Another pair of bondi

My plan was to complete the whole unit of eight bondi before the end of the month, but that's just not going to be possible now, so I thought I would photograph another pair rather than wait even longer for an update. So here we are, two more of the V&V Miniatures vikings. The younger warrior sports a shaven head, I have added some tattoos to the exposed skin, but you cannot really see this from the front. He also has a little fancy embroidery on the collar of his tunic.

The second warrior is a more unusual pose, wielding his spear in a two handed grip with his shield slung over his shoulder. He also wears a padded tunic, which I have seen some objections to on some parts of the internet as it's generally regarded to be a post viking era garment. My own view is that we know so little for certain about the appearance of the vikings - their clothing, their hair, shield designs, etc. The little "evidence" we have is related (often by their foes) decades or centuries after they were around, so hardly reliable, factual witnesses. It seems to me unlikely that they would not have padded their clothing to give some protection. Whatever the truth, this toy soldier is wearing a padded tunic.

I took a photo of the four spear armed bondi in a miniature shield wall, it's a nice little diorama. I have chatted to a few re-enactors who have said that it's likely the warriors acted in pairs or teams, with one providing protection with a shield while his comrade stood behind thrusting a spear. We will never know if this is true or not, but it does look good.