The sword is in such good condition it could be used today. Photo: Hordaland Country Council
Posted on 10/21/2015 2:09:26 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
A hiker travelling the ancient route between western and eastern Norway found a 1,200-year-old Viking sword after sitting down to rest after a short fishing trip.
The sword, found at Haukeli in central southern Norway will be sent for conservation at the The University Museum of Bergen.
Jostein Aksdal, an archeologist with Hordaland County said that the sword was in such good condition that if it was given a new grip and a polish, it could be used today.
"The sword was found in very good condition. It is very special to get into a sword that is merely lacking its grip," he said.
"When the snow has gone in spring, we will check the place where the sword was found. If we find several objects, or a tomb, perhaps we can find the story behind the sword," he said.
He said that judging by the sword's 77cm length, it appeared to come from 750-800AD.
"This was a common sword in Western Norway. But it was a costly weapon, and the owner must have used it to show power," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at thelocal.no ...
The sword is in such good condition it could be used today. Photo: Hordaland Country Council
Was it an ulfbert?
Early version?
Because he couldn't possibly have used it to split skulls and sever necks ...
Single edged seax. I would have to get very intoxicated after such a find.
77cm = 30.3 inches
Probably would have been mentioned if it was. Ulfberts were not a common sword, so another clue it most likely was not.
Or to take power.
What would be the original grip? bone/antler?
Not to be a school marm. But that should be "if is WERE given a new grip and a polish..."
Is this what common core has produced?
;-)
My favorite English teacher in high school would have sentenced me to 30 wacks of her paddle for such weakness of language skills. And she taught my own mother who also whacked me for poor usage of language.
Yep, but a very long one at 30 inches.
Whosoever Draweth Forth This Sword From The Stone Shall Be Central Administrator Of All Haukeli
Dammit Lydia I told you not to leave that lying around just anywhere....
The story doesn’t give any details on how it was so well preserved. Would a sword survive this well if it were in a dry cave, or buried in clay? The story says a hiker just came across it, so it must have been on the surface and only recently exposed.
Sooooo, we should ban it now.......right?
all I ever find are those pellets that Owls puke up
Yeah. My thinking was more like “Uff da. My dad’s gonna kill me!”
Baloney.
Whoever wielded it did not have power because he wielded it.
It's power was not in its ownership...it was in its killing.
If it were owned by a fat old Laird...who could barely pick it up.
It would have no power.
The warrior who used it was powerful because he was effective.
There's the power...and the value of this weapon.
It does seem to have been made prior to the ulfbert swords IIRC.
Wonder who made it and how it would compare to an ulfbert. Spectral analysis would be interesting to see.
Indeed. I hope this proves to be a site, not merely an isolated find.
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