Lot 41
Northern Europe, Medieval period, ca. 10th to 12th century CE. A striking iron sword boasting a broad, tapering, double-edged blade with a central, shallow fuller over it entire length to its point on each side. The tubular quillons thicken at the center to allow for the tang and then gently narrow at each end. The flat, dramatically thinning tang, known as a "Gaddhjalt" or spike-hilt, ends in a rounded Brazil-nut pommel. A copper cross motif is inscribed on the fuller, about one-quarter way up the blade from the cross-guard, likely intended to invoke God's holy name and his grace to gain support and protection in battle. This type of blade is considered an Oakeshott type X, which were common during the Viking age and remained in use until the 13th century. Slightly narrower and longer than the typical Viking sword, type X blades like this one mark the transition to the knightly sword of the High Middle Ages. Size of sword: 36.2" L x 7" W (91.9 cm x 17.8 cm); of blade: 30.2" L x 2" W (76.7 cm x 5.1 cm)
The quillons are of Oakeshott style 1, and are found on swords in Viking graves of the 10th century. The pommel is of Oakeshott Type B and is found on swords that can be dated to circa 1150.
The Oakeshott typology is a way to define and catalogue the medieval sword based on physical form. It categorizes the swords of the European Middle Ages (roughly 11th to 16th centuries) into 13 main types, labelled X through XXII. The historian and illustrator Ewart Oakeshott introduced it in his 1960 treatise The Archaeology of Weapons: Arms and Armour from Prehistory to the Age of Chivalry. The system is a continuation of Jan Petersen's typology of the Viking sword, which Petersen introduced in De Norske Vikingsverd ("The Norwegian Viking Swords") in 1919. In 1927, the system was simplified by R. E. M. Wheeler to only seven types, labelled I through VII. Oakeshott slightly expanded the system with two transitional types, VIII and IX, and then he started work on his own typology.
Provenance: private London, UK collection; ex-private W.P. collection, since the 1990s, acquired on the German art market
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#190138
- Condition: Some miniscule chips to blade edge, which is still quite sharp, and minor pitting and nicks to surface commensurate with age, as shown. Cross-guard is loose, but otherwise, sword is intact and very nice with rich patina throughout.
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