Viking Swords which are NOT Viking

Many of what are termed 'viking swords' are not viking swords, or even Scandinavian, Norse or Danish swords.

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[leifroarmoldskred]

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

[stonedog]

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 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!

[asa-punkatsouthvinland]

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

[thezieg]

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.

[bennettthomas]

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

[ArkadiBolschek]

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.

[pierdurin]

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.

[SAHorman]

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.

[lemminglobber]

"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."

[carlcramer]

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.

[jus_sanguinis]

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.

[mr_mlon]

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

[urkkipurkki]

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.

[Jonsson]

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.

[runerebel]

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..🤔

[markusfreund]

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"... 🍻👍

[lothbroke]

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.

[blakewinter]

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.

[acethesupervillain]

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.

[velkewemaster]

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.