Viking Sword

This is a late Viking style sword with a broad, flat blade which tapers slightly to a rounded point. The pommel is quite complex and is inlaid with silver & gold. Swords were the primary weapon of the Scandinavians judging by the amount of them found there and were also prized possessions, often inlaid with gold and silver such as this example. The iron was first roughened, and then silver or gold were applied as sheets or as wire and hammered into the surface and finally engraved. Many of the warriors who carried such weapons gave them names like 'leg-biter' or 'raven feeder'. Early Viking swords were made by twisting and folding several rods of iron and steel together (pattern-welding) which not only created a beautifully patterned blade but provided strength for the weapon. Many of these later weapons were not in fact made in Scandinavia but in the Kingdom of the Franks with the steel producing Rhineland at its heart. Later Viking swords were made of better quality steel and didn't require pattern-welding.