The Vikings are among the historical world"s most feared and famous warriors. Their success as a fighting group was due in part to the unique ways in which they wielded their weapons - swords, axes, lances, and shields - combined with small-group tactics that were always part of an overall strategy.This thoroughly researched and superbly illustrated volume examines all the known archaeological and literary evidence of Norse combat, and combines it with the results of real-life martial exercises and training techniques in order to establish the most probable fighting methods employed by the Vikings more than 1,000 years ago.