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“The serpent in the sword” Some thoughts regarding the sword during the
Viking Age (8th-11th century)

Working Paper · August 2016

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.2327.8320

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 “The serpent in the sword”
Some thoughts regarding the sword during the Viking Age (8th-11th century)
by Florian Messner

”At kveldi skal dag leyfa,

konu, er brennd er,
mæki, er reyndr er,
mey, er gefin er,
ís, er yfir kemr,
öl, er drukkit er“1
Havamal, stanza 81

The Vikings were not a cruel, uneducated and scruffy group of heavily armed warriors as
often claimed today. Instead, a highly complex society developed in Scandinavia in the early
Middle Ages with an autonomous culture, mythology and craftsmanship. The warrior had an
important role in this community and thus so had his most important attribute, the sword.

Figure 1: Common illustration of Viking warriors2

1
Translation : “Praise day at even, a wife when dead, a sword when tried, a maid when married, ice when it’s
crossed, and ale when it’s drunk.”
2
Source: http://cdn.pcwallart.com/images/viking-warrior-symbols-wallpaper-2.jpg, accessed 08.08.2016
1
The problem of “the Vikings”

Before we get to the sword itself, it is necessary to

explain a term more closely which today is often used
incorrectly, namely “Viking”. Not all Scandinavians
were Vikings and not all Vikings were from
Scandinavia. “Go on viking“ itself means nothing else
than “go for looting” (Fig. 23). Therefore, the
contemporaries hardly speak of Vikings as an ethnicity,
but rather of “Northmen” or “Danes”. The most famous
saying about these Northmen derives from the hand of
an Anglo-Saxon monk of the 9th century: “A furore
Normannorum libera nos, Domine.“4 (“From the fury of
the Northmen deliver us, O Lord”).

Also, one can hardly speak of the Vikings as one nation. Figure 2: Warriors on ships,
probably Vikings (12th century)
Rather, they consisted of a variety of quarrelsome tribes
who united themselves just for the pillaging voyages. Only Harald Fairhair succeeded in
establishing a stable royal power base in the early 9th century, but only in parts of Norway. In
Denmark and Sweden many petty kings ruled for a long time.5
In summary, there was no uniform people of the Vikings and the same applies also to the so-
called “Viking Sword“. It was not at all the standard weapon, as illustrated all too often
nowadays.

Figure 3: The “Huskarl”, a modern recreation of a Viking sword (Petersen Type S)

by Albion Armourers6

3
Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Wikinger.jpg, accessed 06.08.2016.
4
Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_lateinischer_Phrasen/A, accessed 06.08.2016.
5
Richards, Wikinger, 27.
6
Source: http://www.albion-swords.com/swords/albion/nextgen/sword-viking-huskarl.htm, accessed 07.08.2016.
2
The Norsemen used largely the same types of swords as their main enemies, the Saxons in
England, the Picts in Scotland, the Irish in Ireland and the Franks in the West. In the course of
their wide campaigns and trade relations which reached Sicily, Constantinople (Miklagård)
and the Abbasid Dominion (Serkland) the Northmen developed special forms and variations
of these common sword types. In particular, the rich decoration of the swords with precious
metals and animal style designs reached a golden in Scandinavia. This tradition stretches far
into the High Middle Ages as demonstrated by the unique Suontaka sword (Type AE) from
Finland (around 1100 AD,
but perhaps with older
fittings).7 A very similar
sword was found in 2011 in
Langeid (Bygland, Norway)
and is roughly from the year
1030.8
Figure 4: Modern recreation
of the Suontaka sword.9

Figure 5: The hilt of the sword from

Langeid10

Instead of “Vikings swords”, it would be better to speak of “swords of the Viking age”. In the
next chapter I will give a brief outline of the development of the sword in Northern Europe
from the 8th to the 11th century. In addition to the classical approaches of recording and
classification, I would like to introduce some practical aspects regarding the topic “form
follows function”.

7
Source: http://www.fableblades.com/Aatelisnainen%20Soturi.html, accessed 05.08.2016.
8
Sourde: https://www.khm.uio.no/om/aktuelt/aktuelle-saker/2015/pdf/2aftenposten_historie_langeidsverdet.pdf,
accessed 02.08.2016.
9
Source: http://www.fableblades.com/Aatelisnainen%20Soturi.html, accessed 08.08.2016.
10
Source: http://www.heritagedaily.com/2015/07/the-last-viking-and-his-magical-sword/107655, accessed
08.08.2016.
3
The development of the sword in the Viking Age

The swords of the 8th to the 11th century derive in their early form, not only in Scandinavia,
mainly from the late-antique “spatha”. This weapon descends probably from a Germanic form
and was adopted by the roman cavalry as a classical chopping and thrusting-sword. One
characteristic of the Spatha is the long double-edged blade that runs almost straight to the tip.
Noticeable are the relatively short hilt and crossguard which shows that the weapon was
clearly meant for the grip of one hand.

Figure 6: The recreation of a Spatha (3rd century AD) from Podlodow by Patrick Bartá11

Towards the end of the 8th century, after the migration period and at the
beginning of the so-called Viking Period, the spatha looked basically still
like its late antique predecessors. The compilation of the type
development was introduced first by Ellis Behmer12 in 1939 which has
validity until today and was supplemented just in details by later
researchers.13 Behmer distinguished nine different types, which were later
reduced to four, and he characterized in his classification just the handles
without considering the blades and the general shape.
The most famous archaeological finds of this time originate from Sutton
Hoo (United Kingdom) and Vendel Sweden). The spatha from Sutton
Hoo corresponds to type 4 according to Behmer and is characterized by
an extremely elaborate design: The blade consists of several panels of
pattern welded steel and the handle is made of gold with an inlaid work of
garnet in “cloisonné technique”. Truly the weapon of a king (Fig. 7 to the
right)14, the sword probably belonged to King Raedwald once (+625).15

11
Source: http://templ.net/pics-weapons/161-roman_sword/sw161-celek-v.jpg,
accessed 06.08.2016.
12
Behmer, Das zweischneidige Schwert.
13
Zu den Ergänzungen siehe Davidson: „The Sword in Anglo-Saxon England“ und Wilfried Menghin „Das
Schwert im frühen Mittelalter“.
14
Recreation by Patrick Bartá, source: http://templ.net/pics-weapons/115-sword/a15av.jpg, accessed 06.08.2016.
4
 The defining characteristic of migration period and Viking era swords
is the composite pommel. It consists of the horizontal “upper guard”
and a riveted “pommel crown”. The shapes of this crown range from a
simple triangle to elaborate spherical or drop-shaped examples.
Frequently they are also overlaid with precious metal and covered with
animal style designs.16

Figure 8: Illustration of the composition

of a composite pommel17

The classification of swords from the Viking age goes back to Jan Petersen. His work “De
Norske Vikingesverd”, published in 1919 in Oslo (formerly Christiania), lists a total of 26
types (A-Z/Æ), based on the shape of the hilt. Mortimer Wheeler18 condensed the types in
1927 into seven, to which Ewart Oakeshott19 added two in the sixties (Types I-IX).
In the early 1990s, Alfred Geibig tried a new approach in his classification of the Viking age
swords from Haithabu (Germany).20 He examined both the shape of the blade as well as the
complex structure of the handle. These combination tables are currently the most advanced
approach to this classification, but those of Wheeler/Oakeshott are internationally prevailing.
It is believed today that only a small part of the blades, which were found in Scandinavia,
were actually forged there. Rather, one can assume that since the beginning of the migration
period and particularly in the Viking age quality blades were imported from western and
central Europe and then fitted locally with crossguard and pommel. The most famous example
of this trade is the so-called “Ulfberht sword”.

Figure 9: The inlaid inscription “+VLFBERHT+”, the eponymous part of this sword type21

15
Laible, Das Schwert, 65.
16
Laible, Das Schwert, 63.
17
Laible, Das Schwert, 62.
18
Wheeler, London and the Vikings.
19
Oakeshott, Archaeology of Weapons.
20
Geibig, Beiträge zur Entwicklung.
21
Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Ulfberht_cropped.jpg, accessed 07.08.2016
5
More than 100 of these swords were found throughout Northern Europe, although it is now
believed that the blades actually came from the Rhine area. The name of this type derives
from the engraved inscription which depicted the name “Ulfberht” (several dictions) on the
fuller. Since the swords cover a period of over two hundred years (8th-11th century) it is
probably the brand-name of a workshop and not of a single smith.22

Figure 10: The distribution of Ulfberth swords in Europe23

The composition of the blade

22
Stalsberg, Vlfberht
23
Source: Stalsberg, Ulberht-Schwert Neuenburgersee, 122.
6
The swords of the Viking age have been forged in a complex process. During this time there
existed no all-steel swords24, but so-called “pattern welded” weapons. Here several twisted
metal bars form the core of the sword. These bars are made up of two different types of iron,
of which one contains less and the other more carbon. This procedure saved expensive steel,
which was expensive to refine, and it was possible to create impressive patterns with these
two materials. After etching with a weak acid the higher alloyed steel appears much brighter
than the less alloyed. Through the skilful assembly of the twisted rods it seemed at sidelight as
if a snake would crouch upon the blade. The German term “wurmbunt”25 (lit. translated
“snake colourful”) is a very good depiction of this form of smithery. Perhaps the repeated
mentioning of snakes or dragons in combination with swords in the Nordic sagas derives
therefore.26
The especially hardened blades were welded separately to both sides of the iron core. Thus, a
sword had a soft core and hard edges. So it was at the same time flexible, but not too brittle,
which made it an ideal tool for cutting and slashing. Due to this complex smithering-process it
was possible that the forge welding broke apart and the sword shattered as it is often
described in the sagas, like in chapter 13 of Gull-Þóris saga. Here the sword of Thorbjörn
brakes as he hits the helmet of Thorir.27

Figure 11: Different cross sections of

Viking age swords, the striped parts
are pattern welded.28

24
First indications are mentioned in the Thidrek saga (Legends of Theoderic the Great) where a smith rasps
repeatedly a sword and forges with the swarf a new sword that is made entirely of steel. Hagen, Thidreksaga, 68-
69.
25
This expression derives from a letter of King Theoderic the Great who thanked for two swords, where there
was “a serpent in the sword”. The german term “wurmbunt” depicts this with “Wurm” the old word for dragon
or snake.
26
Laible, Schwert, 58-71.
27
Here the mentioned extract in Icelandic. “Þá brá Þorbjörn sverði og hjó til Þóris og kom í hjálminn en sverðið
brotnaði undir hjöltunum“, source: http://www.sagadb.org/gull-thoris_saga, accessed 06.08.2016.
28
Source: http://www.vikingsword.com/serpent.html, accessed 06.08.2016.
7
Some thoughts about “Form follows function”

So we have an excellent forged sword, designed for slashing and a bit stabbing. But how did
the Vikings use their swords in combat?
The really short guard indicates the fighting style: As in historical depictions recognizable, the
fighters always used in addition to the spatha a shield to deflect enemy blows. The parrying of
an opponent's weapon with the sword was not common. On the one hand, when parrying with
the blade, you risked that due to the small guard the sword of the enemy slipped in your own
hands and on the other hand, the material of the blade was also not suitable for the direct
contact between swords. The hardened edges were welded to the iron core and there was
always the risk of breaking.
It is a common misconception that the Northmen used their swords in the so-called “Shield
Wall” technique. Similarly to a Roman testudo formation, the warriors formed several rows
one behind the other. The first three rows formed a closed front-wall with their round-shields
and moved slowly toward the enemy. If the enemy used the same tactics, two shield walls
clashed and a stinging and hitting began in a very limited area. In such a situation a long
sword was out of place. For such situations it was common to use a short sword or fighting
knife, called “seax”. Only when one of the shield walls ripped apart, the sword was used again
in the individual battles.

Conclusion

The sword of the Viking age was neither a

heavy, clumsy cleaver nor a mystical high-tech
weapon. The extant pieces show that the Vikings
were skilful craftsmen who used the tradition of
their forefathers and developed their own unique
way of forging a sword. The result was a range
of swords, beginning with the very simple ones
for the common warrior and reached its peak Figure 12: Richly decorated sword hilt,
Kulturhistorisk Museum, Foto by the author
with the very elaborative works for Jarls and
kings. The latter show the high quality of Viking smiths and their understanding of the
unification of form and thought in a single workpiece like a sword.

8
 Bibliography

- Behmer, Elis, Das zweischneidige Schwert der germanischen Völkerwanderungszeit,

(Stockholm 1939).
- Davidson, Hilda, The sword in Anglo-Saxon England. It's Archaeology and Literature
(Woodbridge 1962).
- Geibig Alfred, Beiträge zur morphologischen Entwicklung des Schwertes im
Mittelalter. Eine Analyse des Fundmaterials vom ausgehenden 8.bis zum Jahrhundert
aus Sammlungen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Offa Bücher, Band 71,
Neumünster 1991).
- Hagen, Friedrich Heinrich von der (Ed.), Die Thidreksaga oder Dietrich von Bern und
die Niflungen (St. Goar 1989).
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19.-20. Oktober 2012 in Freiburg/Breisgau (Rahden/Westf. 2014) p. 127-161.
- Pierce, Ian, Swords of the Viking Age (Woodbridge 2002).
- Richards, Julian D., Die Wikinger (Stuttgart 2011).
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Kulturbereich. Von der prähistorischen Zeit bis zum Ende des 16. Jahrhunderts
(Braunschweig 1965), p. 132-157.
- Stalsberg, Anne, Das Ulberht-Schwert aus dem Neuenburgersee, in: Archeologica
Helvetica 43/2012, 120-129.
- Stalsberg, Anne, The Vlfberht sword blades reevaluated (Stavanger 2008), source:
http://www.jenny-rita.org/Annestamanus.pdf, accessed 04.08.2016.
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