u/Broad_Project_87

So I was recently watching a video on Vikings, and I heard this little tidbit about how the poorer Vikings (not the mighty Jarls, but poor Scandinavian farmers going raiding to make up for poor harvests) would make their own shield with the very same axe they'd carry into their raids.

This statement got my attention and my curiosity: just how crude were these shields, do we have any historical records of Vikings with "budget friendly" equipment? Has anyone done experimental archeology on this? Would these shields have noticeable differences to the more standard round shield? (like would they not be so round? or even round at all? Or would they mostly use thorns instead of nails wherever possible?)