Get the look: Germanic female warrior

The Roman writer Tacitus writes about the Germanic Harii in his work Germania. He states that they paint their bodies black and use black painted shields (nigra scuta, tincta corpora). They attacked at ‘s night as a shadowy army, which caused great fear among their opponents.

If we place this remarkable description of the Harii in a broader, Indo-European When placing context, various similarities become apparent. The black painted warriors mentioned by Tacitus in the 1st century AD were likely a reference to the ancient tradition of war bands. A group of young warriors from a tribe who had not yet acquired possessions or fame and only owned their weapons. They gathered in a small group of warriors who lived on the fringes of society. They formed a war band under the sign of an animal or god cult. Examples of these are the Indo-European kóryos, Gaelic fianna, and Germanic berserkers. Between spring and autumn each year, they lived in the wild, from hunting and raids they conducted on other tribes. They were known for their bravery. Once they reached adolescence and proved themselves, they returned to the tribe as full-fledged warriors. During this time, the youths fought in ways that full-fledged warriors did not. They usually lived in the cult of the wolf, boar, or bear (like the berserkers). During battles, they underwent a ceremonial transformation and became a 'wolf' (hence in some cultures like the Germanic Berserker or the Roman Velites only wore a pelt). They fought like the characteristics of these animals: violence, cunning, speed, great strength, and warrior rage. On the other hand, within the group, stories of heroic deeds of epic individuals were centered, and the war band lived up to these stories to inspire their individual achievements.  

At the Battle of Telamon (225 BC), Gallic warriors reportedly wore only trousers and capes. In the Norse tradition, Berserkers scorned the use of armor and preferred to wear only an animal skin. Ancient Italic tribes also had 'frenzied' warriors in their ranks who fought naked, barefoot, with flowing hair, and often in duels. Young Vedic boys during their initiation within the kóryos wore only a belt and an animal skin. The belt symbolized their bond to the kóryos. The Greek historian Herodotus mentions that Gauls sometimes fought naked. Tacitus reports on the Germanic tribes the Cimbri and Teutons that they fought in a kind of frenzy of rage and fought naked. Many depictions of Gallic warriors show the warrior naked. But many images also do not show the warriors naked, which again points to a ritual form of warfare rather than regular military actions.  

It is not surprising that these warriors painted themselves black and attacked at night when the enemy was most vulnerable. These warriors were lightly armed, often probably with various types of spears and javelins and, as Tacitus mentions, with their shield. Naturally, the spear heads and the shield were also camouflaged with black charcoal or pigment. In this capacity, the nakedness of the warrior also comes in handy because the entire body could be smeared with black pigment, ash, or mud, making you even better camouflaged. Spears were probably the weapons par excellence for these warriors. Spears were relatively cheaper than swords and offered the possibility of quick cunning actions where spears could be used both to stab and to throw. In Old Irish, dozens of different words for spear are known. 

The name Harii is linguistically related to the einherjar and the Harii were probably the source of this Scandinavian myth. The einherjar are those who fell on the battlefield and were brought to Valhalla by the valkyries. There they prepare for the end of the world.

It is also possible that the Harii, or related groups, were the origin of the Wild Hunt, a supernatural hunting procession through the night sky, sometimes led by Odin.

Not only Germanic and Celtic men fought. Women also took part in the battle. Viking women's graves such as those of Birka In Nordre Kjølen, it is shown that women, like men, were buried with their full armor. The Roman historian Tacitus also mentions Germanic female warriors, and other evidence is seen in the Celtic queen Boudicca and the female Celtic warrior found on the island of Bryher in Cornwall. Additionally, female warriors are regularly mentioned in the Old Norse sagas. However, it is interpretative whether women also participated in war bands or if only the female aristocratic class participated in warfare. 

A number of Germanic female names can be derived from acts of war and warfare. Here are some examples. 

Brunhilde: Composed of the Old High German elements "brun" (brown) and "hild" (battle), Brunhilde means "battle in brown attire."

Freydis: Derived from the Norse goddess Freyja, Freydis means "the goddess of love and fertility," but she was also known for her combative nature.

Hildegarde: A combination of "hild" (battle) and "gard" (protection), Hildegarde means "the protector in battle."

Lagertha: This name is associated with the legendary Viking warrior Lagertha, and although the exact meaning is not certain, it is often interpreted as "protector of the army."

Alfhild: Composed of the Old Norse elements "alf" (elf) and "hild" (battle), Alfhild means "elf battle" or "fighting elf."

Signy: This name originates from the Old Norse "sign" (new) and thus means "new victory" or "new battle."

Gertrude: Although known as a German name, Gertrude is derived from the Old Germanic elements "geri" (spear) and "thrud" (strength), meaning "strength with the spear."

Ragnhild: Formed from the Old Norse elements "ragn" (advice) and "hild" (battle), Ragnhild means "advice in battle" or "advising battle."

In our composition, we have chosen a female model. However, the same composition is suitable for men. We call this Germanic warrior Gertrude, which is derived from the words spear (ger) and strength (trud).

Trousers

In this composition, we have chosen to have Gertrude wear dark Viking puff trousers. Because it was difficult to dye clothing in such pure colour black, a brown trousers would be a good alternative. Furthermore, we have chosen a somewhat later period for the trousers; if we were to place Gertrude in earlier periods, she would rather wear Thorsberg trousers like these. 

Footwear

In this composition, Gertrude wears Viking shoes found in Jorvik. 

For an earlier Gertrude, we would recommend Iron Age sandals. These sandals were widely worn in Europe, even a 16th-century original was found in Ireland. 

In this setup, we have deliberately given Gertrude a smaller shield. Large shields offered better protection and are very suitable for activities such as creating shield walls on battlefields. However, our experience in historical guerrilla tactics shows that small shields provided sufficient security and were preferred because they slowed the bearer down less. In this arrangement, speed is your best shield. We have not black painted the shield, which is mentioned by Tacitus. For temporarily painting shields, we would recommend ash and umber pigments.

We used this shield:

We removed all metal parts, except for the edge.

In this composition, Gertrude wears and spear with the early medieval spear head Dublin.

The spear shaft is wrapped with leather laces for extra grip. 

We have made an artistic compromise and given Gertrude only one spear. Our experience shows that the practiced hand can easily carry about three spears during an ambush, ranging between javelins and light thrusting spears with a maximum length of 2 meters. For that, these spear heads would be well suited:

For Gertrude's body painting, both three cans of body paint and Epic effects make-up were used. We deliberately ensured that the paint is slightly faded here and there because, historically, the Harii would not have had such opaque painting as we can create with modern paint. If you want to fixate and thicken the black paint more, we recommend using setting spray.