Lenticular & Unfullered Viking Sword

X-Ray of the Hilt & Pommel



This is an early Viking sword dating to circa 900 AD. It has a bronze, five-lobe, two-stage pommel copper alloy and a thin tang. The guard is boat-shaped and made of iron. The blade is unfullered.

The letter “T” is chiseled into the blade just below the guard. The letter “T” on the blade may be a reference to Tyr, the Viking God of War. It is also possible that the “T” may represent the Viking God Thor or it may even be a reference to the Christian cross. Even though it was not until roughly the 12th century that the Vikings converted to Christianity, swords were often passed down from father to son over several generations before being “retired”. This piece was found in the banks of the River Cock outside the city of York in the 1950’s. York is the location of what was once one of the most important of Viking cities and several Viking encampments and villages were located along nearby rivers.

The sword was first noticed sticking out of the bank and when recovered, was still clinging to its original bronze scabbard chape. The chape was decorated on both sides with “Ravens of Odin”. Further excavation at the site produced a large silver prick spur with two of its original buckle fittings and a well-preserved scramasax, which is a typical Viking long knife.

This particular sword was once a part of the collection of James Lord Corrigan, who ran a nightclub outside of London and was a well- known collector of European antiquities. The narrow tang, broad unfullered blade, and copper alloy pommel all suggest that this is a very early Viking piece. According to Geibig’s classification, this piece has a Type 1 blade which indicates that it was made no later than the end of the eight century. See Swords of the Viking Age by Ian Peirce, Boydell Press 2005, p.21.

The total length of the sword is 82.7 cm and the total weight is 1000 grams.

Source: www.trocadero.com/pricelesspast/items/801285/item801285store.html#item