Free viking axes clipart are great for bulletin boards and scrapbooks, but they also work well on online slides and presentations, laser engraving projects, decals, and heat transfer items. You can even use them to make cards and invitations.

The axe shown here is a reproduction, but the historical axe to the right shows how an axe haft might have been wrapped in the Viking Age. This bend helps maximize the power transferred from the arm and shoulder to the axe head during a fight.
Clipart of a Viking Axe

Few weapons are more evocative than the axe, the weapon that Vikings carried into battle and on raids during the 8th and 9th centuries and beyond. Long and curved with a sharp cutting edge, the axe was formidable – able to cleave heads and bodies in a single blow. The axe was also used as an important symbol of status, and some axes were beautifully decorated with Christian and pagan symbols and patterns.

Although not as common as swords, the axe was still something that every Viking warrior had to carry with him. The axe was a tool that could be used for both work and war, and it was an essential piece of equipment for life in the Vikings’ forested, snowy homelands. For this reason, Vikings are often pictured clutching axes in their hands, looking wild and threatening with their deadly weapons.

Viking axes came in many different shapes and sizes, and they were used for both fighting and woodworking. Some axes were light and small so they could be used for throwing or a speedy attack while others were more massive and designed for chopping wood. Generally, the axe head was made from iron (or steel) but there are examples of bronze axe heads in Viking Age contexts. A rare specimen known as the Mammen axe, found in a rich chamber-grave in Denmark, was inlaid with silver decoration and clearly identified as the property of an important Viking from the region.

The axe head was usually shaped like a sickle or a hammer with a flat blade on one side and a curved cutting edge on the other. The axe blade was thicker than a sword blade, and the axes were designed to cut through tough materials such as leather armour. In some instances, the axes were crafted to be curved at both the toe and heel of the bit for superior shearing capabilities. According to the Petersen axe typology, most of the axes illustrated in period illustrations or extant artifacts belong to the type L or type M categories.
Clipart of a Crossed Axe

Royalty free crossed axes clip art illustration. Available as PNG, vector EPS and AI files.

Axe icon in flat design isolated on white background. Perfect for logo, ui or app. Symbol of wood working, carpentry or lumber company. Viking axe for sale with transparent background.

Illustration of a cross ax symbol in flat style. Great for t-shirt design, badge or emblem. Vector illustration.

Two crossed weapon axes in black flat design. Perfect for t-shirt designs or badges. Vector illustration.

Set of viking elements in vintage monochrome style. Skull, horned helmet, sword, shield, ax and drakkar. Vector illustratioin.
Clipart of a Viking Helmet

A vector illustration of a Viking helmet, or horned headpiece worn by a Scandinavian warrior. It can be used to illustrate a warrior or other character, and is an excellent choice for a heraldic or logo design. The icon is a flat design and can be positioned on any color background. The clip art is designed in the CMYK color space for optimal printing, and it can easily be converted to RGB if desired. It has no gradients or transparencies, and the shapes have been placed into a clipping mask.

Saga accounts often mention axe blows that cleaved the heads of opponents down to the shoulders. This is because axes have a curved edge that concentrates the force of the blow into a small area, resulting in great power. The sagas also note that axe hafts were often wrapped to reduce the possibility of breaking when parrying edged weapons or otherwise stressed.

The shorter hafts of some axes made them easy to hide. For example, in chapter 12 of Fostbraedra saga, Thorgeirr hid his axe behind his shield during a fight with Snorri, and then used it to cut through the spear shaft that Snorri had stuck into him. This trick could save a warrior’s life in combat, or even prevent him from being killed by his enemy.

Pictorial sources show that combatants favored using the axe two-handed but left-handed, so that their blows came in on undefended sides of their opponents’ bodies. This technique allowed them to maximize the power of their blows by concentrating it into the small contact area between the axe head and the neck or shoulders of their opponent.

The curved shape of the axe head can also be used to hook an opponent’s shield or other body part, as described in a number of sagas. For instance, in the battle at Eyrr in chapter 20 of Snorri-Eyrafinga saga, Sigurdr hooked Ospakur’s shield so that he fell off the rampart and was exposed to be hit with a sword. This was a very effective technique, but one that required exceptional skill to use effectively.
Clipart of a Viking Shield

An axe was the everyday weapon for most Viking age men. Even a farmer could rely on his axe to cut and split wood and defend himself in a fight. A battle axe was a bit different than a farm axe, with a haft that was typically made from steel or bronze and a single-edged head. The head also had pointed “horns” at each end (oxarhyrna). These were kept sharp for attacking and creating vicious wounds. The sagas recount that axe horns sometimes sank into the flesh, such as when Hrappr Orgumleidason used his to sever the backbone of Asvardr, whom he was charged with protecting, in Brennu-Njals saga (chapter 87).

Axes were often wrapped with iron or other metals to reduce the possibility that they would break when struck or parried by edged weapons, such as swords and javelins. This was especially important for axes that were used to parry edged weapons, such as the sword in chapter 21 of Hardar saga og Holmverja. The sagas also describe that ax heads occasionally flew off their hafts during combat, something that must have been very discouraging for the warrior using the weapon.

Some axe heads had wide, crescent-shaped edges that were designed for throwing. This specialized type of axe was sometimes known as a breid-ox. The axe head was generally made from iron, although a bronze axe head has been found in a Viking age context.

An axe’s shorter haft allowed it to be hidden behind a shield, as in the example shown to the right. This was a clever trick that could be employed to compel an opponent to move in a direction where he was vulnerable to attack. The story of Thorgeirr in Fostbraedra saga (chapter 12) recounts that he did just this in a fight with Snorri.

An axe could also be hooked over other body parts, such as the neck, to compel a man to move in a direction that he didn’t want to go. For instance, the saga of Thorskfirdinga thattur (chapter 10) recounts that Askmadr used his to hook the edge of his enemy’s shield in order to draw it away from him for an attack or disarm.