CIRCA 9TH-10TH CENTURY A.D.

Viking warrior graves were flush with weapons, preserving swords that provide important information about their weaponry. It illuminates their hierarchical culture, illustrating that those of higher-status could afford both to own swords and to bury their weapons with them for eternity. It has also shared the emphasis on individuality and desire to use decorative embellishments where possible. Some were adorned with pattern-welded ornate hilts and pommels, of different shape and decoration (pp. 34-36, J. Carroll, S. H. Harrison and G. Williams, The Vikings in Britain and Ireland).

While there were single-edged swords, double-edged swords such as the present example were more common, which were used for slashing. Predominantly they were formed from a single piece of metal but some were pattern welded from multiple rods and twisted together to give a decorative core to the blade; this technique became rarer after the 9th century.

The sword presented here has a long iron blade, narrowing gracefully to its point. Its hilt and pommel are separately made, formed of copper alloy; the plain hilt is slightly curved towards the blade and the pommel is pyramid-shaped. For a similar sword found in Ireland now at the British Museum, see BM no. 1884,0318.1; for a related yet more ornate pommel and hilt found in London see BM no.1887,0209.1.