Viking sword

Details of work

Denomination: Viking sword Milieu North European production Object date: 9th–10th century Material: Iron Technique: Forging Dimensions: width 8.7 cm; thickness 1.5 cm; weight 1300 g

Typology: Weapons Acquisition: June 30, 1959 Place: Palazzo Venezia Main inventory number: 11958 Other numbers: Odescalchi n. 668

Catalog entry

This Viking sword, datable to between the ninth and tenth centuries, was found at Lockwood in Essex in 1900 along with parts of a boat now on display at the Museum of London, London. The item is made of iron. The blade is broad and parallel-fullered; the curved, massive hilt has a large, flattened trapezoidal pommel, angled on the horizontal midline. According to Nordman’s classification (Nordman 1943) the pommel is type C and the hilt type B1; according to Oakeshott ( 1960, p. 135), the hilt is type II, while Petersen (Petersen 1919) affirms it is type C. This specimen has much in common with many swords found in Sweden and Norway and in areas subject to Viking rule (di Carpegna 1969), although about ten such weapons have been recovered in the British Isles (Davidson 1962) alone. Nolfo di Carpegna (di Carpegna 1969) in particular likens this specimen to a Viking sword found in Russia and published by Kirpitchnikow (Kirpitchnikow,1966, pl. II, no. 1), while Alessandro Tomei likens it to a sword in the Christensen collection in Copenhagen (catalog in n.a. 1968, no. 32, p. 14; Tomei, 1977).

Chiara Paniccia

Entry published on 12 February 2025

State of conservation

Good.

Restorations and analyses

May 1994: ordinary maintenance.

Provenance

Collezione Odescalchi, 1959.

Exhibition history

Rome, Palazzo Venezia, Antiche armi dal sec. IX al XVIII già Collezione Odescalchi, May–July 1969;
Aosta, Museo Archeologico Regionale, A bon droyt. Spade di uomini liberi, cavalieri e santi. Epées d’hommes libres chevaliers et saints, June 29–November 4, 2007;
Rome, Castel Sant’Angelo; Palazzo Venezia, Armi e potere nell’Europa del Rinascimento, July 26–November 11, 2018.

Sources and documents

Tomei Alessandro, Scheda OA n. 31046 della Soprintendenza per i beni artistici e storici di Roma, October 29, 1977.

References

Petersen Jan, De Norsk Vikingesverd, Kristiania (Oslo) 1919;
Laking Guy Francis, A Record of European Armour and Arms through Seven Centuries, I, London 1920, p. 14, fig. 20;
Mann James, Armour in Essex, in «Transactions of the Essex Archaeological Society», 22, 1939, pp. 276-298;
Nordman Carl Axel, Vapnen i nordens forntid, in Thordeman Bengt (a cura di), Vaaben, Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen 1943;
Oakeshott Ewart, The Archaeology of Weapons: Arms and Armour from Prehistory to the Age of Chivalry, London 1960, p. 135;
Kirpitchnikow Anatoliy Nikolaevich, Les armes de la Russie Médioévale, Moscow 1966, tav. II, n. 1;
s.a., in "Vaaben historiske Aarboger", XV, Copenhagen, 1968, n. 32;
di Carpegna Nolfo (a cura di), Antiche armi dal sec. IX al XVIII già Collezione Odescalchi, catalogo della mostra (Roma, Palazzo Venezia, maggio-luglio 1969), Roma 1969, p. 33;
di Carpegna Nolfo, Le armi Odescalchi, Roma 1976, p. 33;
Davidson Hilda Ellis, The Sword in Anglo-Saxon England: Its Archaeology and Literature, London 1962 (1998), p. 54, fig. 77;
Scalini, Maestro spadaio dell'Europa settentrionale. 6. Spada, in Scalini Mario (a cura di), A bon droyt. Spade di uomini liberi, cavalieri e santi. Epées d'hommes libres chevaliers et saints, catalogo della mostra (Aosta, Museo Archeologico Regionale, 29 giugno-4 novembre 2007), Cinisello Balsamo 2007, p. 100;
Scalini, I.1 Spada "vichinga", in Scalini Mario (a cura di), Armi e potere nell'Europa del Rinascimento, catalogo della mostra (Roma, Castel Sant'Angelo; Palazzo Venezia, 26 luglio-11 novembre 2018), Cinisello Balsamo 2018, p. 46.