[Pedro Paulo Gaião]

Since the Viking Ages to the very end of medieval period runes and inscriptions often appear in military equipment, mostly in latin but sometimes in the vulgar tongue. They include some religious phrases from the Christian Bible, the motto of a noble family or another religious phrase. I usually found them on pavises, bucklers, helmets, banners and horse caparisons. But is it known how exactly contemporary people viewed and regarded those inscriptions?

Catholic Europeans and Hussites (and perhaps even orthodox and later protestants) maintained any beliefs or views regarding those inscriptions? Or they had purely heraldic and stylistic status? I believe intimidation might have a role in their use.

I read in a book about the Islamic Empire (i.e. Rashidun Caliphate) that muslim soldiers usually put verses from Qu'ran in their clothes and shields as some sort of "protective runes", and I believe vikings also had a similar concept. The Malinese slaves at "Revolta dos Malês" in portuguese-held Bahia all carried "Mandingas" with them; some sort of bag-pockets where they carried verses from the Qu'ran in pieces of paper, of whom they regarded to have some protective effect.