[B. W. Butler]

It's been a while since I really researched the development of the Petersen and Oakshott typologies, but from what I recall the Type X developed in the tenth and eleventh centuries from the classic Viking age Germanic swords, and were known in the Norse world as a gaddhjalt, or "spike hilt". I'm working on some historical fiction spanning from about 1000 AD to 1080 AD, and I'd really like to depict the equipment the correct way. Does anybody have some insight on how widespread this transition from Viking forms was? I'm wondering if the Normans and Anglo-Saxons may have faced each other armed with essentially the same "Norman" type sword.

[Stephen Curtin]

Well AFAIK (and I stand to be corrected) by this time there was no particular Norse, Norman, or Anglo Saxon, styles of sword. Pretty much everyone was using type X's, Xa's and maybe XI's, with tea cosy, brazil nut, or wheel pommels. I'm sure there were some older style swords still in use, but the above types would be the current fashion. Although the long and tapered gaddhjalt style cross was popular at this time, shorter type 1 crosses were also common.

[Shahril Dzulkifli]

No one really knew how do Anglo-Saxon swords used during the Battle of Hastings look like. Look at the swords wielded by the reenactors at the yearly Battle of Hastings reenactment in Battle Alley, England, below.