A Viking shield was not built to be strong. It was built to be light. Round, most often between seventy-five and ninety centimetres across, though surviving examples run anywhere from forty-five to a hundred and twenty — planks with an iron boss at the centre, over the hand. The revealing part is the timber. The sagas talk about linden, but what actually comes out of the ground is mostly fir, alder and poplar, chosen precisely because they are low in density and light to hold, and because unlike oak they are not inclined to split. Around the rim went leather, and occasionally iron; the shields from the Gokstad ship have holes drilled all along their edges for some non-metallic binding, which was called a shield list. None of that describes a slab of armour to hide behind. It describes a fast object, brought to meet a blow and taken away again, held by a man who is expected to work.

Which suits Halvar, because the shield is all he has. No mail, no helmet — a wool tunic, a cloak and leg wraps, with the sword drawn back behind the shield rim ready to come over the top. Stand him next to "Svend" Viking Defending with Sword and Shield, who has the full hauberk and the iron helmet, and you have the two ends of a war-band in one glance. Put him with "Geir" Viking Defending with Spear and Shield and the shields start to overlap, which is where "Seaver" Saxon Shield Wall Defender is waiting on the other side. One note on the paint: most shields from the finds are a single colour, with simple crosses or sun-wheel segments where they are decorated at all, so the bold spiral here is licence rather than reconstruction — and a good deal handsomer on a shelf.

Model: 62138 / W. Britain / 1/30 scale / matte finish / 1 piece set