| Viking Age sword | |
|---|---|
 Two 10th-century sword hilts (Petersen type S) withJelling style inlay decorations, with reconstructed replicas, on display inHedeby Viking Museum.[1] | |
| Type | Sword |
| Production history | |
| Produced | 8th to 11th centuries |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | Ca. 1.0 to 1.5 kg[2] |
| Length | Ca. 84 to 105 cm[2][3] |
| Blade length | Ca. 70 to 90 cm[4] |
TheViking Age sword (alsoViking sword) orCarolingian sword is the type ofsword prevalent inWestern andNorthern Europe during theEarly Middle Ages.
TheViking Age orCarolingian-era sword developed in the 8th century from theMerovingian sword more specifically, the Frankish production of swords in the 6th to 7th century and during the 11th to 12th century in turn gave rise to theknightly sword of theRomanesque period.[5]
Although popularly called "Viking sword", this type of sword was produced in theFrankish Empire during theCarolingian era. The association of the name "Viking" with these swords is due to the disappearance ofgrave goods in ChristianFrancia in the 8th century, due to which the bulk of sword blades of Frankish manufacture of this period were found inpagan burials ofViking AgeScandinavia, imported by trade, ransom payment or looting, while continental European finds are mostly limited to stray finds in riverbeds.[6]
Swords of the 8th to 10th centuries are also termed "Carolingian swords",[7] while swords of the late Viking Age and the beginningHigh Middle Ages (late 10th to early 12th centuries) blend into the category ofNorman swords or the early development of theknightly sword.
During the Viking age, the Carolingian Empire was central for advanced swordsmithing. The area produced the best quality weapons found in Central and Northern Europe.[8]
During the reign ofCharlemagne, the price of a sword (aspata) with scabbard was set at sevensolidi (totaling about US$1300) (Lex Ribuaria).Swords were still comparatively expensive weapons, although not as exclusive as during theMerovingian period, and in Charlemagne's capitularies, only members of the cavalry, who could afford to own and maintain awarhorse, were required to be equipped with swords.Regino's Chronicle suggests that by the end of the 9th century, the sword was seen as the principal weapon of the cavalry.
There are very few references to Carolingian-era sword production, apart from a reference toemundatores vel politores present in the workshops of theAbbey of Saint Gall.[9] Two men sharpening swords, one using a grindstone the other a file, are shown in theUtrecht Psalter (fol. 35v).
The sword gradually replaced theseax during the late 8th to early 9th century.Because grave goods were no longer deposited in Francia in the 8th century, continental finds are mostly limited to stray finds in riverbeds (where anaerobic conditions favoured the preservation of the steel), and most extant examples of Carolingian swords are from graves from northern or eastern cultures where pagan burial customs were still in effect.
Pattern welding fell out of use in the 9th century, as higher quality steel became available. Better steel also allowed the production of narrower blades, and the swords of the 9th century have more pronounced tapering than their 8th-century predecessors, shifting the point of balance towards the hilt.
Swords were highly valued in Norse culture, as they were costly to make and a sign of high status. Owning a sword was a matter of great honour, and persons of status often owned ornately decorated swords with silver accents and inlays. Most Viking warriors owned a sword, as one raid was usually enough to afford a good blade. Freemen,gothi, andjarls owned more ornately decorated swords, while poorer farmers used axes or spears. One sword mentioned in theLaxdæla saga was valued at half a crown, which would correspond to the value of 16 milk-cows.[10] Constructing such weapons was a highly specialized endeavour, and many sword-blades were imported from foreign lands, such as theRhineland. Swords could take up to a month to forge and were of such high value that they were passed on from generation to generation. Often, the older the sword, the more valuable it became. Local craftsmen often added their own elaborately decorated hilts, and many swords were given names, such as Leg-biter and Gold-hilt.[11]
The significance of swords in Norse culture is further evidenced by the practice of "killing" swords, which involved bending the blade so that it was unusable. This practice may have served both a ritualistic and practical purpose, as Vikings were often buried with their weapons and the "killing" of swords may have deterred grave robbers from disturbing the burial in order to get one of these costly weapons.[12][13] Archaeological finds of bent and brittle pieces of metal sword remains attest to the regular burial of Vikings with weapons, as well as the habitual "killing" of swords.[14]
The Frankish swords often had pommels shaped in a series of three or five rounded lobes. This was a native Frankish development which did not exist prior to the 8th century, and the design is frequently represented in the pictorial art of the period, e.g. in theStuttgart Psalter,Utrecht Psalter,Lothar Gospels andBern Psychomachia manuscripts, as well as in the wall frescoes inthe church in Mals,South Tyrol.Likewise, the custom of inlaid inscriptions in the blades is Frankish innovation dating to the reign of Charlemagne, notably in theUlfberht group of blades, but continued into the high medieval period and peaking in popularity in the 12th century.While blade inscriptions become more common over the Viking Age, the custom of hilt decorations in precious metals, inherited from theMerovingian sword and widespread during the 8th and 9th centuries, is in decline over the course of the 10th century. Most swords made in the later 10th century in what was now theHoly Roman Empire, while still conforming to the "Viking sword" type morphologically, have plain steel hilts.[15]
The distribution of Frankish blades throughout Scandinavia and as far east asVolga Bulgaria attest to the considerable importance of Frankish arms exports, even though Carolingian kings attempted to prevent the export of weapons to potential enemies; in 864,Charles the Bald set the death penalty on selling weapons to the Vikings.[16]Ibn Fadlan in the 10th century notes explicitly that theVolga Vikings carried Frankish swords.[17]TheSaracens raidingCamargue in 869 demanded 150 swords as ransom for archbishopRotland of Arles.
Foreign-made, specificallyFrankish, weapons and armour played a special role in Norse society. Norsemen attained them either through trade (an extension of gift-giving in Norse society)[citation needed] or as plunder. Therefore, their possession and display by any individual would signify their station in the social hierarchy and any political allegiances they had.[18][19] One example of an exchange of weapons between the Franks and the Anglo-Saxons occurred in 795 whenCharlemagne exchanged weapons with the Anglo-Saxon kingOffa of Mercia.[20]
Scandinavian affinity towards foreign arms and armour during the Viking Age had an eminently practical aspect. Norse weapon designs were obsolete and sources of iron within Scandinavia were of poor quality. Many of the most important Viking weapons were highly ornate—decorated lavishly with gold and silver. Weapons adorned as such served large religious and social functions. These precious metals were not produced in Scandinavia and they too would have been imported.[21][22] Once in Scandinavia, the precious metals would have been inlaid in the pommels and blades of weapons creating geometric patterns, depictions of animals, and (later) Christian symbols.[23]
During the mid-9th century, there was an influx of these high-quality weapons into Scandinavia, and Frankish arms became the standard for all Vikings.[24] AsAhmad ibn Fadlan observed in his account of his journey to Russia, every Viking carried a "sword of the Frankish type".[25] The Franks attempted to limit the Vikings' use of weapons and armour produced inFrancia—fearing that they would eventually face equally armed opponents.[20] Chapter 10 of theCapitulare Bononiense of 811 made it illegal for any clerical functionary to supply swords or armour to non-Frankish individuals.[26] Laws like this were enacted throughoutFrancia. Ultimately, in 864, KingCharles the Bald ofWest Francia made the practice punishable by death.[20] Some scholars[which?] have proposed that such laws proved so effective at stemming the flow of Frankish weapons that they initiated the practice of raiding for which Vikings became notorious.[20]
Carolingianscabbards were made of wood and leather. Scabbard decorations are depicted in several manuscripts (Stuttgart Psalter, Utrecht Psalter, Vivian Bible). A number of miniatures also show the system of suspension of the sword by means of the sword-belt. While the scabbards and belts themselves are almost never preserved, their metal mounts have been found in Scandinavian silver hoards and in Croatian graves.[27] A complete set seems to have included two to three oval or half-oval mounts, one large strap-end, a belt buckle and a trefoil mount. Their arrangement on the sword-belt has been reconstructed by Menghin (1973).[28]
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The seminal study of the topic is due toJan Petersen (De Norske Vikingsverd, 1919).[30]
Petersen (1919): Devised the original hilt typology of 26 types that is still widely used across Europe for classifying and dating Viking swords. Based on about 1,700 finds of Viking swords in Norway[31] this typology remains the most commonly used. Petersen's types are identified by capital letters A–Z. Petersen listed a total of 110 specimens found in Norway. Of these, 40 were double-edged, 67 were single-edged and 3 indeterminate.
R. E. M. Wheeler (1927): Created a simplified typology of sword hilts based on finds from Britain, combining Petersen's hilt typology with a blade typology, in nine types labelled I to IX.[32]
Oakeshott (1960): Added two more types to Wheelers typology bridging the gap between the Viking Age and the later mediaeval sword.[33][34]
Geibig (1991): introduced an additional typology based on blade morphology (types 1–14) and a typology of pommel shapes (types 1–17, with subtypes), focussing on swords of the 8th to 12th centuries found within the boundaries ofEast Francia (as such including the transitional types between the "Viking" and the "knightly" sword).[35]
Oakeshott (1991): Mainly dealing with sword from the post Viking-age period. He classifies all of the Viking Age swords as his type X.[36]
Jakobsson (1992): has recently published a number of maps detailing the distribution patterns of Petersen's sword hilts across Europe. Jakobsson's conclusions are discussed in Ian Peirce's 'Swords from the Viking Age'.[37]
Peirce (2002): Oakeshott provides an overview of typologies and a discussion on inscribed blades.[38] Jones also provides an overview of hilt and blade classifications, provides a summary of Jakobsson's and Geibig's work and provides an updated typology date range chart.[39] Peirce provides a catalogue of examples, detailing 85 complete or almost complete swords and comparing them to Petersen's discoveries.
An important aspect in the development of the European sword between the early and high medieval periods is the availability of high-quality steel.Migration period as well as early medieval sword blades were primarily produced by the technique ofpattern welding,[40] also known as "false Damascus" steel.Blooms of high-quality steel large enough to produce an entire sword blade were only rarely available in Europe at the time, mostly via import from Central Asia, where acrucible steel industry began to establish itself from c. the 8th century.Higher quality swords made after AD 1000 are increasingly likely to have crucible steel blades. The group ofUlfberht swords includes a wide spectrum of steel and production method. One example from a 10th-century grave in Nemilany, Moravia, has a pattern-welded core with welded-on hardened cutting edges. Another example appears to have been made from high-qualityhypoeutectoid steel possibly imported from Central Asia.[41][42]
Ch. 10. It has been enacted that no bishop or abbot or abbess, or any rector or guardian of a church, shall presume without our permission to give or sell a byrnie or sword to any man outside, except only to his own vassals.
