Shieldwall

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A tight battle formation in which warriors hold their shields edge to edge to form a protective barrier ; a close line of soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder behind overlapping shields
2. A military arrangement where fighters lock their shields together into a solid wall against attack ; a rank of troops packed side by side behind raised shields for protection
3. Defensive ranks of armed men joining their shields in an unbroken row ; a dense line of soldiers standing close together with overlapping shields held before them

Etymology: Shieldwall is a compound of "shield" and "wall": soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder with their shields locked or overlapping, forming a continuous barrier. The term comes down from Old English "sċieldweall", which carried the same sense, so the image is almost as old as the English language itself. The literal picture is what the word preserves: a line of men whose shields made a wall. Its survival is a matter of usage rather than of any change in meaning. Early medieval English warfare relied on this close formation, and the compound stayed attached to that tactic, so modern historians writing about Anglo-Saxon battles still reach for it. The word is a transparent compound, and its parts mean exactly what they say.

Synonyms: phalanx, testudo