Viking Swords which are NOT Viking 

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From the point of view of a viking, _every_ sword is a viking sword. Their owners just aren't always aware of the fact.

I used to make swords for re-enactors. I remember having a long drawn out 'discussion' with an authentication officer about a sword I'd made up and was hoping to sell at the event, it looked just like the plan I hilt you showed as a generic pattern...... He banned it as it didn't look like any of the dozen or so pictures in his book, this was the same plank who insisted I couldn't use a club on field as "No ones found one". Like Vikings are the only group since before modern humans came into being that never hit someone else with a stick!

It's a bit like people calling morions "conquistador helmets", when they were in fact one of the most common helmets of the XVIth-XVIIth centuries and everybody in Europe used them.

Hence, Matt Easton frequently wears Japanese clothing (i.e., imprinted with Japanese text) but made in China, sold in the UK. And if Matt donates his shirt to Oxfam it can end up in a bin going to East Africa. Pretty hard to define the shirt, now.

Also with the issue of hilting: If a Viking captured an Anglo-Saxon sword they could take it back to Norway g have it re-hilted. Since we can't always tell where a blade was made a hilt can only tell us about the hilt; where it may have been from, time period/region of decorations, etc

The hilt style with the curved crossguard and pommel is very reminiscent of older celtic weapons.

This kinda feels like a 'guns, germs, and steel' situation that turned into a misinformation situation. These swords are buried primarily by Vikings thus they are found most frequently in Viking lands.

I'd really like you to cover byzantine and arab swords of this period, no one ever talks about those. In fact, even though I imagine both material and reliable iconographic sources to be particularly scarce on this topic, I'd love you to also address differences in general equipment (shields and armour) with that of western Europe.

In post-Soviet countries (I dont know about all of them, but in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine for sure) this type of swords is known as Carolingian or Frankish.

"OLAF! Love the look! New sword?" "Ulfberth! Yes, thank you for noticing! I just got back from London Fashion Raid. These new swept hilts are all the rage with the Saxons."

If I may, I’d like to clarify some of the confusion of the different Viking tribes and who went Viking where.The borders of the different Viking tribes and the modern countries are very different. The Dane’s came from todays Denmark and from todays southern Sweden. Sweden didn’t exist so within the area of todays Sweden lived four main tribes; the Swedes (east central), the Geats(south central), the Gutes (island of Gotland) and the Danes (South). The kingdoms of the swedes and the Geats later united to become Sverige (Sweden in Swedish). The southern part of Sweden where the Dane’s lived was later conquered from Denmark. In the the area of todays Norway were the Geats and the Norwegians. The Norse were however very mobile and often moved from one area to another. Many of the famous Viking kings and warriors didn’t originally come from the area or tribe they were known for. Somone known to be Norwegian might actually have been a swede and a swede might originally have been a Dane. One example is Ragnar Lothbrok, who is famously portrayed as a Dane but he was actually born in the kingdom of the swedes and was a son of the Swedish king Sigurd Ring. What makes up for this confusion is mostly due to English name translations and very different borders. The people in Sweden today are all called swedes in English and the Viking tribe are also called the swedes. But in the Scandinavian languages there is a distinction. The tribe were “Svear” but the people living in todays Sweden are “Svenskar”. Svenskar are made up of Svear(swedes), Götar(Geats), Gutar (Gutes) and Skåningar (who used to be Danes). Another contributing factor to the confusion and the factual errors is the fact that during the romance, it was common practice to slightly alter history for nationalistic reasons.

Hi form Sweden! People from south (as in not Scandinavia) used plant patterns in decoration of many things - smithwork on doors, paninted on rafters, and sculpted on the capitals of pilars. Scandinavians did not do this until well into the Christian era (12 century). Scandinavians used animal patterns, snakes, wolves, horses, hounds and such. The sword you call Franksish at the start of the video certainly fits this pattern, being decorated with a plant vine motif very uncharacteristic of Scandinavia.

Your videos are always so informative! Thank you for sharing!

A lot of people like some version of "spatha" for this era of sword. "Dark-Age Spatha", "Migrant Spatha" (as in short for Migration Era Spatha), "Post-Roman Spatha", "Latter Spatha", etc.

Most iron age sword were found from Finland. Finland was unique bc of how many of those were found and how detailed they were. (Carvings of finnish gods and different symbols.) Like 50% of all iron age swords were found from finland.

Good and interesting video as always. Here in Norway it has been found over 3500 viking era swords. So they are relativley common here. Where they are made is a good guess, but there was lots of swordmakers I have been told. The quality of the steel and iron used was normaly of lower quality than in the rest of europe. Early types have shorter blades because of this. Again, I have been told so. I dont know if this is true..🤔

Great video, I really appreciate the depth you're going into on this topic!

So I agree with the points here! I really do. And, as an afficionado of Viking-Era swords (particularly those that were prevalent in Sweden and Finland), this is a point that I often consider as well when I talk about swords. They are not really viking sword, but viking-era. A few types were not even very prevalent in Scandinavia (e.g. the type L shown in this video). However, I do use the term 'viking sword' a lot, because, like the term viking itself, it's gotten changed in popular language. Just as 'viking' has come to mean 'any Scandinavian from circa 750 AD to 1050 AD,' so 'viking sword' just means one of these styles of one-handed sword with a short hilt, relatively small but thick guards, etc. I think of it kind of like the term 'pirate sword.' Technically, there is no such thing as a pirate sword. Pirates didn't make swords, nor did they have any kind of sword that was exclusive to them. But people talk about 'pirate swords' anyway, just meaning 'the kinds of swords pirates used.' That seems to be the way people use the term 'viking sword.' As long as we're aware of this, I don't think it's much of an issue. By the way, I also really recommend 'Marks of Fire, Faith, and Value' by Mikko Moilanen for anyone interested in swords of this era. Although it focuses on swords found in Finland, and only on those with iron inlays in the blades, he includes so many useful measurements and things that I have not found in any other sources. So for people trying to learn what the originals were really like, it is a wonderful source. He is also a swordsmith himself, so he discusses the metallurgy and how the swords were likely made.

Thank you so much for this, Matt! I was always convinced that "Viking sword" or "Anglo-Saxon sword" are, by and large, marketing terms for what should be referred to as an "early medieval (northern) European sword". Given the scarcity of findings and the, erm, mobility of property associated with every aspect of what we retrospectively call "Viking culture" today, there simply is no honest way of being sure that a sword ending up in e.g. a Scandinavian tomb actually originated in the area. Likewise, how do we know that a sword found, say, amidst the remains of a longship on the bottom of the river Thames, didn't travel across the continent with its previous owner? I wouldn't even be surprised at them wielding handed-down gladii from the 5th century. Anyway, enough of me nerding out. It's just nice that I can finally LARP a pre-Norman-conquest Anglo-Saxon warrior sporting a "Viking sword"... 🍻👍

Pretty sure Vikings also used Turkish/Arabian style swords... atleast some of the Varangians that served as guards for the emperor in Konstantinopel/Mikklagard (todays Istanbul). The Vikings used what they liked and could get their hands on. Some they made, some they bought, some they stole and some they looted from the dead. A good sword is a good sword and that is valuable.

Great video, i was just thinking about this topic last night. To my understanding most franks would have known these swords just as spatha, as they used latin terms for the military, for example lorica insted of mail.

Large amount of Ulfberht swords has been found from Finland but it's not known how they got here and some even have suggested that those were forged in Finland.

"What is a viking sword?" Any sword that was worn/carried/wielded by a person who went viking.

Have you ever done a video specifically about the Ulfberht swords? I don't know much on the subject and would be interested in your thoughts.

as much i know, there are no metal ore mines here in iceland, but the ore is bound in certain types of moss and had to be melted out, the quality was of course very fragile and the blades had to be imported from france and the local blacksmiths only mounted the handles on them and the sword was finished... fun fact, the "vikings" stole so much silver if you could find all this today and put it on the market the price of silver would fall by half - according to studies from sweden from the early 2000's

Irish culture did not include cities. Dublin wasn't just ruled by the Norse, it was founded by them.

That War of Clans ad transition legit made me lol. Really fun moment there.

Marvelous explanation, illuminating and thought provoking!

I have to take a look at that book. I remember one Norwegian book on vikings stating that the Norse really preferred Frankish swords (or just blades) at the time, such as the famous Ulfberht swords. Not sure if this is the whole story of course.

I actually have a sword of that type from Windlass, it's based off of a find from Finland, it's got a pattern welded blade and the guard and pommel are unusually shaped, it's labeled as Damascus Viking sword in their catalogue

I'm glad he brought the single edge Norwegian swords because that the first thing I though of as a specifically viking sword. One in five swords discovered in Norway is single edged.

We have the Saxon Hoard on display at the city museum, split between our museum and Birmingham. Its very uniquely Saxon in ornamentatiom but the bare bones of how the swords and armour are shaped and styled show the huge influence of the Roman Legions. The swords are just like Roman cavalry swords which is unsurprising as the Germanic tribes fought for the Legions, often as cavalry. Then there is the Romano British influence as well. I am fairly certain its why European swords all have the same flavour.

Metal newbie here, so maybe this is a dumb question, but what does the metallurgy suggest? I kept waiting to hear about where the iron was from. I understand with trade and looting, everything ends up everywhere, but ….

Same with the "Viking" shield. Used absolutely everywhere in Europe from as early as the 5th century for the oldest found via archaeological searches.

Will you be doing fight and weapon reviews for the upcoming LOTR and GOT shows?

Hi Matt. Is it not possible to perform spectrographic/isotopic studies on extant examples to determine any number of desired variables?

I can't believe this guy doesn't have 10 million subscribers.

People seem to underestimate the amount of trade that went on in that period, technology travels.

I have a question about that kind of sword. How effective are they at chopping into spears?

A Viking sword is one with a horned helmet on the pommel, a biker leather hilt and a horsehair plume that's side-shaved and braided. Usually kept in a woolen chainmail scabbard.

A must have book it seems.... excellent video as always! Greetings from a Swede in Glasgow....

You mention the Jutes, what’s a good resource for information on the jutes peoples

This was a good video found it informative

are the Clontarf sword and the Ballinderry sword two names for the same sword or are they two separate swords?

what length of blade should my viking sword have if my height is 166 cm?

I think it would have been interesting to note that there’s written evidence that Vikings preferred Frankish swords because the Frankish king passed a law prohibiting the sale of weapons to Vikings on pain of death. *Scandinavian battle axes, spears, and arrows were efficient, but Vikings nevertheless coveted Frankish battle swords, which were famous for their craftsmanship all over Europe and even in Baghdad. Scandinavian warriors often acquired Frankish swords; many were buried with them. The Franks were aware of the superiority of their weapons; Emperor Charles the Bald in 864 prohibited the sale of weapons to Northmen, on pain of death.*

My fellow history nerds (of aficionados, whichever) I'm going to Europe for the first time to visit Belgium and several German cities. What battlefields, sites, and museums do I need to go to? I'm already planning on going to Waterloo and Bastogne, and might be able to make it out to Teutoburg. But other than that I could use some advice.

I just had a thought whilst watching. It’d be really cool to have a virtual SG workshop with all your weapons on the walls beautifully rendered and videos about/related to them and weapon information on a virtual museum plaque.

Want to know how to tell a Viking raider from a Viking trader? Count the swords on both sides.

Viking swords found everywhere the Vikings went interesting. That "Saxon" sword looks more comfortable to wield by a modern man compared to having to use the Viking sword as a Viking.

I love the Migration Era sword. Really gotta find the time to forge the ones I sketched years ago.

In a way it is like arguing whether the Bowie knife is an American thing or Sheffield thing.

The Danes that invaded/raided then-England were mostly Jutes and to this very day, Danes from Jutland are still called Jutes. As far as I know the Danes were predominantly a tribe/clan(?) from Zealand. I might be wrong.

Also a warrior would use whatever equipment he felt most comfortable with and felt had the most advantage. Look at brigantine armor.

Two things that I feel strongly should be considered here is how developed was metallurgy in Scandinavia at the time and how much and of what quality ore they had access to. If both lesser than western and southern parts of Europe, then it would be logical for Vikings to have kept better quality swords (and consider them better to the level of choosing them as sidearms for final journey - burial). The fact that more straightforward swords were in fashion longer there seems to back that up. However all that is just my rambling, I have no idea. Great video, thanks Matt!

Decorations aside, it's ultimately a Roman calvary sword.

Excellent Vídeo. For a long time I tried to figure out the differences between anglo-saxon and viking swords. You have shown slight differences on pomels and crossguards, but what about the actual mailing of the sword? Are there metalurgical differences? I heard about a high quality viking blade made by a certain blade smith that even engraved his mark on its swords!

Excellent video, but I found myself wondering why you didn't show more of the bigger pictures ?

Is there any historical data on where the Iron was mined in Europe. It seems to me that the Iron Mines would be the driving factor.

Next video: Not All Bastard Swords were used by Bastards

So, sorry if this is a stupid question, but with the single-edged sword at 19:20, which side is sharp? Is this type of sword like a Falchion and the more curved edge is sharp, or is it like a Seax where the straighter edge is sharp?

Were the Vikings traders or raiders? Yes. They were both at times. In my small studies I think Viking Era swords they are just an evolution of the swords of the migration period. This is good information on the varying burial practices and why some stuff is found in some locations and time periods. Ah the twisted history of the British Isles. I love reading about it but man is it far different than the outline I an American was taught. Thanks for a video on my Northern France and Norse roots. Skol! Have a great week Matt.

Thanks for the sword video ⚔️

Would you recommend a master smith? The only swords I can find online are mass produced junk, usually made in Asia.

There was a TT show on a hoard of posh hilts and such with no blades. One would assume that the blades were reused, perhaps several times. Metalurgy shows blades were made in many places and exported from early Roman times.

I think this provides a lot of good context in that all of these swords were likely used by Vikings, but we often don't think enough about what the other groups would have been using.

Will you do a review of the 2022 movie ‘The Northman’? There is a single edged sword in it, I’m not sure how accurate it is.

A viking sword is the sword you take on a viking.

in fact, I think that basic pattern of sword was used from Ireland all the way to Arabia.

What is the "Anglo-Saxon" style sword you've got there? Nice.

What about the seax, specifically the long version?

Where can I buy that shirt????

Well technically, both the Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Scandinavians all came from Germany. The Anglo-Saxons came from either Germany or Southern Scandinavia. Not to mention the hybridization of the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings through intermarriage and conquest. So you could say these aren't Viking swords, but Germanic swords. And Germanic swords were based on Roman Gladius, which was influenced by Ibero-Celtic Spanish swords.

What about Seax Swords and Ulfberht Swords? Do you personally own any actual Viking Swords that you can show us, instead of pictures from a book?

Great video! Thanks.

Early medieval arming swords, not viking swords.

10:20-10:29 that escalated quickly

Sorry for the dumb question. I am interested in Portuguese history. Outwardly, say in 1000 AD, a norse warrior and a Christian warrior would be nearly identical in their kit? ( Armour and weapons) Thank you

People should check out iron age Germanic swords. They're single-edged and look kind of like machetes. The handle construction with the rivets also reminds me of messers which are also Germanic, as far as I'm aware. Swords like this seem to have been the original type used in the far north, until they began adopting double-edged swords from the Celts.

I think the books from Osprey, man at arms, ellite, created zome of that question, it points out your point but mentioned the pommel styles made a differences. And yes a big arms trade amd taking a dead warriors. But love new information about the subject❤

AS a Nordic American_ -I do agree - most swords - knives -walking sticks / staffs -anything martial is what one naturally wants to wield. The Scandinavian's - Nordics would of course grinned as they closed their eyes for the last time - clutching a captured Frankish / English steel sword - Valhalla ROARS tonight when we walk in with the enemies sword ! Great info - love it!

Is there nothing in the metallurgy, proportions of alloying elements or even isotopic composition, of the steels that can be related to ores in various regions? Obviously this would only tell you where ore was mined rather than definitively where the sword originated but I would expect a correlation between ore origin and sword origin. Unless an awful lot of steel was traded long distance instead of locally produced...

Ever since I learned about these styles of swords I have referred to them as Migration Period swords, mainly for the simple reason that it's not always easy to know which nation or people's developed or made a particular sword. For the same reason I usually don't call all cruciform hilted swords an English sword or a French sword or an Italian sword. The same goes with many other general styled swords. There are some obvious exceptions to this, such as the Roman Gladius or Scottish Broadsword.

what about the Ulfberht swords? Also aren't they collectively referred to as migration era swords, or am I thinking of something else?

I mean, anyone who says that Anglo-Saxons only carried those swords because they traded with Danes is kind of missing the point that, by the same argument, Danes only took those swords back to Scandinavia because they traded with Anglo-Saxons. It may have been the Dark Ages but Anglo-Saxon England was a pretty wealthy place - there's a reason why the Danes came here as Vikings to raid in the 1st place and just look at Sutton Hoo! Swords in this period were not cheap to design and manufacture, they were pretty high status, and whilst I am clearly not saying that Danes did not smithy their own weaponry, there is a reason why the Axe was their preferred raiding tool. They most likely acquired the majority of their swords either through trade or raids, which would imply that their swords could just as easily come from areas outside of Scandinavia.

what type of swords were the Moors using in Iberia back then?

Wasn't there also a trade in steel meaning alloy analysis may not be a good way to know where something came from? Anyway, this was interesting. Thank you.

The Irish were the first Vikings and the Danes and the Cornish were allies at times- don’t think that relationship lasted much past Knut invading Kernow.

Nice to hear your pronunciation of Clontarf improving with time.

Matt: "Hooray! for archaeologists..." Slave #43: 😰😰😰😰😰

Ulfberht is Saxon for wolf bright. Yes, Ulfberht, or +ulfberh+t to be correct, was Saxon make, not Frankish. The Franks spoke vulgar Latin at the time, and if they were indeed monastery made, they would have been in Latin, not Saxon. I and a team of people from around the globe researched this for many years. The ONLY language Ulfberht is contemporary with, and is found in, is Saxon.

I guess some kinda umbrella term for example like "arming sword" for medieval broad bladed cross hilted swords used all over in europe in period could be thing to solve issue. I personally use "migration era sword", but i guess even that isnt perfect term.

How many of the early medival swords may have been re-hafted late Imperial Spatha?

Wasn't there a time when the Franks put the death penalty on selling sword blades to northmen? A lot of the blades the vikings used were probably bought (or looted) elsewhere since mining iron wasn't a huge thing in Scandinavia during the viking age. Better use the bog iron for tools and smaller weapons like spear points or axe heads.

Amazingly interesting! Thanks!

As a novice, I have to ask, What happened to all the stuff taken from the monasteries?

Extend the handle a few feet, shorten the blade a lot, widen it a bit, turn it sideways, there you go.

Has anyone undertaken isotope analysis on any of these period swords that could definitively identify the source of the original material? It wouldn't conclusively prove a particular provenance since the raw materials could have been exported or imported to a region but it would certainly give more certainty as to their source..

An oft overlooked fact is old Germanic, old English and old Norse are sister languages steming from proto German trade would have been fairly common especially in the Normandy region of France being relatively central to Northern Europe's seas