'With axe and Spear' 

A good, simple overview of Norse weapons.  (Which can get to be a very complicated subject, especially since the period covered a variety of peoples and generations.) 

Ummm, something to keep in mind about the Norse.  The whole 'Village Blacksmith' idea generally doesn't pertain.  There were few 'villages' in the Northlands (I've seen it estimated at less than a couple dozen in all the northlands.)  The Norse generally lived in scattered farms, sometimes with multiple families.  A village would need a blacksmith, but most people never saw a village.   

Iron work was generally done by the farmers themselves.  This would be why sword blades were generally imported.  One saga describes men working at home for days on an especially wicked spearhead.  Although tools, and even a crude anvil have been found in excavations, these probably belonged to a very wealthy man.  Another saga specifically describes a mighty warrior's widespread search for a proper rock to be used as an anvil on his farm.  Obviously, if the farmers were beating out tools on rocks, an axe head, spear, or seax were about the limitation of the tools involved. 

Only Kings, Jarls, and Vikings(raiders), could afford something crafted by a village smith, the rest of the people just made their weapons at home. 

 To keep the Wolves at bay -    

Nothing more needs to be said.

I finally found some time to read the first two stories of ish 10 and a good opening they are.

And now that it's available, I'll be getting a hard copy, too. I'm also keeping fingers crossed a number of people I know will be picking up one, too, now that I've brought it to their attention.