The Tullie House Sword

A Sword of the Viking Period, circa 875-950 AD

Found in the Thames in 1840.
A variant of Petersen's type L , and conforms to Wheeler's type VI.

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Details:
Reg. No. OM325; 281-1843
Overall length - 37 3/8" in.
Blade length - 31 5/8" in.
Blade width - 2 1/4" in. at the cross.
Fuller width - 1" in. reducing to 1/2" in. (fuller ends 2" in. from tip)
Blade thickness 7/32" in. (maximum)
Grip - 3 3/4" in. (excluding cross & pommel)
Cross - 4 9/16" in.
Pommel - 3 1/8" in. wide with a maximum thickness of 13/16" in.
Point of Balence - 8 1/2" in. below the crossguard( in its present condition without grip)
Weight - 2 lb. 12 oz.

* Photo's & information - The Spring 2004 London Park Lane Arms Fair catalogue, by David Oliver

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Thanks for this one Mac!

That must have been quite a sword in it's day.

A little pommel detail ....

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And its beautiful cross ....

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Blade markings .....

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* Photos: - The Spring 2004 London Park Lane Arms Fair catalogue, copyright David Oliver

Mac

Hi Mac,

That's a beauty. In the colour photo there looks like there could be part of an inscription a little ways below the cross-- or it could just be the effects of time (and my tired eyes) playing tricks on me. I tried playing with brightness and contrast but am none the wiser.

If there is, do you know what it says? I would have guessed "Ulfberht" or "ingelrii", but the bit I thought I could see looked like it might have an "o" in there.

Thanks,

David

Edit: Patience is a virtue :) You were posting the answer while I was typing the question. Again, Thanks.

Wow...that's really something. Thanks!

Does it mention if the blade is pattern welded?

It doesn't appear to be, but that's to be expected with a late Viking age sword like this.

Man, that is my kind of sword. Would love to have a reproduction of a piece like this...

If they found it that way, that's surprisingly good condition.

Several swords similar to this one have been found in the Thames, and the River Witham as well. Mac, the original on which Milestone is based is one of these. They are all in this kind of excellent shape. Apparently the composition of the river bottom mud makes for a nice air tight seal.

Pattern welded inlays are pretty common in later period blades like these. Many mono-steel blades have PW'd panels laid into their surface. This was obviously an indication of quality, or it was simply appealing to a conservative market that was slow to embrace a new manufacturing process. Nothing new there!

I guess that explains the fairly good condition of all the other swords, knives and axes they've pulled out of the Thames.


Kinda makes me wonder how all that weaponry got there in the first place...... guys killed crossing the river?

My wife got me a copy of "Swords of the Viking Age" for Christmas and I just flipped through it trying to find this guy. Unfortunately no luck I was hoping to provide some more detail on it. I'm starting to pick up a whole new appreciation for viking age and migration era swords thanks in no small part to that book. :)

This sword is a great example of something I've been seeing in there namely the absolutely amazing ability to turn out incredible weapons that are also incredible pieces of art using only the most primitive of tools. The more I work on scabbards and move into metal work the more I realize how incredibly complex and difficult many of these jobs would be without the use of power tools. Hats off to those ancients who could do this sort of work.

Hi Russ

I'll try and get a few of these articles scanned and put on disk to share with you guys .....
(I'd post them here complete except that I have a feeling I'd be violating more copyright laws than I already tend to push ;-)

There is another cool Viking that is featured in an article next to this one, by Ian Peirce, called:
A Newly Identtified ULFBERHT Inscribed Sword in The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
(the former piece is in the Tullie House Museum, Carlisle).

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This sword was also found in the Thames, near Battersea sometime before 1868.

David Oliver & his Park Lane Arms Fair contributors have just wonderful articles ! Mac

* Photo: - The Spring 2004 London Park Lane Arms Fair catalogue, copyright David Oliver

Russ Ellis wrote:

My wife got me a copy of "Swords of the Viking Age" for Christmas and I just flipped through it trying to find this guy. Unfortunately no luck I was hoping to provide some more detail on it. I'm starting to pick up a whole new appreciation for viking age and migration era swords thanks in no small part to that book. :) This sword is a great example of something I've been seeing in there namely the absolutely amazing ability to turn out incredible weapons that are also incredible pieces of art using only the most primitive of tools. The more I work on scabbards and move into metal work the more I realize how incredibly complex and difficult many of these jobs would be without the use of power tools. Hats off to those ancients who could do this sort of work.

That's a beautiful pommel on that last one!

Indeed, Patrick, it's quite beautiful !

Here's a shot that shows its cross decoration ....

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.... and an overall look at the piece !


1884.121.21.
Date: Late 9th to mid-10th century.
Peterson type: X
OL : 88.4 cm
BL : 76.5 cm
Cross length: 11.1 cm
Grip length: 8.1 cm
Condition: Hilt excellent, blade fairly good on one side but badly corroded upon the other.


* Photos & Info: - The Spring 2004 London Park Lane Arms Fair catalogue, copyright David Oliver


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