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Post by AlvaroWang on Oct 20, 2014 22:04:30 GMT
Hello my friends, I have a question
Vikings were well known by their pillage of wherever they went.
Is the viking sword a copy of any design of the countries they attacked? I find some references of their swords to be called spathas, but this name is also attributed to the roman design
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Luka
Senior Forumite
Posts: 2,848
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Post by Luka on Oct 20, 2014 22:45:53 GMT
Vikings are only a part of a scandinavian culture of that time. Scandinavian culture of that time developed some of the sword types we now call viking swords. Others were developed by peoples of the Frankish Empire, Anglo Saxons, Baltic peoples, etc...
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Post by Timo Nieminen on Oct 20, 2014 23:21:00 GMT
"Viking" swords were used all through northern and central Europe, and not just by Vikings. Swords used by Vikings could be made locally in Scandinavia, imported from the Rhineland (part of Francia), or imported from elsewhere. They were also used by Franks and other south-of-the-Baltic people. The "Viking" sword is the generic north and central European sword. Also used in southern Europe (e.g., Spain, Italy), where they coexisted alongside Arab and Byzantine types of swords. So you could say that the Vikings copied the sword from countries they attacked. Ulfberht swords are concentrated much more in Scandinavia than "Viking" swords in general (see www.medievalhistories.com/ulfberht-swords/ for a map of where Ulfberht swords have been found). |
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Post by MLanteigne on Oct 21, 2014 18:36:56 GMT
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Post by Arwyn on Oct 21, 2014 22:12:42 GMT
The late Roman Spatha was the pattern that most of the migrating barbarians "adopted" for their own swords. You see some "migration" period swords from folks like Del Tin and a few others. These blades were made by the various tribes moving through the area and copying the longer Roman swords.
The area of Northern Germany, the Baltic, Scandinavia, and England had a lot of people moving through, invading, and settling areas. The biggest tribal group, and largest political entity replacing the Romans, wound up being the Franks. The Franks had pretty skilled metalworkers, and sold quite a bit of it to the other various tribes in the area. The current supposition is that the tribes in Scandinavia had patterned their swords off of the Franks, but hilted them in a more culturally acceptable pattern before they started making their own, as their metalworking improved.
By the time these "viking" swords became really popular, they were in use all through feudal Europe. Many were hilted differently to suit local tastes. The Vikings did make refinements to their blades over time, but there wasnt much difference between the actual scandiavian made blades compared to Saxon swords from England, or Frankish blades from France.
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Post by AlvaroWang on Oct 23, 2014 1:35:15 GMT
Tks for the input guys  |
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