The Saebo sword is a Viking Age sword that is believed to have been forged and used in the early 9th century. It was discovered in 1825 in western Norway by George Stephens, an English archaeologist. The sword is a type II according to Wheeler's typology of early medieval swords.
The sword was apparently in good condition prior to its treatment with acid at the Danish Museum, and as a result it was heavily damaged, rendering its inscription almost unreadable. This is an absolute tragedy, and is just another reminder of how fortunate we are now to be living in an era where advanced preservation and restoration techniques exist. The inscription on the sword's blade reads oh卍muþ, and according to Stephens, the swastika can be interpreted as an allusion to Thor, and so the entirety of the inscription should be read as ohþurmuþ. The full translation would thus mean "Owns [me], Thurmuth." The swastika is a literary allusion to Thor's hammer from Nordic pagan tradition. It is likely that a relatively ornate sword such as this was used as an ornamental or ceremonial blade, rather than in battle. This is further evidenced by its overall design being a possible imitation of a western European sword, possibly one of Carolingian make, which would be less common among the more utilitarian weapons used by Vikings in battle. However, the sword does match the weight and type of other swords used in battle during the Viking age, meaning that it is possible the sword was forged for battle rather than for ceremonial or ornamental. Swords from this time period were extremely heavy, weighing more than five pounds on average. This can be compared to late medieval long swords, which were wielded with two hands. Such swords only weighed around two and a half to three pounds, half the weight of the Viking swords, while still being significantly longer and having a much larger hilt and cross guard.
0 Comments
|