I recently purchased a Viking sword, and I've been reviewing literature on elemental composition of Viking age swords. A local lead paint inspector has an XRF gun, and we're scheduling a scan soon.
I found this article pretty helpful in both its discussions about bloomery iron and results scanning various swords. Item 2 from Mark Lewis's comment is a screen grab from this article:
Congrats on your purchase. You should post a pic of it. I think you should also look for sulfur. That would be in bloomery iron but not modern iron. Make sure the XRF scanner you use can measure phosphorus. That’s right at the border of what the scanners can measure. Good luck!
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