Drawing upon contemporary literary and historical accounts from the North Atlantic to the Arab world, surviving examples of weapons and armor, and practical experimentation and reconstructions by modern weapon-smiths and re-enactors, Weapons of the Viking Warrior casts new light on how Viking weapons were made and used in battle. Viking warriors used an array of distinctive weaponry on the battlefield, but they have become entangled in myth and legend. This book tells the full, true story. Between the late 8th and late 11th century Viking warriors had a massive impact not just in northern Europe, but across a huge arc from the western Mediterranean round through northern Europe and the Baltic to the Middle East and Central Asia. Their success depended in part on their skills in battle, their unique sense of strategic mobility, and on the quality of their weapons and equipment. Written by an expert on early medieval weaponry, this book examines the weapons of the typical Viking warrior, dispels some of the myths of the popular image, such as double-headed axes, and considers the range of weapons that actually underpinned the Vikings' success including bows and arrows. “As with the other Osprey Publishing titles I was impressed with this book. This is a very nice reference book that contains a well written informative text, many subject specific photographs and illustrations, well detailed captions and more, all detailing various Viking weapons that were in use during the Viking era. As with the other Osprey Publishing titles, I would have no hesitation to recommend this book to others as it will be a welcome addition to one's personal reference library.” ― KitMaker Network Gareth Williams was a curator at the British Museum from 1996 to 2024, specializing in the Anglo-Saxon and Viking periods. He has curated several exhibitions on the Vikings, and has published extensively, including A Riverine Site Near York: A Possible Viking Camp? (British Museum 2020), a study of a major Viking site associated with the Viking Great Army. He is also the author of CBT 027 Viking Warrior versus Anglo-Saxon Warrior and WPN66 Weapons of the Viking Warrior. Johnny Shumate works as a freelance illustrator living in Nashville, Tennessee. He began his career in 1987 after graduating from Austin Peay State University. Most of his work is rendered in Adobe Photoshop using a Cintiq monitor. His greatest influences are Angus McBride, Don Troiani, and Édouard Detaille.