Type H Viking Sword With Plated Hilt -- myArmoury.com

Kirk Lee Spencer

Hi All...

I was browsing the website for the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden Netherlands and found information on a type H Viking Sword I have been admiring for some time. I first saw it in pictures posted by Jeroen Zuiderwijk on his website .
So many Viking swords with plating on the hilts are so corroded it is difficult to get an idea of what they looked like new. However this sword has almost all of its plating in place and gives us a little window into what these plated swords may have looked like back in the day. This particular sword also has beautiful patternwelded inlays in the blade.

ks

Kirk Lee Spencer · Posted: Sun 13 Nov, 2005 4:55 pm Post subject:

Here are some color pictures from Jeroen's Website that show the hilt from more oblique angles. It looks as though there are wooden wedges between the tang and the pommel. Also note that the groove between the two parts of the pommel is filled with what looks like a carved silver band rather than twisted wire.

ks

Patrick Kelly · Posted: Sun 13 Nov, 2005 5:21 pm Post subject:

To me that looks like a plate with scalloped edges between the pommel and upper guard. The wood or leather wedges look much newer than the sword itself. I wonder if they could be ad-hoc additions made some time after the sword was discovered?

Steve Grisetti · Posted: Sun 13 Nov, 2005 6:04 pm Post subject:

Thanks, Kirk. I was just reading through Oakeshott's Sword in Hand today. In Chapter 4, he discusses Viking hilt types and gets into hilt ornamentation, saying, "A simple and much-used decoration all through the period consisted of the whole surface being covered with closely placed vertical strips of copper and tin alternately, running from edge to edge of each element." And he provides an example of a Type II hilt, like this one, in his Fig 24. Unfortunately, like all the other photos in that book, it is black and white, so I was wondering what that hilt would look like in color. Now, you've shown me!

Shane Allee · Industry Professional

Patrick pretty much nailed it with the plate between the upper guard and pommel. Doesn't seem to have been all that uncommon to find on some of the two piece examples that have a straight connection. Anyone have any ideas about the hilt materials with this one?

Shane

John Cooksey · Posted: Tue 15 Nov, 2005 6:56 pm Post subject:

That sword is stunning.

Elegant simplicity in both form and decoration . . . . . .

Kirk Lee Spencer · Posted: Sat 19 Nov, 2005 7:46 am Post subject:

Kirk Lee Spencer · Posted: Sat 19 Nov, 2005 8:16 am Post subject:

Steve Grisetti · Posted: Sat 19 Nov, 2005 9:42 am Post subject:

Shane Allee · Industry Professional

I'm familiar enough with the typical inlays on these, I've been into the Viking age stuff longer than anything else. This particular example I wasn't exactly sure of though. In a way it doesn't look to me like the gold clad examples we see, but over the years I have only found mention of one bronze/latten based example of the type H. Wasn't sure if this was it or not.

Shane

Patrick J. · Posted: Sat 19 Nov, 2005 5:00 pm Post subject:

Just curious. Why is the blade and grip so decrepit and the guard and pommel so pristine?

Shane Allee · Industry Professional

Gold, silver, copper alloys, and such weather time much better most of the time than iron and steel. With a hilt clad in these types of materials and a good scabbard, it would really make for a well protected sword from use and the elements.

Shane

Patrick J. · Posted: Sat 19 Nov, 2005 5:11 pm Post subject:

Thanks Shane.

Jeff Pringle · Industry Professional

Pardon me for jumping in late!
The sword at the top of this thread was published in 1986, by (I believe) the conservator – J. Ypey himself. If you can scare up a copy of “Drei neuerworbene Waffen im Rijksmuseum van Oudheden: ein Ulfberht-Schwert, ein Katzbalger und ein Linkhanddolch” from Oudheidkundige Mededelingen uit het Rijksmuseum van Oudheden te Leden 66, 1986 p. 139-151 (also as a reprint from ROB, Overdrukken nr. 290), you can read all about it in German (why German and not Dutch, I dunno).
My German ain’t so great, but he does say: “Knauf und Knaufstange sind durch ein Messingperlband von einander getrennt” which I translate as: pommel and pommel bar are separated by a band of beaded brass (Messing = brass, but really ‘copper alloy’ would be more appropriate in this context?). The Vikings/Franks used beaded wire, so that may be what we have here, however he does not mention it being silver gilt which is what it looks like in the photo. From the photo, it does look like a plate with ornamented edge, but I can’t imagine a smith putting that much metal in between there where it won’t be seen, even if it was ‘brass’ not silver.
The overall decoration is “Silber und Messing tauschiert” and is inlaid in the same manner as the second pommel in the thread – lots of very tiny lines – only in the Ulfbehrt, the metal is spread out over the surface between the grooves. “Vier (4) Rillen mit Silber folgen fünf (5) Rillen Messing” which can be seen in some of the photos – the visible stripes are made up of multiple lines. On many hilts, these are spaced two per millimeter or less, but if you sharpen your gravers correctly the lines can be cut and inlaid without getting too crosseyed, and just in case you were a far-sighted Viking, lenses were found on Gotland, see for example:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/702478.stm

Other interesting things about this sword – 1554 grams, so less rusted away than most, and 99.6 cm long by 6.48 cm broad with the standard 0.5 cm thickness, so this was a biggun for sure. Grip length, ~10 cm. “Der besonders gute Erhaltungszustand des Exemplars resultiert aus seiner Lage unterhalb des Grundwasserspiegels” um, perhaps: well preserved due to it’s lying below the watertable? Found in 1983, not too long ago.

Jeff

C.L. Miller · Posted: Sat 19 Nov, 2005 11:27 pm Post subject:

Thanks for chiming in with some great information Jeff, and welcome to the forum!
Your insights and your translations are very welcome indeed! You've provided some very good information and thoughts concerning the hilt construction, and I'm especially grateful for your providing the weight of the sword as this invaluable information seems all too often to go unreported.

Eric McHugh · Industry Professional

The beaded band makes more sense. This "looks" like one of those that has a hollow top portion that would accommodate a "U" shaped rivet with the two end terminating as we see on the outside. The inner hollow could have been filled with "cutler's pitch" or some other organic adhesive to keep it in place. Peter Johnsson has talked about some other interesting ways that they solved the "hollow" top situation. Sometimes the tang ran through the top portion and then it was peened. The rivets, then, served to keep the pommel top from twisting. But this one does not appear to have a peened top. This makes the sword even more impressive since many of these type have lost their top because the organic material decayed and then the top fell off and corroded separately from the rest of the sword. This method of construction helped to facilitate the addition of the decorative wire or in this case band.

Patrick, I agree about the wood in the pommel. It looks like a conservator may have added these to keep the pommel in place for display purposes. These are often quite loose in the museums. Plus, it is probably how the pommel was secured originally.

These are great photos...thanks for sharing Kirk.

Eric McHugh · Industry Professional

Here are some pictures that show how these swords were assembled. The first picture shows the "U" rivet without the top pommel in place.

This second photo shows the upper pommel piece in place. If you click on the picture and enlarge it, you see that the bottom pommel piece is peened (that is the tang peen in the middle) and the upper part is fitted over the "U" rivet.

There are a number of swords in collections that just have the "U" rivet and the top was lost, so it is alway nice when you can see it together, and it is always a treat when they are so well perserved like this sword.

Jeroen Zuiderwijk · Industry Professional

I've spotted this thread, and since I just live around the corner of the museum (yes, I do consider myself very lucky! Happy

), I took the liberty to pay another visit. I had to study some other objects as well, so that was a good opportunity. Here's a photo of the pommel, as close as I could get.

Jeroen Zuiderwijk · Industry Professional

Jeroen Zuiderwijk · Industry Professional

Something worth mentioning, there's a very similar sword also found in the Netherlands, on display in the Army Museum in Delft:

On this one, the stripes also form solid bands, like on the Ulfberth sword in the National Museum of Antiquities. Unfortunately the blade on this one is in a very poor state. There is however some remains of the scabbard. But all I could see was just a rusty lump of sand, which is supposed to contain scabbard remains. They've recently re-arranged the collection in the Army Museum, so I'm planning on going back to do another photo shoot. So hopefully I'll be able to get some clearer photos.