If you want a legendary beard style, then you need only look at the Vikings. Their braided beards and unique accessories spoke to their high standards of hygiene and personal style. For those who aren’t afraid to try something new, this look works perfectly with a full beard or long beard style.
This guide shows you all the latest braided beard trends, as well as a simple step-by-step approach to braiding your own facial hair.
What is a Braided Beard?
A braided beard is a symbol of legendary vikings. To braid facial hair, it needs to be grown to 4 inches in length or greater. Typically, beards are woven into 1 to 3 braids and adorned with jewelry, like beads or rings.
Braided beards are a historic style that dates back to Viking Norsemen and Scottish warlords. By weaving one or multiple braids, you join a class of beardsmen who’ve sported this look since ancient times.
It’s best to soften your beard hair before braiding, especially if you want to braid strands higher up on your jaw or chin.
Braided Beard Styles
Braiding your beard doesn’t require much time after the first try. However, you may want to practice first. Before we show the technique, here are a few different beard braids to check out before styling your own.
Braiding works for any face shape – though longer shapes handle the look best, and there are multiple ways to customize your braids like I mentioned with beard rings and beads.
Single Viking Beard Braid
There are more than a few ways to twist a braid. For some looks, you may want more facial hair around your jawline, thus only choosing to braid the longer hair of your beard.
Others choose to go with a long singular braid, or they may even braid the top beard hair.
Two Braids
You may need more of a yeard beard to get this next look. These styles typically look best with more beard hair, but goatees and short beards can also have two braids.
Traditional Viking Beard Braid
This is the beard vikings go to the most with short braids, however each warrior had their own hair style. Viking beards don’t always use a full braid, but would secure their beard braids with different accessories such as beard ring bead jewelry, like steel beard rings or wood beads.
Unique Braided Style Beards
From pirates to vikings to Celtic beard styles, braids are a common feature and popular in fantasy films.
For example, Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit featured intricately woven braided beards.
However, Marvel’s Thor also called back to the Viking days of old with a fishtail braided beard and a Viking braid hairstyle.
How to Braid a Beard
As you can see, there are many ways to braid your beard, but it works a little bit better for bearded men with long hair. However, there’s a simple way to create beard braids without putting too much thought into it.
Before styling your beard this way, you’ll need to grow your beard hair to a minimum of 4 or 5 inches so that it’s long enough to weave through other strands. If your beard hair is too thick or bushy, you may want to soften and straighten your beard.
Here’s how to braid your beard:
1. Determine the Style of Braid
It’s best to braid the longest hair, which should be under chin, but you may want to spread out your braids from left to right. We’ll show you to braid a single beard braid, but you can use this technique to try multiple braids.
2. Divide Your Braid Sections
Comb out your beard so you can divide it into three sections. If creating a single braid, you may want to start closer to your chin or keep some of your beard hair unbraided at the top, only braiding the last 4 to 6 inches of beard.
The single beard braid is best if you’re beard shaping for a long braid, but thick beards can often have double braids or more. You’ll need more hair to grow and style this look.
Each braid will need the same half-inch to an inch section width. Take note of the symmetry and spacing between your braids if you’re creating multiple pieces.
3. Start Braiding the First Strand
Start in the middle with the center braid (if going with our tri-braid look). Take your beard hair into your hands and split the section into 3 parts, holding them in your left and right hand. You’ll move the left section over the middle, weaving underneath the section on the right.
4. Weave Your Braid
After you’ve selected the strands and separated out three pieces, you’ll weave them in and out. Here’s a video from a Viking beard lover showing you how to weave a braided beard.
5. Repeat for Left and Right Braids
You should evenly space out your braids if going for the three braids. However, you may want to only do one large braid or even just two braids on either side of your mouth. Once you get the hang of braiding your beard hair, you may also want to secure these braids with beads, rings, and other beard jewelry.
When trimming your beard hair after braiding, you may want to unbraid and re-braid your hair to grow a long beard.
To complete your look, don’t forget to massage some beard oil underneath your hair to moisturize your skin.
