CHAPTER FIFTEEN

VIKING WEAPONRY

Anne Pedersen

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umerous sources offer information on Viking weaponry. The annals and chronicles
of royal courts and monasteries in western Europe record the violent acts
committed against Christian communities by armed warriors from Scandinavia. Old
Norse sagas and poetry on the other hand praise the art of the warrior and not least
his weapons, many of which are described and named in poetic terms (Falk 1914 :
47 – 65 ; Drachmann 1967 ). Contemporary illuminated manuscripts, stone carvings
and the famed Bayeux tapestry created in the late eleventh century provide further
insight into the world of the warriors and the tools of their craft. However, precise
technical descriptions or accurate depictions of individual weapons are rare. Modern
knowledge of Viking Age weaponry is largely derived from the many weapons recovered
over the past two centuries – swords, axes, spears and lances, bows and arrows as well
as the much rarer wooden shields and defensive body armour. Descriptions of
Viking activity indicate that Scandinavians also had experience in using large construc-
tions for direct attack or siege warfare, although the physical remains have long since
vanished.

OFFENSIVE WEAPONS

Iron swords designed for single-hand use were doubtless the most prestigious and
expensive weapons of the time. Single-edged swords, some of them up to 1 m long, were
still in use in the early Viking Age thus continuing the tradition of the Germanic sax
(Nørgaard Jørgensen 1999 ). However, double-edged swords measuring about 90 cm in
length were by far the most common. A characteristic feature intended to reduce the
weight of these weapons is the broad shallow groove or ‘fuller’ running along the centre
of the blade; special treatment of the edges and pattern-welding of the core provided
extra strength and pliability.
The iron blades, both single- and double-edged, were fitted with lower and upper
guards and usually also a pommel made of iron or cast copper alloy; less common
are silver and organic materials such as bone or antler. Ornaments may be cast, but iron
fittings are most often decorated with silver and copper inlay forming geometric
patterns, animal motifs and in some cases even Christian symbols such as on the