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HWS Medieval Female Varangian Guard Concept

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Description

Pelekyphoroi Barbaroi Amazones of Tágma tōn Varángōn, Basileia tōn Rhōmaiōn

A concept drawign for the all-female Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire Varangian Guard in the Historically Wrong Sketch Series: Medieval Revisited, which is roughly based on the Middle ages covering 800 AD to 1400 AD. As it says on the tin, they are based on the famous Varangian Guards, the elite personal troops of the Byzantine Empire from the 10th - 14th century,

Inspired by the music: Legacy of Rome by Andreas Waldetoft 


INTRODUCTION

For an Empire like Byzantine in the middle ages, or the Eastern Roman Empire in technical terms, the emperor was a person of utmost importance. Following the tradition of its predecessor the Roman Empire, Byzantines emperor sought loyal men to protect his life and interest, and as such, this is where the Varangian Guard came into picture. Historically speaking, Varangian is the name used by the Eastern Slavs and the Greeks of Byzantine Empire to refer the Scandinavian Vikings, though the Greeks had other term, such as Barbaroi, which points their "barbaric" orign; Varangians guard were initially composed of Rus but later supplemented by Norsemen and Anglo-Saxons. Formally established by Emperor Basil II in the late 10th century, the Varangian guard became the elite of Byzantine army, often used at critical moment to change the tide of the battle until the decline of the empire in the 14th century.


DRAWING COMMENTARIES

The Varangian Guards is perhaps one of the most well known name when Byzantine Empire is meantioned. While the Historically Wrong Sketch series has a byzantine empress depicted to portray this great empire, I just have to include it as it's one of the most popular and frequently requested by my followers here :P

Rather than single individual character, I decided to follow the example from the ancient series, the all Female Roman Donkey Legionaries but recycled as an all-female varangian guard...or something similar to that. Technically speaking, they would serve the Byzantine Empress of the HWS series as her loyal personal bodyguard, willing to give up their lives under the Empress will. Their depictions are however, rather generic and perhaps contemporary, given that a lot of historical artists have drawn Varangian Guard at one stage in their career. For the Historically Wrong Sketch version however, I decided to use mix of anachronism and quite a few personal artistic license ;)

The lady in the center, probably an officer or maybe an equivalent to the Akolouthos, is depicted with the tall decorated byzantine kettle helmet based on the ones found in Russia (13th-14th CE), while her shield incorporates the raven symbol, often associated with the Varangians. The elite very heavy guard on the right is based on contemporary source, though her weapon is a stylized version found from the 12th century Varangian Chronicle in "Joannis Scylitzae Synopsis Historiarum". The guard on the left is drawn with an armored scale cuirass based on various resources while her axe is based on the 11tch CE axe head found in Novi Pazar, Bulgaria. As for the lamellar cuirass of the other two, they are mainly based on the depiction of St. Lucas Fresco from monastery monastery in Boeotia, Greece.

Without having to dwell in details, I do hope that many of you will enjoy this drawing. Many thanks for the continous support, feedback and suggestions :D


REFERENCES AND OTHER RELATED MEDIA

Maybe related to the following:

The Byzantine Empress, The Rus, The Anglos-Saxons, The Vikings

Basilissa Sotirisa of Basileia Rhiomanion (Greek) by Gambargin  Kniazivna Rogneda of Dnieperovkaya Zemnya (Rus) by Gambargin  Frua Aelfwynn of Seaxna Rice (Anglo-Saxons) by Gambargin  Gunnhildr Freysdottir of Vikingrunionen (Norse) by Gambargin


A Part of the Historically Wrong Sketch Series: Medieval Revisited - You can find more on the various faction on the map here:

HWS Medieval Revisited - Faction Map v.1.32 by Gambargin 


Image size
2977x4445px 6.48 MB
Make
samsung
Model
SM-N910G
Shutter Speed
1/25 second
Aperture
F/2.2
Focal Length
5 mm
ISO Speed
160
Date Taken
Dec 27, 2016, 3:46:46 AM
© 2016 - 2024 Gambargin
Comments31
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Burksaurus's avatar
That's really interesting seeing you do the Byzantine Empire. I really like the detail on the armor