I'm not sure if there are distinct terms for round shields and
kite-shaped ones, of the kind seen in the Bayeux Tapestry, but the
word 'sporðr' "tail" apparently signifies the pointed tip of the
latter. There's a nice article about shields here [
http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/manufacturing/text/viking_shields.htm
]. Another reference to the dead being carried on a shield:

en Kári var á skjöldum borinn heim til Höfða og orpinn haugur eftir
hann (Droplaugarsona saga).

Under (English) 'targe', the OED has "A shield; spec. a light shield
or buckler, borne instead of the heavy shield, esp. by footmen and
archers. [...] OE. targe fem., targa masc. were prob. from ON."

There was a TV series a while ago on the British Channel 4 presented
by Mike Loades [
http://www.mikeloades.co.uk/cms/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
] in one episode of which he tested reconstructions of Anglo-Saxon
shields; they were big and round, and, if I remember rightly, their
reconstructions were quickly broken. Stronger shields would have been
possible, but less wieldy. Which ties in with the ideas in the
article about similar Norse shields being used dynamically in single
combat, since they had limited use when simple used to block.

LN