are shown in illuminations as being painted a single colour although some have a design painted onto them; the most common designs are simple crosses or derivations of sun wheels or segments. The few round shields that survived have much more complicated designs painted on them and sometimes very ornate silver and gold work applied around the boss and the strap anchors. The Gokstad ship has places for shields to be hung on its railing and the Gokstad shields have holes along the rim for fastening some sort of non-metallic rim protection. These were called shield lists and they protected ship crews from waves and the wind. Some Viking shields may have been decorated by simple patterns although some skaldic poems praising shields might indicate more elaborate decoration and archaeological evidence has supported this. In fact, there is a complete subgenre of Skaldic poetry dedicated to shields, known as "shield poems", that describe scenes painted on shields. For example, the late-9th-century skaldic poem, Ragnarsdrápa, describes some shields painted with mythological scenes. Viking shields were also heavily used in formations. The shield wall or skjaldborg was a main formation in which accomplished Viking warriors would create a line of interlocked shields and thrust spears at adversaries. Other notable tactics included the svinfylking "boarsnout", in which warriors would create a wedge configuration and attempt to burst through the front line of nearby foes. Kite shields It has been proposed that the medieval era kite shield favoured by the Normans was introduced to Europe by the Vikings. However, no documentation or remains of kite shields from the Viking period have been located by archaeologists. Armor Helmet The remains of six helmets from the Viking Age are known to exist: the Tjele helmet fragment; two fragments from Gotland; one fragment from Kyiv; the Gjermundbu helmet; and the Yarm helmet, which is the first Anglo-Scandinavian helmet discovered in Britain, found in Yarm, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, England. Of the four helmet fragments found in Scandinavia, only the remains from Gjermundbu were of use in significant reconstruction. The Gjermundbu helmet dates to the 10th century. It was excavated on a farm called Gjermundbu in Ringerike in central Norway. Gjermundbu is located in Haugsbygd, a village in northeast of Hønefoss, in Buskerud, Norway. This helmet was made of iron from four plates after the spangenhelm pattern. This helmet has a rounded cap, and there is