There are two notable swords known recovered from theRiver Witham, both kept in theBritish Museum.
The River Witham "Viking sword" (actually a blade of German/Ottonian manufacture, with hilt fittings added by an Anglo-Saxon craftsman), also known as the "Lincoln sword",[1] British Museum 1848,10-21,1 is dated to the 10th century. It is classified as a Petersen type L variant (Evison's "Wallingford Bridge" type). It was found in the River Witham oppositeMonks Abbey,Lincoln. The guard is inlaid with silver and copper alloy, in a series of lozenges, each lozenge of copper surrounded by a bronze border and hammered on to a cross-hatched, prepared field. The sword is remarkable for being one of only two known bearing the blade inscriptionLeutfrit (+ LEUTLRIT), the other being a find fromTatarstan (at the timeVolga Bulgaria, now kept in the Historical Museum ofKazan). On the reverse side, the blade is inlaid with a double scroll pattern. The sword weighs 1.214 kg (2.68 lb), at a total length of 91.5 cm (36.0 in).[2] Peirce (1990) makes special mention of this sword as "breath-taking", "one of the most splendid Viking swords extant".[3]
The River Withamknightly sword,BM PE 1858,1116.5 was found in 1825 in theRiver Witham nearLincoln.[4][5] is dated to the later 13th century. It is likely ofGerman origin[6] The blade bears an inlaid inscription reading+NDXOXCHWDRGHDXORVI+[7] The weapon's length is[8]960 or 964 mm (37.8 or 38.0 in)[9] in length. The hilt of the weapon measures 165 mm (6.5 in).[10] The blade itself is 815 mm (32.1 in) in length.[11]
The 13th-century weapon was found in the River Witham in Lincolnshire, in the United Kingdom, in 1825.
This example was found in the river Witham, Lincolnshire, in July 1825, and was presented to the Royal Archaeological Institute by the registrar to the Bishop of Lincoln.
It is likely that the blade was manufactured in Germany, which was the centre of blade manufacture in Europe at this time.
On one side, it also bears an inscription:+NDXOXCHWDRGHDXORVI+
Overall length: 960 mm
165 mm (6½ in.) across the hilt, it has a double-edged blade and
Weighing 1.2 kg (2 lb 10 oz), and measuring 964 mm (38 in.) in length and 165 mm (6.5 in.) across the hilt, it has a double-edged blade and, if struck with sufficient force, could have sliced a man's head in two...
Blade length: 815 mm
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