Which brings us, lastly, to the iconic Viking sword. Instantly recognisable by proportion and pommel, the sword is represented on tapestries and sung of in songs – and actually not that common at all. A sword was a sign of wealth, and possibly the most expensive thing a man owned. Passed down through generations, the family blade would probably have a name. Swords were costly, hard to make, and a strain on resources. Furthermore they required skill in usage, as the swords from the early Viking age would be at risk of breaking if struck on something hard. There are examples of swords breaking and being re-forged into spear-heads. The best swords were made by a sword designer named Ulfberth – but there is evidence that unscrupulous sorts marketed fake Ulfberth-branded swords, which would look very good until the moment they didn’t, typically in the middle of battle and surrounded by people highly intent on killing the wielder.
So why the sword, then, if it was so much trouble? It was not a tool, like the axe, or quick, useful and easy to make, like the spear – but a sword was a statement. It was the mark of a warrior, a sign that you were sharing a space with someone who was ready to get nasty, fast – someone who was carrying something desirable no-one had yet managed to take away from him. A sword, in Viking times, was a physical invitation to come and have a go if you thought you were hard enough.
Roughly a millennium ago, few people were.
* (the thinking woman has tended to stay away from such nonsense unless absolutely necessary)
Path of Gods Page 28