The kite shield came in when men started fighting from horseback and needed to cover a leg. It is a teardrop: wide at the top to guard the shoulder, tapering to a point that hangs down the thigh. On foot it is heavy and awkward compared with a round board, which is exactly why it stopped being used once the mounted charge did.
Heights, faces and rims
Wavewarden is the smallest at thirty four inches, a painted board with rawhide edging and a full leather strap set. Palewing stands forty inches, per pale black and white with an engraved knotwork panel and a riveted rawhide rim. Kiteward is the largest at forty eight inches tall, with a riveted steel rim, a Celtic knotwork band and a leather guige so it can be slung across the back. The two Templar boards carry the red cross pattee: Crossmarch on a black and white field with an engraved gilt border, and Palecross on a white field with a rawhide bound edge.
They sit in kite shields and bucklers, beside the round boards in Viking shields. Choosing between them? Read round shield against kite shield.
Free US shipping
On most pieces. Heavier and oversized ones carry a flat charge.
Hand Forged
Heated, hammered and ground by hand.
Engraving available
Names, dates or Norse runes on most pieces.
