Neustadt-Glewe is a small German town, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, in the district of Ludwigslust-Parchim. Last year, some serious re-enactors gathered together with seriously authentic arms and armor to relive the bloody past of that area in the age of Vikings. Live steel re-enactment is not a high school prom – not in the least.
The armor used by Vikings was no different than that used by English or German warriors of the same era. There were no horns on the helmets, and the blades were similar. Armor went from padded gambesons, to chain male, to laminar, to boiled leather curasses. The age of uniforms was still centuries in the future.
Most warfare was fought from the shield wall. If your wall held and your brothers protected you as you protected them, they you might live to fight another day. Centuries later, the yew bow would render those sorts of formations less effective, as did the introduction of the handgun and Swiss pike – but those were also in the future.
I wonder how many end up needing a doctor…
My guess is quite a few. I didn't include pictures of guys bleeding.
Boy, it does look like someone could get hurt doing that, intentionally or by accident. I wonder how long the reenactment last, too. It seems heat would have an effect on them in all that leather and armor.
They want it to be as authentic as possible without the same body count.
Looks like a lot of work and money spent on gear.
Savage, brutal hand-to-hand combat from times long past.
Even the reenactments are not for the faint of heart….
There's some serious money here in that authentic gear.
They'd have to rethink the armor for Texas, or would they?
The Crusaders marched about in all that steel under a hot sun and took Jerusalem, though they didn't hold it, sadly.
At least there appears to be a few serious men left in Europe.
Kudos to them, they are better men than I am!
Yes, but everyone needs a hobby.
No, and you're not SUPPOSED to drink beer from your enemy's skull anymore, but these guys may have considered that to be a guideline rather than a rule.
A lot of those guys fabricate it themselves.
They didn't do well under the hot sun at Hatten.
Remarkably, it appears so. Who would have thought?
A younger NFO might have been tempted to strap on armor and wield the sword of justice – if only re-enacting. Don't forget about Bjorn. Would you throw a dwarf off a cliff? youtube.com/watch?v=MV5w262XvCU
Such fun! Are girls allowed?
So that's where the real men of Germany or what's left of them are,playing. The sad truth is that they will be doing it for real within a decade or two.
Re-enacting Charles (The Hammer) Martel? It's about time.
Women are the damsels who wait in the pavilions with delicate clothing, preparing food and gossiping with the other ladies – on the return of their warriors.
The Battle of Tours redux? I'm afraid that's not going to happen. My Opa's are rolling in their graves.
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