Viking Sword with an History

[Tordenskiold1721]

Reventlov: The closest analogue to the Langeid sword comes from another site in Norway however... here the ornamental metalwork is of precisely the same style. Notice in particular the identically placed spiral designs. This sword is held in the museum in Oslo, under inventory no. C36640.

Thanks Reventlov ! Great post and lots of valuable information.

You absolutely are right, One sword almost identical to the Langeid sword was found in Al, Buskerud and is the sword you show with museum reference to Oslo. From what I understand there is two more swords with this hilt found in Denmark and the one in Finalnd that you show, the same sword from Finland is seen below with other Viking and early medieval swords:



The "Langeid swords" was not found when Petersen made his typology in 1919 and is therefore not part of his work. Oakeshott is in reality a copy and paste of Petersen and Wheelers work with an expansion of the scope of swords and time line, so there is nothing new in Oakeshott's work(On Viking swords) that is not in Petersen and Wheeler's work from 1919 and 1927 other than the two medieval swords who bridges the Viking swords with the medieval swords types.

Here is an good article on the Langeid sword for those interested, use google translate and you will get the article in English. The article reveals that the blade has text on both sides:

http://www.khm.uio.no/forskning/saml...a-langeid.html

The Axe found in the same grave, with good detail of construction and mounting on shaft:

http://www.khm.uio.no/forskning/saml...a-langeid.html

[Reventlov]

Originally Posted by Tordenskiold1721

the same sword from Finland is seen below with other Viking and early medieval swords:

That's a great photo right there! I've seen most/all of those swords photographed individually, but here you can really get a sense for the differences in dimension and proportion. Several of the blades bear interesting inscriptions.

Thanks for the link about the axe also, interesting to see what the described "brass decoration" looks like.

[Tordenskiold1721]

Originally Posted by Reventlov

Thanks for the link about the axe also, interesting to see what the described "brass decoration" looks like.

Brass decoration or reinforcement of the shaft against sword blows or axe strike on the Norwegian battle axe is a complicated subject. The battle axe saw practical use into the middle of the 1600'hundreds in Norway.

Below is some later axes with spiral reinforcement of the haft:




When the spiral brass and iron, and in some rear cases gold reinforcement of the haft was introduced I don't know but I have seen it on a small light Viking axe intended for "fast" use with a single hand.

[Lee]

Here is an old thread with another of these early 17th century Norwegian axes that has a helical bronze band.

One thing interesting about this example is how the haft is curved. This is not warping with age as the curve continues into the iron axehead.

[Reventlov]

On the topic of axes... one found recently in Russia is ornamented with seemingly the same distinctive technique as the Langeid sword. Large surfaces are plated with silver, bordered with herringbone trim.


In contrast, some smaller edge surfaces are decorated in the "opposite" way, with silvery tracery on the iron surface. All the decoration on the Buskerud sword seems to be executed in this way. The decoration of the axe is particularly interesting because it seems to show the trident emblem of the royal Rurik family - a symbol which survives today in the coat of arms of Ukraine.


Examining the pommel of the Buskerud sword, a cross shape can be seen at the left. The central motif is probably a highly abstracted face or mask... a similar design appears on one side of a sword hilt found in Sigtuna, Sweden (I can't find a better example at the moment, but it is a recurring design). It might be a stretch, but with some imagination one can see the curve of an arm connecting the cross and the human face/figure... making an additional similarity with the decoration of the Langeid sword.



http://www.slavorum.org/archaeologis...arks-of-rurik/

[Tordenskiold1721]

Originally Posted by Reventlov

The decoration of the axe is particularly interesting because it seems to show the trident emblem of the royal Rurik family - a symbol which survives today in the coat of arms of Ukraine.[/URL]

Your axe with the emblem from the Ruik Family is extremely interesting. The Vikings established what is today Kiev and was called Rus in the area. Rus was later used as a name for Russia when it became one nation:

http://www.oldsaltblog.com/2014/03/t...a-and-ukraine/

That there is a link with the craftmanship on the Langeid and Buskerud swords and the axe found in today's Ukraine is very plausable.

http://econc10.bu.edu/economic_syste..._in_russia.htm

[fernando]

Following forum rules, pictures may only be inserted with the manage attachments upload features. No linking to hosts shall be used.

[Tordenskiold1721]

Originally Posted by Lee

One thing interesting about this example is how the haft is curved. This is not warping with age as the curve continues into the iron axehead.

You are absolutely right Lee. As the Norwegian battle axe continued to develop from early Viking age trugh the centuries we know that at some time during the 16th century we start getting the curve on the shaft where the axe head is mounted.

This type of curved shaft with the shape of the axe itself, creates a blow and a slicing cut, making this type of battle axe a very nasty and effective weapon.

I tried to upload photos of some of my axes that desplays how this axes evolved but it looks like I have to downsize the file sizes

[Lee]

Originally Posted by Tordenskiold1721

...As the Norwegian battle axe continued to develop from early Viking age through the centuries we know that at some time during the 16th century we start getting the curve on the shaft where the axe head is mounted. This type of curved shaft with the shape of the axe itself, creates a blow and a slicing cut, making this type of battle axe a very nasty and effective weapon.

I tried to upload photos of some of my axes that displays how this axes evolved but it looks like I have to downsize the file sizes

Tordenskiold1721, Thank you for insight into the origin and purpose of the curvature of this form of axe. It does speak to the sophistication and skill of the makers (and I would love to see additional examples!)

If you would care to e-mail the pictures to me (ljones at vikingsword.com) I will resize them, load them on the server and send back the URLs for posting.