evidence. 
Helmets
There are many types of  helmets that you will see on the battlefield. The type of helmet used will depend on the region being portrayed by the reenactor. Below are just some examples of commonly used ones.
Nasal helmets
The nasal helmet was characterised by the nose-guard, or "nasal", composed of a single strip of metal that extended down from the skull or browband over the nose to provide facial protection. 
The helmet appeared throughout Western Europe late in the 9th century, and became the predominant form of head protection, replacing previous types of helmet whose design was ultimately based on Late Roman types.
Lake Lednica
Helmets based on a find from Lake Lednica dated to the second half of the 11th century. This helmet was widely used in Europe and there are many manuscripts that showed warriors using this type of helmet until the 13th century.
Lake Orchowo
A beautifull, and quite simple helmet from the Orekhov lake, currently Belarus. Suitable for Rus, or slavs warriors of medium wealth condition
Spanglehelm
The Spangenhelm, or segmented helmet, gave effective protection and was relatively easy to produce. The weakness of the design was its partial head protection and its jointed construction. 
Gjermundbu
Not many could afford a helmet like this one, so the warrior who owned it must have been a very rich and powerful man. Perhaps he was a chieftain, the reason why his war gear was especially fine.
The Gjermundbu helmet has its name from the the Gjermundbu farm in Ringerike, where it was found. The helmet was found in nine fragments and was subsequently restored. Dated to 10th century.
Helmet Fragments
At this point it is worth noting the various helmet fragments that have been found over the years in Denmark, Sweden and Ukraine. These fragments would have been decorated eyebrow and nose pieces from Viking Age helmets, most commonly associated with the Gjermundbu helmets. 
As a group we generally avoid these type of decorations as this is where the lines between Historically accurate and fantasy style helmets becomes blurred.  
Rus Helmets
The Rus are an ethnic group that formed the Kievan Rus. They were originally a Norse people, mainly originating from Sweden. These Norsemen assimilated and merged with Slavic, Baltic, and Finnic tribes. Their cultural descendants are the modern-day Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians.

Gorzuchy
One of the best preserved helmets of the Black Mound type* (See footnote), originating from  Gorzuchy, Poland. The helmet was accidentally discovered in the summer of 1866 while fertilizing a field in the village. Dated to 10th-11th century, the helmet is one of the most published European helmets.
Manvelovka
A helmet found in Manvelovka (Dnipropetrovsk district), the territory of today's Ukraine. Dated to the 9th - 10th century. As a result of research, it was characterized as an early medieval Magyar (Pecs) helmet # (See footnote)
Olszowka
Another one of the best preserved helmets of the Black Mound type*, originating from Olszówka, Poland. The helmet is an accidental, context-free find, plowed in 1919 in the village of Dymitrowo (today’s Olszówka). The literature seems to agree on dating to 10th-11th century, but the place of origin has been the subject of protracted disputes in the past.

Footnotes:
* "Black Mound" or "Black Grave" helmets, found in the Kievan Rus region (modern-day Ukraine and Russia), are a type of medieval helmet characterized by their distinctive shape and construction, often featuring a conical shape with a wide brim and a guard for the back of the neck. 
# Probably the most famous helmet in the whole eastern-Europe! The helmet from pecs (Magyar) is dated from the 10th century. It is also seen in some Ottoman illuminations, like the maccabee's book when soldiers of the empire were fighting against the Magyars. The helmet would be suitable for Magyar (nomadic) and other warriors from central-asia, settled in eastern-europe!

Aventails 
An aventail is a flexible curtain of mail attached to the bottom of a helmet. It would cover at least the back of the neck, but often full aventails are used as they also cover the throat, shoulders and part or all of the face. Full aventails are recommended for our reenactors for maximum protection due to the nature of the full contact combat we perform. 
Chain Mail
Mail is a protective iron fabric made up of thousands of interlocking iron rings. In the Viking era, mail was always made with a 4-in-1 pattern, in which each ring passes through its four nearest neighbors (see picture below).
During the Viking age, mail was usually worn in the form of a mail shirt. Typically, the garment was T-shaped, having sleeves that reached the elbow. The forearms were usually left free to show off jewelry.
About 85 fragments of mail from Gjermundbu represent a better part of the original armour, which was short and had short sleeves. The linking style is the classic “four in one”, with the mail being a combination of riveted and punched rings.
Mail from Kazazovo, Russia
One of the best-preserved and most overlooked armours of the early Middle Ages. The armour is almost complete except for occasional holes. From this length it is clear that the mail reached to the knees. In the middle of the front and back edge we find slits up to 35 cm long, which could be useful when riding a horse. Dated around the 9th century. ​​​​​​​
Controversies
Lamellar armour
The finds from the territory of Old Russia are often argued. However, there are few finds that can be dated to the 9th – 11th centuries and they are considered to be eastern imports. As the Lamellar armor was not an original Rus product, the armour stands outside the Nordic armour tradition, which it influenced only to the extent that it appears here and there in the Baltic area until the 14th century. Ring armour can be clearly described, as in the case of Old Rus, as the dominant Scandinavian armour. The production of lamellar armour in Scandinavia and Old Rus during the Viking Age cannot be proven and is unlikely. 
Although the armour is argued over among re-enactors, you will see a very small amount of our members using it. The few members using Lamellar armour are high ranking members, high ranking members in a position that would given them access to any imported items/goods.

Arm guards
The skald Sigvat, in his poem Verses on the Journey to the West, says during a visit to King Canute that he “often wore iron sleeves on his arms”. Researchers believe that these could be metal armbands. This would have been expensive equipment for kings and members of royal families and their courts. 
Armbands do not appear at all in the sagas or archaeological finds, which points to their infrequent use and low importance.
Back to Top