RavenDraconis said:
Viking women fought nude along side there men under the belief that it would upset there Cristian/Jewish/Muslim Enemy (Vikings are believed to be one of few Cultures were women were seen as equal). The viking men often wore no more then simple woolen or leather tunics. They both relied on the Round Shield and there weapons for defense (Also No horned helmets), as well as the speed and ferocity of there raids. Shock and Aww was not An U.S. Invention. That Having been said, the chain-mail bikini is a joke and nothing more. Armor is now as it has always been, pretty genderless.
Possibly more equal than most, but not equal to men. I've not heard anything about viking women fighting naked to offend people, do you have a source for that?
Oh, vikings did use chainmail, IIRC, except that it was very expensive and not something most people could get hold of. Even swords were fairly pricey, a spear uses far less metal (and time) to make, and is more useful in a shieldwall.
Though, because of expensive, it becomes a status symbol.
EDIT: There is (some) evidence to suggest Celtic warrior women, and it's believed that Celtic warriors may or may not have fought naked (there's not much in the way of reliable sources), or wore paint.
The Scythians, IIRC, had male and female horse archers, but they were all fully clad.
EDIT again:
Oroboros said:
Frm armor tests that I have seen, butted mail is worse then useless, and riveted mail, when combined with a gambeson, provides excellent protection. Most dark-age combat wounds were to the extremities for a reason.
That's not generally due to the armour, though, as most people couldn't afford it. The extremities are most vulnerable to attack. Your weapon arm is exposed to attack when you stick it out in front of you to attack someone (when two shield walls meet in re-enatcments, apparently this has something of a domino effect, as people would attack enemies' exposed weapon arm, and leave their own arms vulnerable to others).
Also, the lower legs aren't defended by the shield, and often present themselves as a target. This sort of thing had been going on since the days of the greek Hoplites, who wore armour on their lower, but not upper, legs because of this, and apparently people getting stabbed in the lower leg was often depicted in art from that time.
