Viking sword, type Petersen E1, Gnězdovo, mound complex C-15, 9th century
This beautiful one-handed sword from the Viking Age is a reconstruction of a find discovered in 1874 in the archaeological complex of Gnezdovo near Smolensk, during the excavation of mound C-15. The original, dated to the 9th-10th centuries, was found in exceptionally good condition - stuck in the ground near an urn with the ashes of its supposed owner.
The blade bore the inscription +ULFBERH+T on one side and a sequence of vertical lines and spiral shapes on the other, the meaning of which is still unknown. According to Petersen's typology of Viking swords, the sword was classified as type E1. This variant is characterised by simple 'cellular' ornamentation on the hilt - the guard and pommel were decorated with a number of round pits or dimples, arranged in rows and forming a kind of checkered pattern.
The reconstruction offered here has a straight, double-edged hardened blade of high carbon 1060 steel, with a wide and long fuller and blunt edges. The engravings on the blade faithfully reproduce the marks found on the original.
The hilt consists of a short lens-shaped brass guard, a wooden handle tightly wrapped with brown leather and a massive, large brass pommel. Here, too, the guard and pommel faithfully imitate the 'dotted' or 'dimpled' pattern of the original artefact. As with many historic swords of the period, the pommel is two-part: the full (through) blade shaft is anchored to the base of the pommel, and the pommel cap is riveted to the base with a pair of rivets. The two parts are visually separated by a twisted wire. In addition, there are recesses between the three segments of the canopy filled with braided wire.
This early medieval one-handed sword comes with a close-fitting wood-and-leather scabbard in brown, fitted with a patinated brass ferrule, fittings on the tip and a belt hinge (max. belt width 6 cm).
The sword is intended as a collector's, decorative or exhibition piece and is not suitable for combat reenactment. Besides its collector's value, it is also ideal as a prop, e.g. to complete a costume.
- Blade material: hardened high carbon steel 1060 (not stainless)
- Hardness: approx. 48-52 HRC
- Handle material: leather-covered wood, brass guard and pommel with steel wire inserts
- Overall length: approx. 97 cm
- Blade length: approx. 79 cm
- Blade thickness: approx. 5 mm (blade approx. 1 mm)
- Hilt length: approx. 18 cm (handle approx. 10 cm)
- Maximum blade width: approx. 5.8 cm
- Centre of gravity: approx. 11 cm from the guard
- Including wooden scabbard covered with genuine leather and with patinated brass fittings
- Weight without scabbard: approx. 1.8 kg
- Weight with scabbard: approx. 2.4 kg
Parameters may vary slightly from piece to piece.
The steel used is not stainless and may show slight surface changes in places. We recommend regular maintenance, e.g. with Ballistol Universal Oil, which is ideal for steel care.
