I'm seeking help about this viking era axe in the Historiska Museet collection. My specific questions are:

1) Under the 'description' entry, I understand 'iron broad axe'. What is it saying about the haft?

2) Does 'bredyxa' explicitly mean it was two handed?

Any other comments, information or background would be welcome. Thanks,

-klr

"Bredyxa av järn. I skafthålet finns trärester efter skaftet. "

translates to:

Broad axe made of Iron, wood remains from the shaft left in the shaft-hole

The only other info is that it is from the district of Värmland, the parish Gillberga and the archeological locale "nysäter" (West sweden) probably a loose find, I do not know of any large scale digs or viking age sites in that area. Other Värmlännings might be better informed though...

Oh, and for the second question, I do not think "Broad axe" automatically imply two handed use, but the size and shape of that particular axe looks very much like it would be used that way.