POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

Viking sword

Object No. H6923

The sword was previously owned by R. Ewart Oakeshott, who writes about it in 'The Archaeology of Weapons' (Lutterworth Press 1960): "It was bought by a friend of mine in 1936 in the Caledonian Market in London, where he saw it lying on the cobble-stones, bundled together with two or three brass-hilted Waterloo-period swords. It still had the hardened mud which had encased it when it was dug up, no one knows where, though the fact that this mud has not been chipped off suggest that it might have been found recently, and in England ... when he took some of the mud off, he found clear traces of a diapered pattern inlaid on the cross-guard in a yellow metal, and some traces of yellow metal inlaid in the pattern in the blade. Not being particularly interested in swords, he parted with it soon afterwards to a collector who unfortunately cleaned it with a rust-removing substance, with the inevitable result that all traces of the decoration were removed with the rust. In 1947 it was sold at Sotheby's where I had the good fortune to get it ... " "I have said that the last letters of the name are obliterated. This is because a small patch has been welded into the blade at this point. It is obvious from the patination of the blade that this patch was put in in antiquity; it is no modern repair. The question was, why was it there at all? An x-ray photograph of the blade gave us the answer. A severe blow on the sword's edge about four inches below the hilt had caused two fractures to run into the centre of the blade. These are not visible on the surface, but they must have caused the inlaid iron of the final letters to fall out, leaving a weak patch in the blade. Now a good sword was a costly thing; one would not discard it unless it was quite unusable. Presumably the damage did not seem too bad for the patch was put in - not very well, certainly not by a swordsmith. The inference must be that the damage was done on campaign (what would be more likely?) and that a hasty repair was made by the nearest armourer."

Loading...

Summary

Object Statement

Sword, Viking, Ingelrii type, metal, maker unknown, possibly made in Francia, 1000-1099, possibly excavated in England

Physical Description

This sword is of typical 11th century style, with broad blades for slashing and a semi-spatulate point. It is fitted with the 'Brazil nut' type pommel and spike hilt ('Gaddhjalt' in Norse). The blades were made by a Frankish smith or guild of smiths who signed their blades 'Ingelrii' and these were commonly found in use by Norsemen and Normans. In use as late as the 1200s, they are usually of good quality steel, around .75% carbon, and capable of being hardened and tempered.

DIMENSIONS

Width

220 mm

PRODUCTION

Notes

The sword was probably made during the 11th century CE. The sword is of Frankish origin. Maker: "Ingelrii" (a guild or single smith unknown), dating: 1000-1100 A.D, the pictogram on the blade actually depicts the Carrocium: s symbol used by Italo-Norman warlords circa 1040 A.D. It is possible that is could have belonged to a Norman mercenary and been used in the Battle of Hastings (1066).

SOURCE

Credit Line

Purchased 1962

Acquisition Date

2 February 1962

Copyright for the above image is held by the Powerhouse and may be subject to third-party copyright restrictions. Please submit an Image Licensing Enquiry for information regarding reproduction, copyright and fees. Text is released under Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivative licence.

Image Licensing Enquiry

Object Enquiry