"What shields can be used?" Topic

Inspired by Prince Rupert's Somerled project of a few years back – I want to modify my Own Kingdom of the Isles army.
His pictures can be found here:
TMP link

I really like the look of the unit with multiple shield types. I think it well represents the fact that Somerled had troops of many "nationalities" (Norsemen, Irish, Scots & various mixes of all) in his army.

I imagine that many troops would have round shields, Would kite shields be in use too? I imagine so – it had been about 100 years since William conquered England – and I would think there would be some level of copying. How prevalent would they be for any army of this time (1150s) and place?

How about heater shields? Or at least chopped down Kites. I have read they originated about this time. Would they have made it to an area like this?

Which troop types would be more likely to have an eclectic combination like this? Men of the isles? Gallowegians? Irish mercs?

Or is this one of those situations where we don't really know, so you can pretty much do what you like and can't be proven wrong?

My take is Somerled was essentially still in the Norse sphere of influence. From what I can tell most of Scandinavia (apart from Denmark) were a little bit behind the curve on the latest European military trends and fashions you could still see equipment that wouldn't look out of place in the Viking age but there was also clearly influence coming from the rest of Europe especially among the richer members of society.

I think the Fireforge Scandinavian infantry capture the look quite well

link

Here's a picture of some 12th century Scandinavian warriors good mix of shields

This is the period of the Chessmen from Uig, Lewis, western isles of Scotland, c.1150-1175, with chopped kite and almond shields

mirror site
Chessmen from Uig, Lewis, western isles of Scotland, c.1150-1175.

Druzhina
12th Century Illustrations of Costume & Soldiers
Scandinavian Illustrations of Costume & Soldiers

That helps
Thanks everyone

I have some 15mm figures which are about right. Now I've started to think about how to make a king and a queen on their thrones.